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
Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretica ....Controversies of legal interpretation: a philosophical investigation of reasoning and adjudication in some recent contentious cases. A series of High Court decisions in Australia since the 1980's generated a public controversy about the role of moral and political values in adjudication. It has been charged that judges are engaged, not in an exercise of technical legal interpretation, but rather in illegitimate and politically partisan ?judicial activism.? The project investigates the theoretical and applied questions of legal interpretation implicit in this argument. It rejects the charge of judicial activism. It proposes a ?value-maximizing? theory of reasoning and interpretation that characterizes adjudication in contentious cases as precisely a process of theorizing about relevant moral and political values.Read moreRead less
Islam and identity in Java: the violent culmination and subsequent decline of communal conflict, c. 1920- present. This project analyses for the first time the culmination of politicised and bloody conflict along lines of Islamic religious identity within Javanese society - today 100-million strong and Indonesia's largest ethnic group - and the subsequent decline and depoliticisation of those religiously defined categories, c. 1920-present. This process has left Javanese society more deeply Isla ....Islam and identity in Java: the violent culmination and subsequent decline of communal conflict, c. 1920- present. This project analyses for the first time the culmination of politicised and bloody conflict along lines of Islamic religious identity within Javanese society - today 100-million strong and Indonesia's largest ethnic group - and the subsequent decline and depoliticisation of those religiously defined categories, c. 1920-present. This process has left Javanese society more deeply Islamised than at any time in its history. But conflicting categories might, in theory, be repoliticised. The 2004 election campaign will be crucial for this analysis. The resultant book will be the last of three analysing the Islamisation of the Javanese from the 14th century to the present.
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Settler colonialism: a global history. Australia is usually defined as a 'settler society', but this term, while often being politically charged, is vaguely defined. This project seeks to place the Australian experience in its international context. In doing this, it will offer new insights into the past and future development of Australian political institutions and traditions. It will promote an appreciation of how Australian history fits within global developments and how a comparative and gl ....Settler colonialism: a global history. Australia is usually defined as a 'settler society', but this term, while often being politically charged, is vaguely defined. This project seeks to place the Australian experience in its international context. In doing this, it will offer new insights into the past and future development of Australian political institutions and traditions. It will promote an appreciation of how Australian history fits within global developments and how a comparative and global perspective generates new possibilities and insights for the writing, reading and teaching of Australian history. It will also stress Australia's important role in the development of this globally significant phenomenon.Read moreRead less
Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwea ....Australian Parliaments and the Protection of Human Rights. Those involved in human rights debates have paid too much attention to the role of courts in protecting human rights and too little attention to legislatures - the most important democratic institutions in States (Waldron 1993, 1999). This project will help to redress this imbalance by providing the first detailed analysis of the way in which human rights are taken into account at each stage of the parliamentary process at both Commonwealth and State levels. It will provide the basis for a more informed debate in this important area and will assess the need for reform of the current system.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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Dollars and democracy: The dynamics of Australian political finance and its regulation. This project will provide a foundation for meeting the complex challenge of realising democratic principles given the various flows of money in politics. Its analyses reform recommendations, and data will serve the national benefit by enabling the political and electoral system to better advance the democratic functions of parties; the principles of transparency, equality and liberty; and the prevention of co ....Dollars and democracy: The dynamics of Australian political finance and its regulation. This project will provide a foundation for meeting the complex challenge of realising democratic principles given the various flows of money in politics. Its analyses reform recommendations, and data will serve the national benefit by enabling the political and electoral system to better advance the democratic functions of parties; the principles of transparency, equality and liberty; and the prevention of corruption and its perception. The public availability of its data will enhance political reporting and accountability. It will also contribute significantly to the international literature on political finance through its comparative examination of theoretical explanations and democratic principles.Read moreRead less
Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have onl ....Interpreting Constitutions: A Comparative and Theoretical Study. Constitutional provisions that are ambiguous, vague, or insufficiently explicit must often be interpreted by judges. Should the judges be guided by contemporary values, rather than the original intentions of the founders? That is problematic, because interpretation is then difficult to distinguish from change. Constitutions usually require that they be changed only by some special, democratic procedure. Australian scholars have only begun to consider such issues, which have been debated in America for decades. This project will involve a comparison of the methodologies of constitutional interpretation in five different countries, and a theoretical inquiry into the underlying normative and linguistic principles.Read moreRead less