Standing orders in the New Zealand House of Representatives

SUMMARY

As a matter of functional necessity, any legislative body must have a system of internal governance. In parliamentary democracies, that system nearly always takes the form of ‘standing orders’: a body of rules that govern the conduct of proceedings in (and the exercise of powers possessed by) the central legislative body. This paper examines the desirability of placing constitutional importance on such an ephemeral device as standing orders. Using recent examples from the New Zealand House of Representatives, the paper shows how a legislative majority's use of standing orders has the potential to undermine democratic and deliberative legislative processes in all parliamentary democracies.     

议员解读国会——读《众院之内:前议员解释国会如何运作》

正如书名所显示的,《众院之内:前议员解释国会如何运作》①一书的特色在于它是一本从议员视角解读美国国会运作的文集。该书的主编之一卢·弗雷在参加美国前国会议员协会的“国会到校园项目”时,发现国会研究著作缺乏从议员个人观点看待国会的内部视角,遂精选参加该项目的前众议员演讲稿编成该书,旨在提供关于国会运作的第一手资料。本书收录了34名前众议员、1名前众议员的配偶、1名前议员助手、1名前游说者和1名加拿大学者的文章,内容涉及议员生活的诸多方面。一议员角色及其投票行为本书指出,议员通常具有立法者、社会工作者、教师和政治…     

Uncounted Votes: Informal Voting in the House of Representatives as a Marker of Political Exclusion in Australia

This article examines the implications of high levels of informal (or invalid) voting in Australian national elections using a social exclusion framework. The rate of the informal vote is an indicator of social and political exclusion with particular groups of Australians experiencing inordinate electoral disadvantage. Poorer voters, voters from non‐English speaking backgrounds and those with low education levels are especially disadvantaged by factors peculiar to the Australian voting experience. We begin by exploring the character and pattern of informal voting and then canvass the technical and socio‐economic factors which explain it. We conclude by considering proposed options for reducing informality, some of which are: the abandonment of compulsory voting, major structural change to the voting system as well as ballot re‐design, electoral education and community information initiatives.     

From the Gallery to the Parliament: Journalists in the House of Representatives and Senate, 1901–2007

In this article we examine the extent of career cross‐over from journalism to politics in Australia using biographical data on the pre‐parliamentary careers of federal politicians since 1901. We find that while journalists continue to be over‐represented in Australia's national Parliament, there is evidence of a decline in the number making the career switch to politics. We argue that one explanation for this is the growing professionalisation of both vocations, and of journalism especially. Journalism education inculcates in graduates a strong sense of the media's Fourth Estate role, contributing to a professional identity that militates against taking up a political career. We also find that in recent decades, in spite of a small number of celebrated cases of journalists joining the ranks of the ALP, prior careers in journalism have been more prevalent among Coalition MPs. We argue that this reflects an ALP pre‐selection system that has become less accommodating of all pre‐parliamentary occupations other than trade union official and political staffer.     

The Biographical Dictionary of the Spanish Parliamentarians: sources and methodological approach

SUMMARY

This article presents the project of the Biographical Dictionary of the Spanish Parliamentarians. It begins with a reflection on the different models of biographical dictionary in European historiography, and especially the biographical dictionaries of parliamentarians, followed by the specific context of the project. It then explains the methodology that is being employed to develop the project by the Research Network created to carry it out, the sources in use for the individual biographies, the creation of databases, the detailed work plan of the project and its expected results.     

The Formation of the New Government in Taiwan and Japan-Taiwan Relations

This article introduces the background of the presidential and congressional election and discusses the reason for the results. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won both the presidential and congress members' elections, which signals emergence of the first real regime change in Taiwan. However, the style of the Tsai government isn't the same as that of the Chen Shui-bian government and will probably adopt a more modest policy on the cross-strait issue. On the other hand, the Nationalist Party (KMT) lost the election so severely that it's so difficult to recover the situation. On this point, it’s possible that the policy framework of Taiwan, like a two party system, will change drastically in the near future. Foreign policy, especially policy regarding Japan, will be changed by the new government. Actually, the People's Republic of China (PRC) government basically didn't interfere with Ma's foreign policy, so Ma could achieve many foreign policy initiatives. He concluded an economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Singapore and New Zealand, and agreements for investment and fishing with Japan. However, the PRC probably won't provide enough room for foreign policy for the Tsai government.     

当前中国富裕阶层的海外移民浅析

新世纪以来,中国富裕阶层和知识精英正成为新一轮移民潮的主力军,越来越多的中国富裕阶层通过投资移民等方式移居海外,且大多前往欧美等西方发达国家。本文基于近年来国内外发布的有关国际移民和中国富裕阶层的相关报告,对当前中国富裕阶层以投资移民为主要方式的海外移民予以关注,着重从移民倾向、资产配置和海外投资等方面进行梳理和分析,并对中国富裕阶层移民海外的趋势和未来影响加以探讨。     

学者与决策者的关系——来自白宫的看法

到目前为止,在美国政治学界和国际关系学界,已形成了一套完善的评价学者与决策者之间鸿沟的研究文献(如乔治、詹特尔森、李侃如、奈、威尔逊等人的文章)。不过,这一所谓的鸿沟主要集中体现在正式的国际关系理论上,与那些直接与"现实"世界联系密切的经济学领域关系不大。值得庆幸的是,就美洲国家之间的关系而言,各种意识形态、文化和社会差异在学界和政界所造成的鸿沟已随着时间的流逝而不断缩小。意识形态的两极化与共有价值观的缺失,这一标志冷战时期特征的现象已大     

The Mythical Australian: Barry Humphries, Gough Whitlam and "New Nationalism"

Gough Whitlam's decision in 1974 to appear in Barry Humphries's film about a larrikin abroad, Barry McKenzie Holds His Own , marks a potent moment in Australia's post-imperial history — a moment when the politics of Australian theatre and the theatre of Australian politics directly coincided. In their different spheres, Humphries and Whitlam dramatised the waning British connection felt by Australians. Whitlam's own version of "new nationalism" was brash and confident enough to embrace the eccentricities and vulgarities of Humphries's satire. Yet Whitlam's "new nationalism", like Humphries's satire, was highly ambivalent. Humphries's first film, The Adventures of Barry McKenzie , was a direct product of the new nationalist enthusiasm that had brought Whitlam to power. Although it was savaged by the critics, the film was a box-office success. Intellectuals such as Patrick White, Manning Clark and Geoffrey Dutton lavished praise on Humphries and his satirical portrayal of Australian anxieties about culture and national identity. Humphries portrayed the underlying dilemma that Whitlam faced in refashioning the image of modern Australia: how to throw off the symbols of colonialism and find meaningful symbols to replace them. In the process, both the politician and the humourist rediscovered a particular and enduring affection for the mother country.     

近年澳大利亚华人新移民离境与回流分析--以澳大利亚移民部相关数据资料为研究中心

近年来,随着全球化的不断推进,中国经济与社会的持续繁荣与发展,华人在澳大利亚移民数量持续攀升,同时亦有越来越多的华人新移民选择永久离开澳大利亚,或回流中国,或再度移民第三国,从而形成了一股方兴未艾的华人新移民离境潮和回流潮,这不仅直接改变了华人新移民的跨国迁移模式,更深刻揭示了中澳人力资源竞争态势及华人移民人口流动趋势。     

The Class Basis of Switzerland's Cleavage between the New Left and the Populist Right

This article argues that a full grown cleavage has surfaced in Swiss politics, separating a libertarian‐universalistic (the New Left) from a traditionalist‐communitarian camp (the Populist Right). Based on survey data of Switzerland's parliamentary election 2007, it examines the cleavage's micro‐foundations and shows that the class constituencies of the New Left (the Social‐Democratic and Green Parties) and the Populist Right (the Swiss People's Party) present the almost exact mirror image of each other. The former draws disproportionate support from the salaried middle class, notably socio‐cultural professionals, whereas the latter is rallied by small business owners, production and service workers. Although anchored in the employment structure, this divide is not primarily about the economy and resources, but about culture and identity. It thus strongly correlates with opposing cultural attitudes. While small business owners and workers prefer cultural demarcation and defend national traditions, salaried professionals strongly favour international integration and multi‐culturalism.     

"The word makes the man": A Catalan Anarchist Autodidact in the Australian Bush

This paper examines the interplay between the life and ideas of a Catalan anarchist and autodidact, Salvador Torrents, who migrated to Australia in 1915. Until his death in 1951, Torrents, from his isolated farm in North Queensland, contributed regular commentaries and articles in libertarian newspapers in Spain, France and the United States. With the exception of the years of the Spanish civil war, Torrents remained outside mainstream Australian labour politics. Like many non-English speaking immigrants, a lack of the language was an obstacle to participation. As well, as an anarchist, Torrents considered political parties and electoral politics a waste of time in achieving social and political change. Instead he propounded, and practised, the transformative powers of self-education and the revolutionary role of the autodidact in fomenting radical change. His ideas had been forged in the turbulent politics of Catalonia in the first decades of the century. In Australia he continued to apply the same analysis in what he perceived as the similar context which Southern European immigrants confronted in North Queensland. Although invisible on the Australian Left, Torrents functioned as a left wing intellectual, contributing to a particular public discourse, which took place in a space that was separated from the mainstream Australian Left by language and different radical traditions.