Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven ....Community Rule-Making in the Pacific Islands as Regulatory Innovation. Our study investigates the widespread phenomena of ‘community rule-making’ in Pacific Island countries, in which local communities engage in deliberative processes oriented towards development of new normative orders. Occurring largely outside of state-sanctioned authority, such processes may address social problems such as gender based violence, crime and poverty, and frequently occur in the context of other locally-driven attempts at community regeneration. Through collaborative empirical research in PNG, Solomon Islands and Samoa, our project will build an evidence base to better understand the potential and the dangers of community rule-making, and develop ‘responsive hybridisation’ as a new analytical framework to theorise about it.
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Women in Local Government: Understanding their Political Trajectories. This project aims to investigate the chronic under representation of women in Australian politics through a local government lens. It expects to generate new knowledge about barriers to female political representation, their political performance and pathways to higher tiers of elected office. By following men and women councillors across an election cycle, this research seeks to robustly compare and measure women's experienc ....Women in Local Government: Understanding their Political Trajectories. This project aims to investigate the chronic under representation of women in Australian politics through a local government lens. It expects to generate new knowledge about barriers to female political representation, their political performance and pathways to higher tiers of elected office. By following men and women councillors across an election cycle, this research seeks to robustly compare and measure women's experiences of local politics to develop a new framework to map and address obstacles preventing political equity. Expected outcomes include theoretical advances and a 'best practice' guide for achieving parity.This should provide significant public benefits by advancing female participation across all levels of governments.
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Democratic Resilience: The Public Sphere and Extremist Attacks. The project aims to explain responses to extremist attacks intended to sow division, and why some democracies prove fragile, succumbing to polarisation or exclusion of key groups, while others prove resilient by sustaining integrative, tolerant discourse. The project develops new knowledge through an innovative synthesis of cultural sociology and deliberative democracy to analyse nine cases of responses in the public realm to attack ....Democratic Resilience: The Public Sphere and Extremist Attacks. The project aims to explain responses to extremist attacks intended to sow division, and why some democracies prove fragile, succumbing to polarisation or exclusion of key groups, while others prove resilient by sustaining integrative, tolerant discourse. The project develops new knowledge through an innovative synthesis of cultural sociology and deliberative democracy to analyse nine cases of responses in the public realm to attacks. Expected outcomes include a new account of the democratic public sphere, and identification of how meaningful, civil communication whose health is vital to democracy, especially in a multicultural society, can be maintained. Benefits include identification of measures to counter extremist political disruption.Read moreRead less
The infrastructure of China's international influence. This project aims to investigate how China uses infrastructure-driven development to wield international influence, by studying how Chinese ideas of ‘developmentalism’ interact with nation building and regime security imperatives in Indonesia, Myanmar and Laos. The project expects to generate new comparative knowledge about development logics and competing sectoral interests around major infrastructure projects that breaks new conceptual gro ....The infrastructure of China's international influence. This project aims to investigate how China uses infrastructure-driven development to wield international influence, by studying how Chinese ideas of ‘developmentalism’ interact with nation building and regime security imperatives in Indonesia, Myanmar and Laos. The project expects to generate new comparative knowledge about development logics and competing sectoral interests around major infrastructure projects that breaks new conceptual ground on analysing international influence and the economic-security nexus in Asia. Enhanced understanding of the conditions under which China’s development model is attractive to others, would benefit Australian and international agencies seeking strategic diplomatic and investment decisions in the Asia-Pacific.Read moreRead less
Presidential Power and its Limits in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia. This project will study the development of the Indonesian presidency after the fall of long-time autocrat Suharto in 1998. While much of the recent research on this subject has focused on the personalities of the four post-1998 presidents, this project intends to highlight institutional and structural aspects of the presidency. In particular, the proposed research aims to explore to what extent democratisation, decentralisation a ....Presidential Power and its Limits in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia. This project will study the development of the Indonesian presidency after the fall of long-time autocrat Suharto in 1998. While much of the recent research on this subject has focused on the personalities of the four post-1998 presidents, this project intends to highlight institutional and structural aspects of the presidency. In particular, the proposed research aims to explore to what extent democratisation, decentralisation and power diffusion have constrained Indonesian presidents in exercising executive authority. When completed, the project aims to deliver a comprehensive picture of Indonesia's post-authoritarian presidency, describing in detail its constitutional powers, institutional set-up and structural limitations.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
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200101144
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$411,167.00
Summary
Gender, political parties and representation: A virtuous circle? The project aims to study how political parties represent women and men differently and the consequences this has on citizen political behaviour. By engaging in comparative analyses of gender, political parties and representation among established democracies, this project expects to generate new understandings about the complex relationships between what citizens want, what parties do, and how citizens feel about politics. This pr ....Gender, political parties and representation: A virtuous circle? The project aims to study how political parties represent women and men differently and the consequences this has on citizen political behaviour. By engaging in comparative analyses of gender, political parties and representation among established democracies, this project expects to generate new understandings about the complex relationships between what citizens want, what parties do, and how citizens feel about politics. This project seeks to identify specific contexts, actions, and policies that allow political parties to equally represent men and women in the political process to better understand how to eliminate gender inequalities in the representation process. Read moreRead less
Local politics, governance and public goods in Southeast Asia. This project aims to investigate how variations in local government across four Southeast Asian states affect the delivery of critical public goods such as infrastructure and healthcare to citizens. The project will compare governance regimes across 16 municipalities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Expected outcomes include an improved understanding of how varying political dynamics can shape state-citizen inte ....Local politics, governance and public goods in Southeast Asia. This project aims to investigate how variations in local government across four Southeast Asian states affect the delivery of critical public goods such as infrastructure and healthcare to citizens. The project will compare governance regimes across 16 municipalities in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Expected outcomes include an improved understanding of how varying political dynamics can shape state-citizen interactions and access to services at a local level. The findings will enhance understanding of local politics, a topic of growing scholarly interest, and also benefit Australian and other policy makers seeking to enhance the design of development interventions.Read moreRead less
Pacific Partners? The Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands. This project aims to investigate how alliances operate and why they endure using an in-depth analysis of the Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands, the region where the alliance has focused and in which there is growing strategic and policy interest. It intends to build a micro-level analysis of the influence of the behaviors and beliefs of individuals onto existing conceptual accounts. Informed by exten ....Pacific Partners? The Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands. This project aims to investigate how alliances operate and why they endure using an in-depth analysis of the Australia-New Zealand alliance in the Pacific Islands, the region where the alliance has focused and in which there is growing strategic and policy interest. It intends to build a micro-level analysis of the influence of the behaviors and beliefs of individuals onto existing conceptual accounts. Informed by extensive interviews, it expects to advance understanding of how the two states negotiate differences in approaches and interests while working together to preserve their security. It anticipates pinpointing strengths and vulnerabilities in the alliance and contributing to a more informed policy debate about how it should operate.Read moreRead less
Visualising Humanitarian Crises: Transforming Images and Aid Policy. This project aims to draw on the power of images to transform practices of aid. Prevailing visualisations of humanitarian crises are powerful but problematic. They often focus on violence and depict victims in stereotypical and dehumanising ways. The project develops new evidence-based visual strategies through interdisciplinary collaborations with leading industry partners in Australia and internationally. Expected outcomes in ....Visualising Humanitarian Crises: Transforming Images and Aid Policy. This project aims to draw on the power of images to transform practices of aid. Prevailing visualisations of humanitarian crises are powerful but problematic. They often focus on violence and depict victims in stereotypical and dehumanising ways. The project develops new evidence-based visual strategies through interdisciplinary collaborations with leading industry partners in Australia and internationally. Expected outcomes include best practice guidelines that better equip humanitarian organisations to help people in need and contribute to enduring political solutions. Resulting benefits are more effective aid policies at a time when humanitarian concerns are increasingly central to global stability and Australia’s national interest.Read moreRead less