Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354730
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
Governance and Economic Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Next Steps. This Initiative brings together economists, political scientists, and academic lawyers with a track record of influential policy-oriented research on the design and implementation of economic and governance reforms in the Asia-Pacific region. The reform agenda covers corporate governance, national economic policy and political institutions, and frameworks for international cooperation around the Pacific region. Key issues ....Governance and Economic Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Next Steps. This Initiative brings together economists, political scientists, and academic lawyers with a track record of influential policy-oriented research on the design and implementation of economic and governance reforms in the Asia-Pacific region. The reform agenda covers corporate governance, national economic policy and political institutions, and frameworks for international cooperation around the Pacific region. Key issues are institutional transparency and accountability, economic efficiency and growth, and transnational cooperation. By holding a workshop, building a bibliometric survey, and linking research through a well-designed website, the initiative will propose an international network designed to further research on the problems of economic and governance reform.Read moreRead less
Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have onl ....Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have only begun to consider such issues, which have been debated in America for decades. This project will involve a comparison of the methodologies of constitutional interpretation in five different countries, and a theoretical inquiry into the underlying normative and linguistic principles.Read moreRead less
Executive Power under the Australian Constitution: definition, delimitation and accountability. The executive branch of government is the central actor in protecting Australia from terrorism and crime, as it is in other countries. The executive is also central to defence, immigration control as well as critical domestic policy domains. Understanding the nature and scope of executive power, and how it is regulated and rendered accountable, is therefore vital to good governance and successful prot ....Executive Power under the Australian Constitution: definition, delimitation and accountability. The executive branch of government is the central actor in protecting Australia from terrorism and crime, as it is in other countries. The executive is also central to defence, immigration control as well as critical domestic policy domains. Understanding the nature and scope of executive power, and how it is regulated and rendered accountable, is therefore vital to good governance and successful protection of Australian interests. This project will provide the first integrated, broadly-based and comparatively-informed analysis of executive government under the Constitution since the emergence of Australian constitutional nationalism in the High Court in the 1990s and since the executive assumed expanded powers in the post 9/11 world.Read moreRead less
Freedom of Expression in Democratic States: A New Theoretical Direction. Modern democratic states must protect freedom of expression while also responding to the harms caused by hateful, violent and dangerous form of speech - a problem accentuated by increasing racial, religious and ethnic conflict and the threat of (and responses to) terrorism.
The project is important because it aims to develop a theory of freedom of expression that - free from the distorting influence of the United States ....Freedom of Expression in Democratic States: A New Theoretical Direction. Modern democratic states must protect freedom of expression while also responding to the harms caused by hateful, violent and dangerous form of speech - a problem accentuated by increasing racial, religious and ethnic conflict and the threat of (and responses to) terrorism.
The project is important because it aims to develop a theory of freedom of expression that - free from the distorting influence of the United States jurisprudence - can explain and guide the courts in other democratic countries. Its comparative and theoretical innovation will place Australian scholarship at the forefront of a central problem in modern political life and enrich scholarly and public debate.Read moreRead less