For the Liberal Party of Australia, the loss of government in May after nine years was dispiriting, but hardly a novel experience.

It was the nature of the loss that shocked - the loss of seats not just to their old rival, the Labor Party, but the loss of once-safe conservative seats in wealthy inner metropolitan districts to a new socially progressive movement known as the teal independents.

Henry Olsen joins Menzies Research Centre Executive Director Nick Cater to discuss the great realignment in democratic politics. He draws comparisons between the political dynamics in Australia, Europe and the United States.

Profound changes to the political topography like this are happening across the world in almost every democracy.

Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Centre and a columnist for the Washington Post. He visited Australia as a guest of the Centre for Independent Studies.

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