Cascades of Violence and Nonviolence. Why did the Arab Spring spread so fast? Why did so many communist regimes collapse so quickly in 1989? This project explains why tactics of violence and of nonviolence cause contagion. It develops a new evidence-based theory of how to contain cascades of violence and accelerate contagions of nonviolence to create a less violent world.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101123
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$393,359.00
Summary
Through their eyes: Rethinking the role of information operations in counterinsurgency scholarship and strategy. Western counterinsurgency forces regularly lose the 'information battle' to militarily and economically inferior insurgent forces. This project explores why and how insurgent adversaries often prove superior in shaping the perceptions of local populations and winning their support. Through case studies of East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, the project identifies the key strategic pilla ....Through their eyes: Rethinking the role of information operations in counterinsurgency scholarship and strategy. Western counterinsurgency forces regularly lose the 'information battle' to militarily and economically inferior insurgent forces. This project explores why and how insurgent adversaries often prove superior in shaping the perceptions of local populations and winning their support. Through case studies of East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, the project identifies the key strategic pillars in insurgent information operations in order to critically analyse and revise the role of information operations in counterinsurgency theory and practice. This research will advance scholarly understanding of the psychosocial dynamics of influence during conflict and challenge dominant trends in counterinsurgency theory and practice.Read moreRead less
Indonesian Democracy: The Politics of Failed Reform and Regime Viability. Despite high hopes following the fall of Indonesia's authoritarian regime, political reform has been limited. The project examines the reasons for slow progress. Among the areas to be studied are constitutional and electoral reform, military reform, judicial reform, decentralisation, preservation of order and economic reform. It will argue that the weakness of the state in carrying out reforms is largely due to the penetra ....Indonesian Democracy: The Politics of Failed Reform and Regime Viability. Despite high hopes following the fall of Indonesia's authoritarian regime, political reform has been limited. The project examines the reasons for slow progress. Among the areas to be studied are constitutional and electoral reform, military reform, judicial reform, decentralisation, preservation of order and economic reform. It will argue that the weakness of the state in carrying out reforms is largely due to the penetration of the state itself by vested interests. Limited reforms have only been implemented when the viability of the regime itself has been at stake. This research is significant for Indonesian politics and political theory.Read moreRead less
Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to prom ....Expectations and commitments in the Australia-USA alliance. This project aims to investigate the gap between the high expectations of mutual support and the lack of detailed security commitments in the Australia-US Alliance. The project intends to use a focused approach that captures thematic aspects of the alliance through project frames and historical slices across time. Expected outcomes can advance understanding of how alliances operate as security institutions. The outcomes can help to promote a more informed national conversation about the costs and benefits of Australia's security relationship with the United States of America (USA) and contribute to debates over the future of the Australia-USA Alliance during a period of strategic uncertainty.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200739
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$202,156.00
Summary
Monitoring Deliberative Integrity in Australia. The project aims to develop and apply the concept of deliberative integrity as a counterpart to more familiar ideas about electoral integrity in the evaluation of democratic processes. The project develops significant new knowledge about the ethical conduct of Australian citizen engagement processes through conceptual and methodological innovation to produce a Deliberative Integrity Monitoring Tool that will be applied to the expanding range of del ....Monitoring Deliberative Integrity in Australia. The project aims to develop and apply the concept of deliberative integrity as a counterpart to more familiar ideas about electoral integrity in the evaluation of democratic processes. The project develops significant new knowledge about the ethical conduct of Australian citizen engagement processes through conceptual and methodological innovation to produce a Deliberative Integrity Monitoring Tool that will be applied to the expanding range of deliberative democratic innovations in Australia. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of how such innovations can and should be designed. Benefits include a set of standards for best practice in democratic innovation that will in turn help improve the quality of Australian democracy.Read moreRead less
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
An Empirical Study of Agenda Setting in the High Court of Australia. This project aims to undertake the first comprehensive study of institutional and individual factors that facilitate and constrain access to judicial power via the High Court’s agenda setting process, special leave. Using quantitative methods, the project expects to generate new and advanced knowledge about the High Court’s role as the gatekeeper of judicial power. Expected outcomes include foundational knowledge on the nature ....An Empirical Study of Agenda Setting in the High Court of Australia. This project aims to undertake the first comprehensive study of institutional and individual factors that facilitate and constrain access to judicial power via the High Court’s agenda setting process, special leave. Using quantitative methods, the project expects to generate new and advanced knowledge about the High Court’s role as the gatekeeper of judicial power. Expected outcomes include foundational knowledge on the nature and scope of access to judicial power in Australia via policy reports, scholarly articles and datasets. This should provide significant benefits such as important insights on the impact and influence of justices, litigants, lawyers, and governments on High Court’s decisions to grant or deny special leave to appeal.Read moreRead less
'Political' public servants: challenges, risks and rewards. The current ministerial and parliamentary staff system in Australia, established by the Member of Parliament Staff Act 1984, created a mechanism by which public servants can disengage from the public service while working as ministerial and parliamentary staffers, and later re-engage with the public service. This project will explore the phenomenon of the so-called 'political public servant' and the nature of impartiality and partisansh ....'Political' public servants: challenges, risks and rewards. The current ministerial and parliamentary staff system in Australia, established by the Member of Parliament Staff Act 1984, created a mechanism by which public servants can disengage from the public service while working as ministerial and parliamentary staffers, and later re-engage with the public service. This project will explore the phenomenon of the so-called 'political public servant' and the nature of impartiality and partisanship, asking whether these attributes are easily adopted and discarded or whether in fact they coexist within a subset of 'hybrid' public servants.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR200200385
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$262,359.00
Summary
Transforming Democracy in the Bush: A Study of Politics in Rural Australia. This project aims to examine changing patterns of political participation and representation in rural Australia. Almost one third of our population lives outside major cities yet little is known about the democratic dynamics unfolding in rural Australia as it faces major demographic, economic and environmental change. Through in-depth case research this project will analyse how rural Australians participate in politics, ....Transforming Democracy in the Bush: A Study of Politics in Rural Australia. This project aims to examine changing patterns of political participation and representation in rural Australia. Almost one third of our population lives outside major cities yet little is known about the democratic dynamics unfolding in rural Australia as it faces major demographic, economic and environmental change. Through in-depth case research this project will analyse how rural Australians participate in politics, the interests they seek to advance and the efficacy of their political and civic activities. Expected outcomes include strengthened research capacity in rural politics, new frameworks for assessing how democracy is transforming, and reform pathways to enhance the engagement of diverse constituencies in our political system.Read moreRead less
Deliberative democracy in the public sphere: achieving deliberative outcomes in mass publics. This project will systematically explore ways in which citizens can engage more deeply with complex policy issues without the need to resort to massive expenditure on running multiple deliberative forums, such as citizens' assemblies. It will identify the language is needed to deliberatively inform and the vehicles for providing that information.