Commonwealth. Konturen eines frühneuzeitlichen politischen Diskursbegriffs

Political discourses may be identified through core concepts. However, these concepts change their meanings in the processes of struggle and transformation of political discourses in time. In order to exemplify this malleability of political concepts, the essay analyses the career of the term ?Commonwealth‘ from the late 15th into the 18th centuries. Only during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI seems to have existed a genuine ?Commonwealth‘-discourse of humanists and radical protestants, whereas in other periods the concept served different discursive functions, f.e. in strategically bracketing diverse anti-royalist currents of the mid-17th-century, or in denouncing the heirs of the ?Great Rebellion‘ as ?Commonwealth-men‘. These, in conclusion, seem to be the main functions of political concepts: representing a discourse, neutralizing political differences, censuring political positions.     

Milton's Case for a Free Commonwealth

This article will examine the development of John Milton's arguments for democracy as against monarchy and other sorts of autocratic rule. These arguments are interesting both in their own right and insofar as they shed light on historiographical debates concerning the classical republican tradition. Milton is shown to hold a negative conception of liberty, as opposed to a positive or participatory conception, which lends support to the neo-roman interpretation of that tradition, associated with Quentin Skinner and Philip Pettit. However, it is further shown that Sinner and Pettit misunderstand the classical republicans' case for democracy, attributing to them a conceptual argument in place of an empirical one. A better understanding of Milton's political theory contributes to a better understanding of this dilemma, and perhaps suggests a solution.     

Towards a Realignment of the Mind: Compass Lecture,Commonwealth Club,London, 10 February 2011

Britain urgently needs a national conversation about the economic, political and moral predicament it now faces. It should start with the economic crisis of 2008–09. Keynesians and neoliberals alike still seek to return to pre‐crisis business as usual, albeit with modifications. But the untamed capitalism that came to grief in 2008 had three major flaws. First, it undermined the public domain of equity, citizenship and civic virtue, whose creation was one of the great achievements of the late‐nineteenth and early‐twentieth centuries, exposing it to invasion by the market domain. Second, it led to a remorseless rise in inequality of resources and life chances, rendering British society one of the most dysfunctional in Europe. Third, it encouraged the emergence of a debased form of democracy, best called ‘market populism’, that mocks the dream of political equality that lies at the heart of the democratic ideal. Yet growth points of a better society can be detected amidst the gloom. Informal institutions and social movements like London Citizens and the burgeoning environmental movement show that the notion of the public good is still alive. So do the survival of Edmund Burke's communitarianism in the conservative tradition, of John Stuart Mill's social liberalism in the liberal tradition and of ethical socialism in the social‐democratic tradition.     

Public Service Renewal: Clues from the Commonwealth

Towards a Best Practice Australian Public Service. Discussion Paper issued by Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, Hon Peter Reith. Canberra: AGPS, November 1996.     

Civil Service Reforms: learning from Commonwealth experiences

This article illustrates the degree to which new areas of consensus are emerging in the implementation of civil service reforms. A crucial development in Commonwealth countries has been the change in the strategies being pursued by most governments in achieving economic growth and developmental objectives. The need to change the role of the State for improved economic efficiency is finding greater acceptance in most countries. The article highlights several common themes emerging in the introduction of civil service reform programmes with remarkable similarity about the concerns and changes taking place in very different settings. The article also identifies a set of key strategies that have emerged as major instruments for the implementation of the reform process, such as securing leadership for change, enhancing policy development capacity, improved human resource and financial management systems, establishing efficiency and quality management programmes, harnessing information technology and mobilizing external and internal advice. The article concludes that there is no unique solution and each country would need to identify key strategies drawing on experiences of other countries and keeping in view national priorities. The article hence provides a useful framework for sharing of experiences and cooperation among Commonwealth countries.     

Thailand: The Politics of Reform of the Secretariat of the Prime Minister

This article discusses the politics of administrative reform. Though politicians and bureaucrats may agree on a reform blueprint, both tend to view administrative reform as means towards achieving different ends. To demonstrate the 'political tool' function of administrative reform, I will review the reform experience of the Thai Office of the Secretariat of the Prime Minister (OSPM) during the Chuan government (1992–95). Despite several proposals to reform the OSPM, at the end of its tenure the Chuan government had made only minor changes to the OSPM. This article argues that while failing to achieve significant reform, the process does demonstrate the politician-bureaucrat relationship.
The article is divided into two parts. The first outlines the conceptual framework which captures the politics of reform. The second presents four case studies representing efforts to introduce reform to the OSPM during the period of the Chuan government.
During the Chuan government, the author served as the Head of the Secretariat of the Administrative Reform Commission (ARC), ad hoc office in the OSPM established by the Prime Minister, charged with reviewing proposals to reform the OSPM. The author was also appointed to committees which were assigned to advise the PM about ways to reform the OSPM.