The Alchemy of Leadership: Seven Australian Prime Ministers in a Turbulent Twenty-First Century

For most of the twenty-first century, Australia’s national politics has been characterised by tumult and disruption: seven prime ministers; stagnation in key policy areas; dwindling support for the established parties; insurgencies on the left and right flanks; and declining public trust in government and the democratic system itself.

The flux is occurring in the context of a global democratic winter, exemplified by the rise of strongman populists who foment and feed on public grievance. It ...