Retrieving the Record: the White Australia policy, citizenship education and new applications for archival research. This project will develop models for making more effective use of the resources of the National Archives of Australia within civics and citizenship education. Using the resources of the Archives, the team will produce a new history of the White Australia policy, which will be developed into a public display and forum, showing how archival materials can illuminate the complexities ....Retrieving the Record: the White Australia policy, citizenship education and new applications for archival research. This project will develop models for making more effective use of the resources of the National Archives of Australia within civics and citizenship education. Using the resources of the Archives, the team will produce a new history of the White Australia policy, which will be developed into a public display and forum, showing how archival materials can illuminate the complexities of the democratic process. Supplementary research will investigate prospects for making stronger institutional connections between the Archives, citizenship education and teachers' professional formation. Benefits include increased understanding of immigration, Australian political history, educational strategies and the Archives' role and resources. Read moreRead less
Australian Responses to Refugees, 1901-2005. Determining appropriate responses to refugees is a definitive political concern in contemporary Australia. However, conceptual and historical analysis is lacking of the global context and genealogy of Australia's current policy. This project will analyse Australian reactions to refugees from Federation to the present. It is hypothesised that positions on refugees have been integral to the constitution of Australian national identity. Using an innovati ....Australian Responses to Refugees, 1901-2005. Determining appropriate responses to refugees is a definitive political concern in contemporary Australia. However, conceptual and historical analysis is lacking of the global context and genealogy of Australia's current policy. This project will analyse Australian reactions to refugees from Federation to the present. It is hypothesised that positions on refugees have been integral to the constitution of Australian national identity. Using an innovative combination of theory (relating to nationhood), cultural reading and archival research, this project will explore the complex interaction between government policy, humanitarian concerns, and the culture of security considerations. The project will inform public and policy debate.Read moreRead less
Political careers: a cohort analysis. The work of our MPs has influential effects on the lives of all of us. An informed citizenry deserves to have a close understanding of the nature of that work and of the people who undertake it. This research will provide that opportunity. Informed understanding could encourage greater esteem for politicians and more realistic expectations of what they can achieve in politics. For those aspiring to political careers, this comprehensive study will detail the ....Political careers: a cohort analysis. The work of our MPs has influential effects on the lives of all of us. An informed citizenry deserves to have a close understanding of the nature of that work and of the people who undertake it. This research will provide that opportunity. Informed understanding could encourage greater esteem for politicians and more realistic expectations of what they can achieve in politics. For those aspiring to political careers, this comprehensive study will detail the potentials and the limitations of their intended course. Analysts of parliament and of social change will benefit from this case study in social history.Read moreRead less
The pivot of government? Understanding the Australian prime minister: The office and its holders. This study offers the most comprehensive study of Australia's prime ministership to date and will greatly augment our understanding of the conduct of the office over time. Ideally, it will promote a more informed understanding of the exercise of leadership, feeding directly into public education about this key aspect of our political system (through the Prime Ministers' Centre/proposed Museum of Dem ....The pivot of government? Understanding the Australian prime minister: The office and its holders. This study offers the most comprehensive study of Australia's prime ministership to date and will greatly augment our understanding of the conduct of the office over time. Ideally, it will promote a more informed understanding of the exercise of leadership, feeding directly into public education about this key aspect of our political system (through the Prime Ministers' Centre/proposed Museum of Democracy in Canberra), leading to better citizen appreciation of the role, possibly to better leadership practices and, if our research shows it to be necessary, providing an evidence base for consideration as to whether there is a need for institutional reform.Read moreRead less
Understanding a changing Australia: Ordinary people's politics. This project will use a body of interview material collected in the late 1980s supplemented with new material (to be collected) to investigate how Australians have made sense of the social and political changes of the past two decades. In particular it will focus on: how individual Australians construct their sense of moral community, their expectations of the role of government, and how they have negotiated the shift from an expli ....Understanding a changing Australia: Ordinary people's politics. This project will use a body of interview material collected in the late 1980s supplemented with new material (to be collected) to investigate how Australians have made sense of the social and political changes of the past two decades. In particular it will focus on: how individual Australians construct their sense of moral community, their expectations of the role of government, and how they have negotiated the shift from an explicitly white, British national identity to a multicultural one, their understandings of settler-indigenous relations. It will integrate these responses with analysis of their life histories and characteristic political ideologies.Read moreRead less
Democratization and conflict management in Eastern Indonesia. The proposed project directly addresses the priority goal of understanding our region and the world to safeguard Australia. Indonesia is not only Australia's closest northern neighbour and the world's most populous Muslim nation, but also the third-largest democracy and the strategically most important country in Southeast Asia. The project will greatly enhance our understanding of some of the least known areas of Indonesia and is int ....Democratization and conflict management in Eastern Indonesia. The proposed project directly addresses the priority goal of understanding our region and the world to safeguard Australia. Indonesia is not only Australia's closest northern neighbour and the world's most populous Muslim nation, but also the third-largest democracy and the strategically most important country in Southeast Asia. The project will greatly enhance our understanding of some of the least known areas of Indonesia and is intended to prescribe concrete recommendations for the Australian government and aid organizations to assist them in their endeavours to promote democratization and help prevent and/or resolve communal conflict.Read moreRead less
Democratising Taiwan. On 18 March 2000, over 12.6 million Taiwanese voters cast their ballots and elected two former political prisoners, candidates of the opposition political party, as president and vice-president. This peaceful transfer of power from government to opposition marked a key stage in a thirty year history of liberalisation and transition to democracy. How did Taiwan's political system change from being one of Asia's most authoritarian regimes to one of its most democratic? This p ....Democratising Taiwan. On 18 March 2000, over 12.6 million Taiwanese voters cast their ballots and elected two former political prisoners, candidates of the opposition political party, as president and vice-president. This peaceful transfer of power from government to opposition marked a key stage in a thirty year history of liberalisation and transition to democracy. How did Taiwan's political system change from being one of Asia's most authoritarian regimes to one of its most democratic? This project seeks to explore and answer the many aspects raised by this question. The answers have relevance to Australia's peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.Read moreRead less
Internal and External Sources of Political Instability in East Timor. This project is of direct relevance to Australia through its bilateral and multilateral provision of police to assist in the maintenance of East Timor's law and order, through its training of and support for the East Timor Border Patrol Unit, and its training and support of the East Timor defence force, Falintil-FDTL. The project also goes to the core of Australia's concerns with regional state maintenance (or conversely, pote ....Internal and External Sources of Political Instability in East Timor. This project is of direct relevance to Australia through its bilateral and multilateral provision of police to assist in the maintenance of East Timor's law and order, through its training of and support for the East Timor Border Patrol Unit, and its training and support of the East Timor defence force, Falintil-FDTL. The project also goes to the core of Australia's concerns with regional state maintenance (or conversely, potential state failure), direct bilateral relations with both East Timor and Indonesia, and the triangular relationship between these three states. Read moreRead less
After the crisis: Nation-building challenges in East Timor. Given the substantial commitment of International Stabilisation Force intervention, nation and state building in East Timor remains a high priority for Australian policy makers. This project will examine three key nation-building agendas in post-crisis East Timor, focusing on the key areas of decentralisation of state authority, evolving relationships with traditional authorities, and post-crisis conflict resolution programs, over the p ....After the crisis: Nation-building challenges in East Timor. Given the substantial commitment of International Stabilisation Force intervention, nation and state building in East Timor remains a high priority for Australian policy makers. This project will examine three key nation-building agendas in post-crisis East Timor, focusing on the key areas of decentralisation of state authority, evolving relationships with traditional authorities, and post-crisis conflict resolution programs, over the period of 2009-11. In so doing, the project will contribute to a better understanding of antecedent factors to state failure, linking directly with recent Australian government policy concerns over 'fragile states', and their potential to destabilise the regional security environment.Read moreRead less
The political economy of military reform in Indonesia: Opportunities and challenges for civilian control of the TNI. Despite Suharto's fall, and limited reform process, the Indonesian military
(TNI) remains deeply involved in Indonesian politics, at Cabinet level, and
in state maintenance. The TNI also has substantial economic interests, about
two-thirds of which is illegal. The TNI is therefore still central to
Indonesia's political processes, and constitutes the major impediment to
Indone ....The political economy of military reform in Indonesia: Opportunities and challenges for civilian control of the TNI. Despite Suharto's fall, and limited reform process, the Indonesian military
(TNI) remains deeply involved in Indonesian politics, at Cabinet level, and
in state maintenance. The TNI also has substantial economic interests, about
two-thirds of which is illegal. The TNI is therefore still central to
Indonesia's political processes, and constitutes the major impediment to
Indonesia's democratisation. This project will locate military reform within
a broader Security Sector Reform agenda, assess the likelihood of further
voluntary TNI reform and external reform drivers, and structural problems
facing this process. It will analyse the TNI's reform process, and
investigate options for bilateral reform assistance.
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