Village democracy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This project aims to understand variation in village politics in Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, and the effects of that variation on development outcomes, democratic participation, and gender equity. It will generate new knowledge on how micro-level power structures affect citizens’ experience of government. Expected outcomes include a new framework for understanding how community power structures shape and constrain governme ....Village democracy in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This project aims to understand variation in village politics in Indonesia, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, and the effects of that variation on development outcomes, democratic participation, and gender equity. It will generate new knowledge on how micro-level power structures affect citizens’ experience of government. Expected outcomes include a new framework for understanding how community power structures shape and constrain government action. Benefits will include strengthening Australia’s position as a world leader in Asian and Pacific studies, generating a new framework for understanding the effects of village political dynamics, and guidance for Australian and other policy makers planning grassroots development interventions.Read moreRead less
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
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
Innovative democracy? Changing approaches to citizen engagement in Australia, the UK and Denmark. Many question the future of representative democracy in its current form given growing levels of civic disengagement. This project charts, explains and critically examines government responses to this disengagement in three countries, Australia, the UK and Denmark, and across three policy areas, environment, immigration and youth.
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
Governing China's multi-ethnic frontiers in the twenty-first century. This project investigates the recent wave of violence in China's ethnically complex western regions and the reasons why some areas have become more violent than others. Using case studies from China's Tibetan areas, this study examines how local government actions and policies shape local conflict dynamics.
Understanding the Antipodean 'Fair Go'. There is bipartisan support for the 'fair go' in Australia and New Zealand, but what does the fair go actually mean? This project aims to generate new knowledge about the role of the fair go in political debate and policy making. It will examine the values that have been historically connected to the fair go. It will assess how the public and politicians currently understand the fair go and will investigate how the fair go has influenced public policies. E ....Understanding the Antipodean 'Fair Go'. There is bipartisan support for the 'fair go' in Australia and New Zealand, but what does the fair go actually mean? This project aims to generate new knowledge about the role of the fair go in political debate and policy making. It will examine the values that have been historically connected to the fair go. It will assess how the public and politicians currently understand the fair go and will investigate how the fair go has influenced public policies. Expected outcomes include the first systematic analysis of one of the most pervasive and enduring social and political ideas in Australia and New Zealand. This will give policymakers a better understanding of citizens’ values and will build knowledge about how values shape public policies.Read moreRead less
Strengthening political representation in an era of democratic change. This project aims to understand and strengthen how politicians represent their constituents. As trust in politics declines, there is more pressure on politicians to engage with citizens. Understanding how these demands are reshaping the representative work of politicians is crucial to building trust and legitimacy in modern democracies. By interviewing and observing Australian politicians, this research will build important k ....Strengthening political representation in an era of democratic change. This project aims to understand and strengthen how politicians represent their constituents. As trust in politics declines, there is more pressure on politicians to engage with citizens. Understanding how these demands are reshaping the representative work of politicians is crucial to building trust and legitimacy in modern democracies. By interviewing and observing Australian politicians, this research will build important knowledge about the dynamics, demands and practices of contemporary representation. A national and international audit of novel ways to engage constituents will lead to valuable resources that politicians and citizens can use to assess and improve representative relationships, enabling stronger democratic institutions.
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Constructing ethnic politics in Indonesia. Exploring political dynamics in provincial Indonesia, this project will address fundamental questions about how ethnicity becomes important in political affairs, and about why political actors choose to emphasise some ethnic identities but not others. It will also help identify the conditions which lead to inter-ethnic cooperation rather than conflict.