Democratic Audit of Australia. The Democratic Audit of Australia is an assessment of Australia's strengths and weaknesses as a democratic society. It will examine five key areas: (i) citizenship, law and rights; (2) representative and accountable government; (3) participation and government responsiveness; (4) democracy beyond the state; and (5) democracy and federalism. The audit process was pioneered in Britain and has now been applied in ten countries including New Zealand.
The Audit aim ....Democratic Audit of Australia. The Democratic Audit of Australia is an assessment of Australia's strengths and weaknesses as a democratic society. It will examine five key areas: (i) citizenship, law and rights; (2) representative and accountable government; (3) participation and government responsiveness; (4) democracy beyond the state; and (5) democracy and federalism. The audit process was pioneered in Britain and has now been applied in ten countries including New Zealand.
The Audit aims to make a major methodological contribution to democracy assessment, as well as providing benchmark data for purposes of monitoring and international comparison. It will also promote public debate over democracy issues.Read moreRead less
Public Political Criticism in Contemporary Vietnam. This study will enhance Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with its regional and global environment by expanding its comprehension of the political system in Vietnam, a prominent Asian neighbor. The outcomes will benefit Australian diplomats, investors, business people, journalists, aid donors, and universities with interests and programs in the region. As a major work on Vietnam that is also comparative and engages political science ....Public Political Criticism in Contemporary Vietnam. This study will enhance Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with its regional and global environment by expanding its comprehension of the political system in Vietnam, a prominent Asian neighbor. The outcomes will benefit Australian diplomats, investors, business people, journalists, aid donors, and universities with interests and programs in the region. As a major work on Vietnam that is also comparative and engages political science literature on authoritarian regimes and political movements, this project also augments Australia's reputation as a source of high quality research on Asian countries.Read moreRead less
The 2004 Australian Election Study Survey: The Decline of Political Parties? Long renowned for the stability of its political party system, Australia is finally experiencing a sustained challenge to the dominance of the major parties, which is reflected in an increasing preference by voters for minor parties and independent candidates. This project will examine the implications of these developments by conducting a public-use, national sample survey of voters at the next federal election, likely ....The 2004 Australian Election Study Survey: The Decline of Political Parties? Long renowned for the stability of its political party system, Australia is finally experiencing a sustained challenge to the dominance of the major parties, which is reflected in an increasing preference by voters for minor parties and independent candidates. This project will examine the implications of these developments by conducting a public-use, national sample survey of voters at the next federal election, likely to be held in 2004. The outcomes generated by the project will enhance academic and community understanding of the nature of the changing partisan climate within the Australian electorate.Read moreRead less
Democratization, Institutional Reform and Ethnic Politics in the Asia-Pacific. The democratisation of the Asia-Pacific has significant implications for Australia. Consolidated democracies are better able to manage internal conflicts, and less likely to pose a threat to their neighbours via arms trafficking, refugee flows, and transnational terrorism. However, the initial transitional period of democratisation can be highly fraught, and many of the new democracies of the Asia-Pacific are fragile, ....Democratization, Institutional Reform and Ethnic Politics in the Asia-Pacific. The democratisation of the Asia-Pacific has significant implications for Australia. Consolidated democracies are better able to manage internal conflicts, and less likely to pose a threat to their neighbours via arms trafficking, refugee flows, and transnational terrorism. However, the initial transitional period of democratisation can be highly fraught, and many of the new democracies of the Asia-Pacific are fragile, beset by internal cleavages and conflicts. If ways can be found to manage ethnic and other cleavages within a democratic framework, the prospects for peaceful and stable governance in the region will be significantly enhanced. This has the potential to transform the security of the region and Australia's relations with it.Read moreRead less
The 2012/13 Australian Election Study: volatility and electoral change. The 2012/13 Australian Election Study will provide both an in-depth understanding of general patterns of voting behaviour and a detailed, objective account of how and why voters made up their minds in this federal election. The study adds to the unbroken series of national surveys conducted after each Australian federal election since 1987.
Political party financing and democratic consolidation in Indonesia. As Australia's vast neighbour to the north, Indonesia, is of critical importance to Australian national interests. Particularly essential in this regard is the stability of Indonesia's young democracy, which is increasingly threatened by the widespread perception that party politics are contaminated by corrupt, greedy and self-centred politicians. This sentiment is largely fuelled by complaints about questionable fundraising pr ....Political party financing and democratic consolidation in Indonesia. As Australia's vast neighbour to the north, Indonesia, is of critical importance to Australian national interests. Particularly essential in this regard is the stability of Indonesia's young democracy, which is increasingly threatened by the widespread perception that party politics are contaminated by corrupt, greedy and self-centred politicians. This sentiment is largely fuelled by complaints about questionable fundraising practices of political parties. Accordingly, this study will be of great interest to Australian policy-makers, aid officials and businesses that wish to address the deficiencies in Indonesia's political system through political and economic cooperation programs.Read moreRead less
Political Engagement Among the Young: The 2016-19 Australian Election Study. This project seeks to understand the declining level of political engagement among the young, with a view to developing measures that will help to re-invigorate their political participation. One of the greatest challenges to democracy in Australia and internationally is to understand the lack of political engagement among the young. Young people today are less likely to vote, to join a political party, or to engage in ....Political Engagement Among the Young: The 2016-19 Australian Election Study. This project seeks to understand the declining level of political engagement among the young, with a view to developing measures that will help to re-invigorate their political participation. One of the greatest challenges to democracy in Australia and internationally is to understand the lack of political engagement among the young. Young people today are less likely to vote, to join a political party, or to engage in interest groups than at any time since democratisation. The 2016–19 Australian Election Study is designed to address this question by surveying a representative sample of voters in the 2016 and 2019 elections. The project is also designed to add to an unbroken series of post-election national opinion surveys which have monitored trends in Australian political behaviour since 1987.Read moreRead less
Closing the Political Legitimacy Gap: The International Monetary Fund and Tax Reform, 1965-2005. This project investigates how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can improve its poor success with tax reform programs in borrowing states. It does so by analysing the success and failure of IMF tax reform programs in 20 borrowing states with varied regional, political, and economic characteristics between 1965 and 2005. This research has national and community benefit for two reasons. First, Aust ....Closing the Political Legitimacy Gap: The International Monetary Fund and Tax Reform, 1965-2005. This project investigates how the International Monetary Fund (IMF) can improve its poor success with tax reform programs in borrowing states. It does so by analysing the success and failure of IMF tax reform programs in 20 borrowing states with varied regional, political, and economic characteristics between 1965 and 2005. This research has national and community benefit for two reasons. First, Australia has a close relationship with the IMF and an obligation to assist it with issues of global political and economic concern. Second, as problems with fiscal sustainability are strongly associated with international political and economic instability, Australia must develop its knowledge base on the politics of successful tax reform.Read moreRead less
Democratic Audit of Australia: The Second Wave. The Democratic Audit asks "How democratic is our country and its government?" This project will give the community a comprehensive survey of the strengths and weaknesses of Australian democracy, tracking changes since the 2004 report. It will also provide more detailed findings on major questions that confront Australian governments now like the regulation of political financing and the impact on politics of new technologies like the internet. Usin ....Democratic Audit of Australia: The Second Wave. The Democratic Audit asks "How democratic is our country and its government?" This project will give the community a comprehensive survey of the strengths and weaknesses of Australian democracy, tracking changes since the 2004 report. It will also provide more detailed findings on major questions that confront Australian governments now like the regulation of political financing and the impact on politics of new technologies like the internet. Using audit data, the project will produce a major scholarly analysis of the relationship between democratic values and the institutional choices made in Australia. Because a central objective of the Audit is to promote public debate, all Audit findings are published and placed on the Audit website.Read moreRead less
Duties beyond borders: A historical approach to protecting the vulnerable. What, if anything, do states owe to vulnerable people beyond their borders, be they seeking asylum, needing humanitarian assistance, or requiring protection from mass atrocities? This project plans to take a historical approach to answering this question. There is a long and rich history of thinking about duties to vulnerable strangers and foreigners, but the contemporary literature on global justice and the ‘responsibili ....Duties beyond borders: A historical approach to protecting the vulnerable. What, if anything, do states owe to vulnerable people beyond their borders, be they seeking asylum, needing humanitarian assistance, or requiring protection from mass atrocities? This project plans to take a historical approach to answering this question. There is a long and rich history of thinking about duties to vulnerable strangers and foreigners, but the contemporary literature on global justice and the ‘responsibility to protect’ is largely blind to it. The project aims to redress this by producing a history of the idea that states have duties to assist and protect those beyond their borders from mass suffering. It then aims to examine how this history can inform our understanding of present-day debates and dilemmas.Read moreRead less