Re-constitutioning Australia: Monarchist and Republician Discourses in the 1990s

Abstract

This study examines the ways in which Australian political parties and organised movements constructed the monarchy-republican debate in the 1990s. Specifically, I argue that a number of dominant discourses pervaded this debate. Identifying and analysing the nature and form of these competing and coalescing discourses provides insight into the unique contribution of the Australian monarchy-republican debate to the tradition of republican theory, and the role of political parties and organised movements in the construction and maintenance of debate.