Connecting Government to Community: A study of social and political connectivity at the municipal level. Facilitating community strengthening by making public institutions more responsive to the needs of citizens is a central policy challenge in the global era. This project will advance theoretical, methodological and practical understandings of this issue by using comparative measures of personal ties and organizational connectedness in four municipalities to explicate the networks linking poli ....Connecting Government to Community: A study of social and political connectivity at the municipal level. Facilitating community strengthening by making public institutions more responsive to the needs of citizens is a central policy challenge in the global era. This project will advance theoretical, methodological and practical understandings of this issue by using comparative measures of personal ties and organizational connectedness in four municipalities to explicate the networks linking politicians, bureaucrats, civic leaders and ordinary citizens. The study will generate new measures of which kinds of connections count most, which ties bring more isolated groups closer to engagement, and which community strengthening strategies are likely to make improved governance outcomes feasible.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
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
Mapping the policy advisory capacity of the Australian federal government: assessing transformations in the policy advising role of the Australian Public Service. Governmental effectiveness depends to a significant extent on the availability of high quality information, analysis and advice. This project therefore addresses a matter of crucial national importance, namely the ability of the Australian Public Service to support decision-making through its policy advising functions. The project is s ....Mapping the policy advisory capacity of the Australian federal government: assessing transformations in the policy advising role of the Australian Public Service. Governmental effectiveness depends to a significant extent on the availability of high quality information, analysis and advice. This project therefore addresses a matter of crucial national importance, namely the ability of the Australian Public Service to support decision-making through its policy advising functions. The project is significant for both its theoretical and practical contributions. Its findings will inform better understandings of the policy advising role of the public service and its relationship to decision-makers in an increasingly pluralised governance context. The project will be the Australian contribution to a larger comparative project examining policy advisory capacities in four Westminster-style governments.Read moreRead less
Academic networks and performance frameworks: Comparing the impact of policy on knowledge generation across disciplines and countries. Australian universities are central to the infrastructure that develops and fosters human talent and encourages innovation, through producing research, providing training, and transferring the knowledge they generate to government and the Australian community. This proposal falls with National Research Priority 3 - promoting an innovation culture and economy. It ....Academic networks and performance frameworks: Comparing the impact of policy on knowledge generation across disciplines and countries. Australian universities are central to the infrastructure that develops and fosters human talent and encourages innovation, through producing research, providing training, and transferring the knowledge they generate to government and the Australian community. This proposal falls with National Research Priority 3 - promoting an innovation culture and economy. It will provide an essential framework for immediate use in examining the consequences of the new research performance and funding arrangements being introduced in 2007, and assessing the impacts of policies that encourage collaboration. The comparisons with three other countries with similar policy goals will generate insights on how policy can best support knowledge generation.Read moreRead less
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
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
Community consultation and the hard to reach. Local government, social profiling and civic infrastructure. This study offers conceptual insights into reasons for non-participation in local government consultation, drawing on critical policy analysis and debates on governance and democratic capacity. The collaboration of 7 local councils and the VLGA enable the development of a transferable, generally viable framework linking: (i) sophisticated demographic profiles (ii) types of communication me ....Community consultation and the hard to reach. Local government, social profiling and civic infrastructure. This study offers conceptual insights into reasons for non-participation in local government consultation, drawing on critical policy analysis and debates on governance and democratic capacity. The collaboration of 7 local councils and the VLGA enable the development of a transferable, generally viable framework linking: (i) sophisticated demographic profiles (ii) types of communication media on a continuum of intensity (face to face, telephone/mail survey, email/Internet); (iii) issues on which residents wish to be consulted; and (iv) implications for civic infrastructure. Outcomes will benefit councils and Victorian citizens by providing an innovative, practically applicable framework for policy implementation using consultative processes.Read moreRead less
Judicially Speaking: An Oral History of the High Court of Australia. This project will leave a basic research legacy by creating a history of the High Court in the words of those closest to it. The Court is among our most under-researched national institutions. By deepening understanding of how the High Court has operated in the past, including in response to social and political change, the project will enrich debate about how it should function in the future. It will provide new insights into ....Judicially Speaking: An Oral History of the High Court of Australia. This project will leave a basic research legacy by creating a history of the High Court in the words of those closest to it. The Court is among our most under-researched national institutions. By deepening understanding of how the High Court has operated in the past, including in response to social and political change, the project will enrich debate about how it should function in the future. It will provide new insights into the evolution of Australian law to meet the challenges of tomorrow and will preserve vital national heritage in the form of the recollections of prominent national figures.Read moreRead less
Australian Public Policy Responses to Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Comparativist and Historical Perspectives. Furnishing the first comprehensive history of Australia's response to refugees and asylum seekers, the project will enhance our understanding of the genealogy of current Australian policy and inform debate in an area of intense concern to policy makers and the general public. The project will put the Australian response into context by comparing it with that of New Zealand and by analysi ....Australian Public Policy Responses to Refugees and Asylum Seekers: Comparativist and Historical Perspectives. Furnishing the first comprehensive history of Australia's response to refugees and asylum seekers, the project will enhance our understanding of the genealogy of current Australian policy and inform debate in an area of intense concern to policy makers and the general public. The project will put the Australian response into context by comparing it with that of New Zealand and by analysing it against the backdrop of the evolution of the international refugee regime.Read moreRead less