Why are Australians so wedded to mediocrity in their politics but not sport? What is it I've missed?

A San Francisco newspaper contained an article in the late 1800s written by a news man who'd returned from Australia. He said that the country had three plagues that wouldn't go away. I forget the first, but the second was rabbits and the third was dead-beat politicians. The rabbits apparently had no show of competing with the pollies in the destruction and damage stakes.

Why are we so wedded to mediocrity in our politics when we're such fanatics about quality of performance in sport? Does anybody have any ideas about what the real answer might be?

If you are so clever Sock why don't you put up your hand?

From a voters POV (not that I can vote) I think ocker's are more aware than most. We KNOW that our vote is merely a token gesture and a thing required by law. We KNOW that no matter what a politician promises during a campaign they'll only do what's in the best interests of their career and that of the people funding them. IT's no different anywhere else in the world.

Americans are masters at hyping up the mediocre. Just look at their football.

runner, I'm not entirely sure what you're getting it.

Sockrateez, I'd make a few points.

Yes, there is an apathy in Australia when it comes to politics. That's not unique to Australia. With the exception of a few European countries, most of the west is quite politically apathetic.

As are non-western countries, much more so. In many countries throughout Asia, people simply don't talk much about politics at all.

So if we look at this from a relative point of view, it's not an unusual situation. The politically apathetic exist everywhere.

I used to get incredibly frustrated by this state of affairs. However, on reflection, I don't think it's all bad.
Consider France. There is a much more politically engaged populace, but that doesn't translate to good governance or a good economy.
In fact, throughout history France has experienced severe upheavals and revolutions as the country as lurched between situations.

Australia's always been quite stable. If indeed Australia is more politically apathetic than most countries, look to our history for your reasons - and consider that that apathy is likely to keep us reasonably stable for the future.

i'm sure it has much to do with our lack of political journalism, investigative journalism, town meetings and a general fear or group mentality. Recently i have been searching for independent but balanced news sources on Aus politics only to find a paucity of coordinated prodigious journos or free lance writers. i know there are many but they seems so scattered across the web in obscure blogs that it's a days work just to be informed.
Daily i read Crikey, Onlineopinion, Newmatilda, theage (reluctantly). can anyone add to this list ?

I think I know what runner was getting at. The system isn't perfect so bugger it. A nice mix of cynicism and apathy. No, my question is why we're so cynical and apathetic to the point where we're the most over-governed people in the world and we have such bloody howlers for politicians.

I lived in France for two decades under presidents Valerie Giscard d'Estaing and Francois Mitterand. I'm glad you chose that example, because it is behind why I asked the question in this thread. I agree that they have the same problem, but when they get a good gutful, they wreck the joint, and wonderful changes come about. You expect leaders and pollies to get complacent and forget why they got the job, but what I don't expect is for the voters to shrug their shoulders and say 'well, that's the price of stability.' The Frogs aim much higher than that. I found their society works better than ours in what I consider to be the more important things.

Out of the wrecking comes things like a new republic. They were on the fifth when I left there in the eighties. And each time a new Constitution. We're stuck with a shabby Constitution that keeps us behind the 8-ball permanently with neither a republic nor a monarchy.
Maybe out football is too good. If it was as mediocre as American football (hell, I agree there) maybe we'd have to concentrate on other things - like the quality of our public and communal life?

I believe we're frightened of the instability, change, experimentation and progress that social creativity requires. I'd even go so far as to say that the devotion to stability at virtually any price is a form of illiteracy with cowardice complications. The NO votes out referenda evoke so consistently are indicators of a failure to understand and/or a failure of guts. Either way, it's lamentable, and could do with a good belt around the ear.