The Accountability of Australian Cabinet Ministers. This project will help shape public expectations about what they should expect in terms of ministerial responsibility through media disseminations of the arguments and analysis of this research. It will help shape media reflection in current ministerial issues by providing readily accessible information on similar issues in the past which will inform public debate as to how far current ministerial actions conform to those of the past, and how ....The Accountability of Australian Cabinet Ministers. This project will help shape public expectations about what they should expect in terms of ministerial responsibility through media disseminations of the arguments and analysis of this research. It will help shape media reflection in current ministerial issues by providing readily accessible information on similar issues in the past which will inform public debate as to how far current ministerial actions conform to those of the past, and how far they depart from them. It will help expectations be shaped by reality showing the degree to which ministerial durability is affected by performance.
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Please Explain! The Media Presence, Electoral Appeal and Political Impact of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. The success of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party is an important development in Australian politics. This project seeks to: examine the ways in which the media have reported the phenomenon; test competing explanations for the party's electoral appeal, including theories derived from the rise of the radical right elsewhere and explore the party's impact on the electoral strategies and p ....Please Explain! The Media Presence, Electoral Appeal and Political Impact of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. The success of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party is an important development in Australian politics. This project seeks to: examine the ways in which the media have reported the phenomenon; test competing explanations for the party's electoral appeal, including theories derived from the rise of the radical right elsewhere and explore the party's impact on the electoral strategies and public policies of the established parties. It will enhance our understanding of media practices and power, of the conditions under which populist parties may emerge, and of conservative politics under challRead moreRead less
Creating Public Opinion: Polls, the Press and Australian Politics since the 1940s. Opinion polls, commissioned regularly by the press since the 1940s and by political parties since the 1960s, have altered our understandings of public opinion, affected the way politics is reported, and transformed the ways in which political leaders act and the parties campaign. Until now, none of this has been properly documented or effectively analysed. This project will help those involved in public opinion re ....Creating Public Opinion: Polls, the Press and Australian Politics since the 1940s. Opinion polls, commissioned regularly by the press since the 1940s and by political parties since the 1960s, have altered our understandings of public opinion, affected the way politics is reported, and transformed the ways in which political leaders act and the parties campaign. Until now, none of this has been properly documented or effectively analysed. This project will help those involved in public opinion research, political journalism, and parliamentary politics to reflect on the strength and weaknesses of their practices. It will allow others in the community to understand what has changed, how it has changed, and why.Read moreRead less
Strengthening Parliamentary Institutions: Australia in Comparative Perspective. Australia has a valuable international record as a parliamentary democracy, with much to teach, as well as much to learn from, the international community about effective parliamentary institutions. This joint ANU-Commonwealth Parliament project will be based at the ANU's new Parliamentary Studies Centre and managed by that Centre's inaugural director, Professor John Uhr. The project will greatly strengthen the intel ....Strengthening Parliamentary Institutions: Australia in Comparative Perspective. Australia has a valuable international record as a parliamentary democracy, with much to teach, as well as much to learn from, the international community about effective parliamentary institutions. This joint ANU-Commonwealth Parliament project will be based at the ANU's new Parliamentary Studies Centre and managed by that Centre's inaugural director, Professor John Uhr. The project will greatly strengthen the intellectual and policy framework of Australia's democracy assistance in the Asia Pacific region.Read moreRead less
Neo-liberalism and the Decline of Democratic Governance: A Problem of Institutional Design? How well Australia's democracy is working is critical both for national policy making and for citizenship. Many scholars argue that populism is in the ascendant, political parties have weakened and that public confidence in political leaders has diminished. This project will provide an authoritative test of these propositions. If they are established, it will identify the ways democratic governance can be ....Neo-liberalism and the Decline of Democratic Governance: A Problem of Institutional Design? How well Australia's democracy is working is critical both for national policy making and for citizenship. Many scholars argue that populism is in the ascendant, political parties have weakened and that public confidence in political leaders has diminished. This project will provide an authoritative test of these propositions. If they are established, it will identify the ways democratic governance can be renewed.Read moreRead less
Governing vs. opposition parties and the global financial crisis: Comparing the United Kingdom and Australia. The Australian Prime Minister has described the global financial crisis as the 'equivalent of a rolling national security crisis'. Our project, which examines the pressures upon political parties to adopt an adversarial approach to crises as an election approaches, benefits the nation by enhancing our understanding of how political systems cope with crisis. Should governing and oppositio ....Governing vs. opposition parties and the global financial crisis: Comparing the United Kingdom and Australia. The Australian Prime Minister has described the global financial crisis as the 'equivalent of a rolling national security crisis'. Our project, which examines the pressures upon political parties to adopt an adversarial approach to crises as an election approaches, benefits the nation by enhancing our understanding of how political systems cope with crisis. Should governing and opposition parties unite in order to tackle the national crisis and portray consensus to the outside world? Or should they continue to engage in routine adversary criticism, facilitating dialogue and providing a 'check' on a centralised response? Our research will help develop an understanding of Australia's capacity to respond to major economic threats.Read moreRead less
The Politics of Rights: Australia in Comparative Perspective. Australia tends to be left out of comparative rights studies, and accounts of rights protection tend to be focused upon courts and legal rights. There is no comparative study available that shows how well Australia protects rights, nor does there exist a detailed national study that shows how rights are protected in Australia by parliamentary means and the political mediation of international rights norms. This project will deliver bo ....The Politics of Rights: Australia in Comparative Perspective. Australia tends to be left out of comparative rights studies, and accounts of rights protection tend to be focused upon courts and legal rights. There is no comparative study available that shows how well Australia protects rights, nor does there exist a detailed national study that shows how rights are protected in Australia by parliamentary means and the political mediation of international rights norms. This project will deliver both, enabling a fuller understanding of Australian rights protection. It will also boost comparative knowledge of rights protection via political means. Read moreRead less
Reconstructing Parliamentary Oppposition. This project reconstructs theories of parliamentary opposition in democratic regimes, blending conceptual analysis with empirical investigation of predominately Australian patterns of parliamentary opposition. Debates over conventional models of 'responsible opposition' reveal the international importance of Australia as a valuable test-case of opposition possibilities. Accordingly, this project uses the Australian experience for heuristic purposes to re ....Reconstructing Parliamentary Oppposition. This project reconstructs theories of parliamentary opposition in democratic regimes, blending conceptual analysis with empirical investigation of predominately Australian patterns of parliamentary opposition. Debates over conventional models of 'responsible opposition' reveal the international importance of Australia as a valuable test-case of opposition possibilities. Accordingly, this project uses the Australian experience for heuristic purposes to reformulate and strengthen theories of parliamentary opposition, drawing on parliamentary history and interviews, in addition to conceptual and comparative analysis.
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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
The changing roles, avenues and Impacts of public interest whistleblowing in the era of secure online technologies. This project will consolidate the place of Australian researchers at the cutting edge of world research on whistle blowing, and place Australian integrity and regulatory institutions at the forefront of new knowledge about the maximisation of employee disclosures as a tool of law enforcement, corruption resistance, financial security, public accountability and institutional effecti ....The changing roles, avenues and Impacts of public interest whistleblowing in the era of secure online technologies. This project will consolidate the place of Australian researchers at the cutting edge of world research on whistle blowing, and place Australian integrity and regulatory institutions at the forefront of new knowledge about the maximisation of employee disclosures as a tool of law enforcement, corruption resistance, financial security, public accountability and institutional effectiveness. Through unique access to the organizers and users of www.wikileaks.org and like technologies, the project provides a special opportunity for Australia to continue the development of its world-leading expertise in the study, promotion and best-practice regulation of public interest whistle blowing.Read moreRead less