Do cartoons help or hinder democracy?

Politics with punch

R10017 'St Kevin' cartoon by Simon Letch, 2007. With permission of Simon Letch. Artwork by Simon Letch.

© Education Services Australia Ltd and the National Museum of Australia, 2010, except where indicated otherwise

Do cartoons help or hinder democracy?

Politics with punch

Cartoons may appear simple and almost childish at times, but each one is trying to influence your ideas, and therefore your behaviour.

Each one may also have a major role to play in influencing the way we think about, and respond to, our democratic system of government.

Look at the following comments and decide how cartoons might play a positive role in a democracy.

Identify the key idea/s in each quote.

© Education Services Australia Ltd and the National Museum of Australia, 2010, except where indicated otherwise

Cartoonist Cathy Wilcox Good weekend magazine

13 July 2002, p17

‘A cartoon is looking under and behind the surface of events, reading between the lines, unravelling the spin doctors’ spinning.’

© Education Services Australia Ltd and the National Museum of Australia, 2010, except where indicated otherwise

‘[A cartoon] provokes people into thinking again about an issue … I am … interested in affecting the people in the middle, the swinging voter if you like.’ 

R10223 'Explaining democracy' cartoon by Bruce Petty, 2006. With permission of Bruce Petty. Artwork by Bruce Petty.

© Education Services Australia Ltd and the National Museum of Australia, 2010, except where indicated otherwise

Cartoonist Bruce Petty

Good weekend magazine

13 July 2002, p16, 19

Cartoonist Phil Somerville

Good weekend magazine

13 July 2002, p17

‘Drawing a cartoon is a way of expressing my anger and hopefully at the same time making other people angry about it.’

© Education Services Australia Ltd and the National Museum of Australia, 2010, except where indicated otherwise

‘I don’t think it really matters if you’re a left-wing cartoonist or a right-wing cartoonist, as long as you make your point clearly and in a hard-hitting way, you’ve got the potential there to make people think.’

R10224 'D'ya'avagoodweekend?' cartoon by Bill Leak, 2002. With permission of Bill Leak. Artwork by Bill Leak.

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Cartoonist Bill Leak in ‘The people’s choice’ by Claire McWilliams, The big issue, July 2000

Some critics, however, argue that cartoons can in fact act as a destructive rather than a positive force by ‘white-anting’ a democracy.

Read the following passage, identify the key points and discuss the idea that cartoons might actually harm democracy.

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‘The … nature of the cartooning medium ensures that there is a lack of balance in the graphic comment on politics. Cartoons that praise politics, politicians or the political institution do not appear because they would not be humorous … The problem is that, if cartoons have any impact on public opinion … it is in the direction of increasing cynicism about politics, politicians and the political system …

It is healthy in a democracy to make fun of people in power who take themselves too seriously or who try to cover their inconsistencies with bluster or propaganda. The best political satire … can cut to the core of political debate and highlights the real choices available in a working democracy. However there probably also needs to be some consideration of the boundary lines between healthy satire and a more destructive cynicism.’

© Education Services Australia Ltd and the National Museum of Australia, 2010, except where indicated otherwise

Michael Hogan , ‘Cartoonists and political cynicism’ , The drawing board: an Australian review of public affairs, Vol 2 No 1 July 2001, pp 47–48