infiltrate?

pretty s-l-o-w.....and hard to pretend after awhile.

I try to keep out of commenting on other countries' politics as I regard it as rude for outsiders to comment on my country's. However, I suggest to Bill that Foolestroupe did suggest more alternative than just infiltration (difficult to successfully achieve, as Bill notes); Foolestroupe also outlined the mechanisms by which the two dominant parties can be made more attentive to those they rule govern.

Those mechanisms rely largely on the system of preferential voting that operates at all levels of govt in Oz. In posts on other threads (dealing with such mechanisms) I've attempted to explain them to northern hemisphere people who are unfamiliar with the concept, so I won't repeat them here. But, although there have been occasions when US voters have raised the concept to those with influence, the attempts universally failed; it seems "First past the post" is the only system that US voters can be brought to understand.

Not many US voters know much about Oz so it's no surprise that they'll be unfamiliar with many of our eccentricities but, with the possibility of a 'hung Parliament' in Britain in a week or two, the possible introduction of preferential voting to the electorate(s) there may get more of an airing of the idea and its operation, with a consequent increase in understanding 'across the pond'.

Cheers, Rowan