Radical right populist parties. This project aims to explain why some radical right-wing populists in Western democracies enter governmental alliances with mainstream parties while others remain isolated. The emergence, spread and electoral success of radical right populists is a problem facing liberal democracy in the twenty-first century. While these parties’ policies, ideologies and rhetoric are similar, their relationships with mainstream parties are different. By examining explanatory facto ....Radical right populist parties. This project aims to explain why some radical right-wing populists in Western democracies enter governmental alliances with mainstream parties while others remain isolated. The emergence, spread and electoral success of radical right populists is a problem facing liberal democracy in the twenty-first century. While these parties’ policies, ideologies and rhetoric are similar, their relationships with mainstream parties are different. By examining explanatory factors that Political Science studies have so far been neglected, this project seeks to explain this variation and explore its implications for coalition theory.Read moreRead less
Agents of Disinformation: The Rise of Counterfeit Election Observers. This project investigates the rise of “counterfeit” election observers as agents of disinformation. Using four case studies and four qualitative methods, it identifies how autocratic regimes entice partisan individuals to imitate genuine international observers. The expected project outcome is an explanation for the origins, features and impact of counterfeit election observers that is practically applicable to our foreign aff ....Agents of Disinformation: The Rise of Counterfeit Election Observers. This project investigates the rise of “counterfeit” election observers as agents of disinformation. Using four case studies and four qualitative methods, it identifies how autocratic regimes entice partisan individuals to imitate genuine international observers. The expected project outcome is an explanation for the origins, features and impact of counterfeit election observers that is practically applicable to our foreign affairs and national intelligence communities as well as genuine observation organisations. The knowledge gained from this project will not only help defend Australia from malign disinformation, but advance its interest in the promotion of good governance and stronger democratic institutions everywhere.Read moreRead less
Political Trust and Satisfaction with Democracy in Australia. Declining public support is one of the greatest challenges to democracy. In 2019, Australia recorded the lowest level of trust in politics on record. This project aims to understand the reasons for declining political trust and satisfaction with democracy in Australia. The project hopes to field the 2022-25 Australian Election Study to address these issues by surveying a representative sample of voters following the 2022 and 2025 Aust ....Political Trust and Satisfaction with Democracy in Australia. Declining public support is one of the greatest challenges to democracy. In 2019, Australia recorded the lowest level of trust in politics on record. This project aims to understand the reasons for declining political trust and satisfaction with democracy in Australia. The project hopes to field the 2022-25 Australian Election Study to address these issues by surveying a representative sample of voters following the 2022 and 2025 Australian federal elections, in addition to continuing a longitudinal survey started in 2016. The project wants to add to an unbroken series of publicly available data on Australian political behaviour since 1987, while also producing new insights into how individual opinions change over time.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100210
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,000.00
Summary
Data, digital and field: political parties and 21st century campaigning. This project aims to investigate how political parties in parliamentary democracies are responding to the digital and field revolutions in campaigning. Political parties using these campaigning modes poses challenges for electoral regulators as well as for scholars of political parties trying to understand party organisation. Using six case studies from three parliamentary democracies, the expected outcome of this project i ....Data, digital and field: political parties and 21st century campaigning. This project aims to investigate how political parties in parliamentary democracies are responding to the digital and field revolutions in campaigning. Political parties using these campaigning modes poses challenges for electoral regulators as well as for scholars of political parties trying to understand party organisation. Using six case studies from three parliamentary democracies, the expected outcome of this project is an innovative account of the implications of these changes for political parties and liberal democracy. This project will increase scholarly understanding of political parties, and inform the work of electoral regulators to ensure the integrity of election campaigns are maintained.Read moreRead less
How can political actors shape voter turnout? This project aims to investigate what explains variations on individual's turnout rates by analysing the strategies employed by candidates and parties to mobilise their supporters and demobilise their detractors. The project will compare the mobilisation and demobilisation strategies of the parties and candidates in Spain, Mexico and India. Expected outcomes include an improved understanding of the demobilised, the re-affirmed abstainers and the acti ....How can political actors shape voter turnout? This project aims to investigate what explains variations on individual's turnout rates by analysing the strategies employed by candidates and parties to mobilise their supporters and demobilise their detractors. The project will compare the mobilisation and demobilisation strategies of the parties and candidates in Spain, Mexico and India. Expected outcomes include an improved understanding of the demobilised, the re-affirmed abstainers and the activated voters, which are under-studied. The findings will enhance understanding of motivations of those citizens, a topic of growing scholarly interest, and also inform Australian policy makers seeking to enhance the design of their governance interventions.Read moreRead less
Assessing the harms of online speech. This project aims to clarify the ways in which online speech can inflict harm. It is accepted in speech-act theory that speech is conduct that is capable of inflicting harm. This project aims to map and compare legal cases in which there was disagreement over the nature of the speech at issue because it occurred online. It will assess the harms of that speech from the perspective of speech-act theory, and the findings will be applied to the democratic argume ....Assessing the harms of online speech. This project aims to clarify the ways in which online speech can inflict harm. It is accepted in speech-act theory that speech is conduct that is capable of inflicting harm. This project aims to map and compare legal cases in which there was disagreement over the nature of the speech at issue because it occurred online. It will assess the harms of that speech from the perspective of speech-act theory, and the findings will be applied to the democratic argument in favour of free speech. This project should lead to societal benefits in reducing expressive harms, and cultural benefits in enhancing all users' ability to participate in important, legitimating deliberation online.Read moreRead less
Public Interest Advocacy in Australian Policymaking. The project aims to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of public interest advocacy, via the media, in elevating the responsiveness of elected political elites. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how the advocacy and media agendas are set, examine the way elected elites access and ingest news media, and conditions under which advocacy groups access to news changes political priorities. It is expected that the project will pr ....Public Interest Advocacy in Australian Policymaking. The project aims to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of public interest advocacy, via the media, in elevating the responsiveness of elected political elites. The project expects to generate new knowledge about how the advocacy and media agendas are set, examine the way elected elites access and ingest news media, and conditions under which advocacy groups access to news changes political priorities. It is expected that the project will provide an evidence base for citizens and policy makers to assess the effectiveness of public interest advocacy, and deliver benefits such as strengthening the quality of Australia’s representative democracy, and offer scholars new theories on the role of public interest advocacy on policy priorities.Read moreRead less
The internationalisation of nationalist populism. This project aims to explain the rising international cooperation between nationalist populists in democracies across the world. It expects to generate new knowledge about how and why these forces now work together to oppose common targets such as multilateral institutions, free trade and liberal democracy. Expected outcomes of this project include a sophisticated, evidence-based understanding of the dynamics and effects of contemporary nationali ....The internationalisation of nationalist populism. This project aims to explain the rising international cooperation between nationalist populists in democracies across the world. It expects to generate new knowledge about how and why these forces now work together to oppose common targets such as multilateral institutions, free trade and liberal democracy. Expected outcomes of this project include a sophisticated, evidence-based understanding of the dynamics and effects of contemporary nationalist populist cooperation. Given Australia's commitment to promoting good governance and strong democratic institutions, in addition to the interest overseas nationalist populists have shown in helping likeminded movements in Australia, the project will provide significant benefits for policymakers.Read moreRead less
The rise of China's currency, from of the rise of the red back. By examining the internationalisation of China’s currency, this project aims to enhance Australia’s capacity to respond to the rise of China and in particular to interpret financial stability and developments in China. China’s promotion of an internationalised profile of its currency stands at the heart of its current financial and economic strategy, and it may have profound implications on the future of the international monetary s ....The rise of China's currency, from of the rise of the red back. By examining the internationalisation of China’s currency, this project aims to enhance Australia’s capacity to respond to the rise of China and in particular to interpret financial stability and developments in China. China’s promotion of an internationalised profile of its currency stands at the heart of its current financial and economic strategy, and it may have profound implications on the future of the international monetary system and the world’s economic and political order. Using an innovative agent-centred institutional framework, the project intends to explore the political and institutional dynamics and internal and external aspects of Beijing’s currency strategy. This may shed light on the current debate on dynamics of institutional change and improve our understanding of China’s policymaking mechanisms.Read moreRead less
Cabinet Government in comparative perspective. This project explores how cabinet government is, or is not, able to develop a collective will. Cabinets lie at the heart of parliamentary systems, but public and academic analyses question whether they work effectively. Using examples of majoritarian and consensus democratic regimes, this project plans to examine how cabinets work and identify the different functions cabinet plays in developing collective views of policy or political situations. The ....Cabinet Government in comparative perspective. This project explores how cabinet government is, or is not, able to develop a collective will. Cabinets lie at the heart of parliamentary systems, but public and academic analyses question whether they work effectively. Using examples of majoritarian and consensus democratic regimes, this project plans to examine how cabinets work and identify the different functions cabinet plays in developing collective views of policy or political situations. The project expects to illustrates how the different appreciations of cabinet, whether seen as constitutional or operational, or in terms of policy analysis or political contests, help define the values of cabinet and can allow us to understand in what circumstances cabinet government is important in terms of stability and sensible policy. It asks if collective cabinets like Australia's can survive in the 21st century.Read moreRead less