The accountability priorities of federal parliamentarians and whether they are reflected in the Commonwealth budgetary and reporting framework. Senate committees provide the main forum in which elected representatives can directly scrutinise the actions of public officials. The project, by providing new detailed evidence about the accountability priorities of Senators, will contribute to ongoing debate about how to improve the quality of information provided by government agencies to Parliament ....The accountability priorities of federal parliamentarians and whether they are reflected in the Commonwealth budgetary and reporting framework. Senate committees provide the main forum in which elected representatives can directly scrutinise the actions of public officials. The project, by providing new detailed evidence about the accountability priorities of Senators, will contribute to ongoing debate about how to improve the quality of information provided by government agencies to Parliament. It will provide a valuable counterbalance to the dominant views of the Department of Finance and Administration which do not necessarily reflect the interests of the wider public. The quality of public information and of democratic governance will therefore be significantly enhanced.Read moreRead less
Enrolling the People: The Development of Modern Electoral Administration. In Australia, electoral administration became centralised, professionalised and relatively free of partisan interference during the colonial period. That considerable achievement has been little studied.
The aims of this project are to produce a history of the development of colonial electoral administration; and to isolate the factors that enabled the development of modern electoral administration.
To answer these q ....Enrolling the People: The Development of Modern Electoral Administration. In Australia, electoral administration became centralised, professionalised and relatively free of partisan interference during the colonial period. That considerable achievement has been little studied.
The aims of this project are to produce a history of the development of colonial electoral administration; and to isolate the factors that enabled the development of modern electoral administration.
To answer these questions will illuminate a neglected aspect of Australia's record of institutional innovation. It will also feed directly into the concerns of multilateral bodies over how good electoral practice can be institutionalised.
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Towards Sustainable Regional Institutions: The Nature, Role and Governance Implications of Contemporary Australian Regionalism. This project is the first-ever national description of Australian regionalism, using insights from political and social science, constitutional theory and public administration. Built on successful pilots, this research will equip government, civil society, development agencies and regional policymakers with a region-by-region picture of the links between spatial varia ....Towards Sustainable Regional Institutions: The Nature, Role and Governance Implications of Contemporary Australian Regionalism. This project is the first-ever national description of Australian regionalism, using insights from political and social science, constitutional theory and public administration. Built on successful pilots, this research will equip government, civil society, development agencies and regional policymakers with a region-by-region picture of the links between spatial variations in political culture, civic trust, social capital and challenges of regional institutional design. This new picture of Australian regional attitudes, expectations and possibilities will contribute directly to national environmental sustainability, sustainable urban and regional development, revitalised regional communities and a stronger social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
Westminster Transplanted and Westminster Implanted: Explanations for Political Change. Why have Westminster systems,adopted across the world, been so resilient in different environments? By exploring how different nations have adapted the core executive components of Westminster by combining local traditions with inherited practices, the project will identify what conditions provided the stability and security that often emerged. By comparing performance across nations it will explain why Westmi ....Westminster Transplanted and Westminster Implanted: Explanations for Political Change. Why have Westminster systems,adopted across the world, been so resilient in different environments? By exploring how different nations have adapted the core executive components of Westminster by combining local traditions with inherited practices, the project will identify what conditions provided the stability and security that often emerged. By comparing performance across nations it will explain why Westminster practices were so adaptable. This is the first longitudinal study seeking to explain political development in societies that inherited executive practices from the same source. It has the potential to identify how and why future constitutional transplants might succeed.Read moreRead less
Rights Defence Lawyers and Constitutionalism in China. Scholars have argued that rights lawyers have played key roles in advancing social and political change in a reforming society through defining and defending citizen rights, developing civil society, and seeking to moderate state power. However, few studies have examined the political roles or aspirations of lawyers in contemporary China. This project aims to demonstrate how Chinese 'rights defence' lawyers have drawn together diverse strand ....Rights Defence Lawyers and Constitutionalism in China. Scholars have argued that rights lawyers have played key roles in advancing social and political change in a reforming society through defining and defending citizen rights, developing civil society, and seeking to moderate state power. However, few studies have examined the political roles or aspirations of lawyers in contemporary China. This project aims to demonstrate how Chinese 'rights defence' lawyers have drawn together diverse strands of social protest to become an articulating voice for constitutional reform. The project aims to make both empirical and theoretical contributions to the world-wide debate on the interaction between rights lawyers, rule of law, social activism and political reform.Read moreRead less
Australian welfare policy, 1950 to 2007: continuity and disruption. This project aims to analyse Australian welfare policy from the end of the Chifley government in 1949 to the end of the Howard government in 2007. The project intends to generate new understandings about the challenges facing the income support system, the key dynamics of policy reforms such as Medicare and Superannuation, and the “exceptionalism” of the Australian model. Expected outcomes include a new database based on time-se ....Australian welfare policy, 1950 to 2007: continuity and disruption. This project aims to analyse Australian welfare policy from the end of the Chifley government in 1949 to the end of the Howard government in 2007. The project intends to generate new understandings about the challenges facing the income support system, the key dynamics of policy reforms such as Medicare and Superannuation, and the “exceptionalism” of the Australian model. Expected outcomes include a new database based on time-series data concerning the core income support systems from 1950 to 2020. Intended benefits include a better understanding of the sort of welfare reform needed to pay for major social risks of unemployment, poverty, aged care, disability and the needs of children.Read moreRead less
Do public inquiries matter? tracking inquiry implementation in Australia. This project aims to assess the effectiveness of public inquiries. Governments rely on public inquiries yet we know little about the extent to which they facilitate policy learning. This project will track the implementation of recommendations generated by federal inquiries in Australia since 2000: evaluating the extent to which recommendations were implemented and the difference they have made. Expected outcomes include a ....Do public inquiries matter? tracking inquiry implementation in Australia. This project aims to assess the effectiveness of public inquiries. Governments rely on public inquiries yet we know little about the extent to which they facilitate policy learning. This project will track the implementation of recommendations generated by federal inquiries in Australia since 2000: evaluating the extent to which recommendations were implemented and the difference they have made. Expected outcomes include academic findings and best practice guidance to government about the contemporary value of inquiries. The findings may support a best-practice manual for public officials.Read moreRead less
How do Changes in Institutional Memory Affect Public Policy Processes? . This project will analyse how changes in institutional memory inside government impact on the effectiveness of public policy processes. Institutional memory changes as ministers, public servants and public agencies come and go, but we don’t know what effect these changes have over the quality of public policy. This project will therefore analyse how changes to institutional memory have influenced public services and polici ....How do Changes in Institutional Memory Affect Public Policy Processes? . This project will analyse how changes in institutional memory inside government impact on the effectiveness of public policy processes. Institutional memory changes as ministers, public servants and public agencies come and go, but we don’t know what effect these changes have over the quality of public policy. This project will therefore analyse how changes to institutional memory have influenced public services and policies in Australia and the UK. Expected outcomes include best practice recommendations for government - about how to address memory loss to improve public policy - and novel academic findings about how institutional memory influences the character of public service delivery, lesson-learning and long-term reform.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100936
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$452,353.00
Summary
Brideprice, Conflict, and Violence Against Women in Asia. This study aims to investigate where, how and why brideprice facilitates armed conflict and violence against women. Emerging evidence shows paying high brideprice incentivises men to join armed groups, and global modelling correlates brideprice and armed conflict. However, despite the exorbitant sums exchanged as brideprice in many societies, the socio-economic mechanisms connecting brideprice and conflict are not well understood. Expecte ....Brideprice, Conflict, and Violence Against Women in Asia. This study aims to investigate where, how and why brideprice facilitates armed conflict and violence against women. Emerging evidence shows paying high brideprice incentivises men to join armed groups, and global modelling correlates brideprice and armed conflict. However, despite the exorbitant sums exchanged as brideprice in many societies, the socio-economic mechanisms connecting brideprice and conflict are not well understood. Expected project outcomes are (1) data on volumes and prevalence of brideprice (2) understanding links to armed conflict and violence against women in Southeast Asia. This project’s findings will support more effective Australian gender equality and peacebuilding programs that take account of brideprice.Read moreRead less
Police corruption: an underestimated legitimacy and security risk. This project analyses police corruption in four states and makes recommendations for reducing it. While most states now recognise corruption as a problem, many are reluctant to address the issue of police corruption; yet when police officers collude with organised crime (for example, in drugs or arms trafficking), corruption can be a serious security risk.