Bicameralism and Election Timing : A Comparison of the United Kingdom to Australia
In the United Kingdom, Smith (2003;2004) has illustrated that prime ministers make their decision to call an election based on prospective economic conditions. If conditions are to worsen, leaders should seek to dissolve the government so as to maximize the chance for re-election. This argument should be applicable to other majoritarian systems, yet various institutional arrangements complicate this generalization. I use the case of Australia to demonstrate that this theory holds, even with the presence of more than one veto player. While there appears to be some constraint on the autonomy of the lower house in its ability to go to the polls, economic conditions greatly matter in deciding the timing of elections in Australia