Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
The Ethics of Economic Rationalism John Wright
Platypus and Parliament: The Australian Senate in Theory and Practice Stanley Bach
Parliamentary Privilege Enid Campbell
The Australian Experience of Public Sector Reform: Occasional Paper Two Australian Public Service Commission
Off Course. From Public Place to Marketplace at Melbourne University John Cain and John Hewitt
Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class: From Alfred Deakin to John Howard Judith Brett     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
MAX FRENKEL, Federal Theory , Canberra, Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations
KENNETH WILTSHIRE, Planning and Federalism: Australian and Canadian Experience , St. Lucia
CHRISTOPHER D. GILBERT, Australian and Canadian Federalism 1967–1984: A Study of Judicial Techniques
MARK BIRRELL (ed.), The Australian States: Towards a Renaissance
IVAN BERINGER, GEORGE CHOMIAK, HAMISH RUSSEL, Corporate Management: The Australian Public Sector , Sydney
S.R. MAHESHWARI, The Higher Civil Service in Japan , New Delhi,
O.P. DWIVEDI AND NELSON E. PAULIAS (eds), Ethics in Government     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
R.L. WETTENHALL, Bushfire Disaster: An Australian Community in Crisis
ALAN STRETTON, The Furious Days: The Relief of Darwin
KENNETH W. KNIGHT and KENNETH W. WILTSHIRE, Formulating Government Budgets. Aspects of Australian and North American Experience
PARTICK WELLER and JAMES CUTT, Treasury Control in Australia: A Study in Bureaucratic Politics
KENNETH W. WILTSHIRE, compiler and editor, Administrative Federalism: Selected Documents in Australian Intergovernmental Relations
R. W. CONNELL, Ruling Class, Ruling Culture. Studies of Conflict, Power and Hegemony in Australian Life
S. R. MAHESHWARI, The Civil Service in Great Britain
S olomon E ncel , P auline K. M arstrand , W illiam P age (eds), The Art of Anticipation: Values and Methods in Forecasting     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
ALF RATTIGAN, Industry Assistance: the inside story
B. HEAD(ed.), The Politics of Development in Australia
A. PATIENCE (ed.), The Bjelke-Petersen Premiership 1968–1983: Issues in Public Policy
DONALD C. ROWAT, The Ombudsman Plan: The Worldwide Spread of an Idea
P. R. HAY, J. HALLIGAN, J. WAR-HURST and B. COSTAR (eds), Essays on Victorian Politics
BEDE NAIRN, The 'Big Fella': Jack Lang and the Australian Labor Party 1891–1949
JIM HAGAN, Australian Trade Unionism in Documents
ALEXANDER KOUZMIN, J. R. NETHER-COTE, ROGER WETTENHALL (eds), Australian Commonwealth Administration 1983: Essays in Review
J. R. NETHERCOTE, ALEXANDER KOUZMIN, ROGER WETTENHALL (eds), Australian Commonwealth Administration 1984: Essays in Review     

MORE VALUABLE CONFERENCE BOOKS

Public Administration in Australia: A Watershed. Edited by JOHN POWER (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger in association with the Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, 1990, 168 pp).
Decision Making in Australian Government: The Cabinet and Budget Processes. Edited by BRIAN GALLIGAN, J.R. NETHERCOTE and CLIFF WALSH (Canberra: Centre of Research on Federal Financial Relations and Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, ACT Division 1990, 141 pp).
Budgetary Management and Control: The Public Sector in Australasia. Edited by JOHN FORSTER and JOHN WANNA (Melbourne, Macmillan, 1990, 206 pp).     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Bruce Mccallum , The Public Service Manager: An Introduction to Personnel Management in the Australian Public Service R. J. K. Chapman and Michael Wood , Australian Local Government Kosmas Tsokhas , A Class Apart? Businessmen and Australian Politics 1960–1980 Andrew Kakabadse and Suresh Mukhi (eds), The Future of Management Education Jonathan Boston , Incomes Policy in New Zealand: 1968–1984, Wellington, Victorian University Press for the Institute of Policy Studies David Dery , Problem Definition in Policy Analysis     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article: Public Administration and Sustainable Development. Edited by Mohammad Ja 'Far Ekram Ja 'Fari , Raul P De Guzman and Mila A Reforma Political Leadership in an Age of Constraint: Bureaucratic Politics Under Hawke and Keating. By Colin Campbell SJ and John Halligan Transforming Australian Local Government. By Michael Jones Public Sector Reform Under the First Goss Government: A Documentary Sourcebook. Edited by Glyn Davis Towards National Administration: Studies in Australian Administrative History. Edited by JJ Eddy and JR Nethercote Documenting a Nation: Australian Archives—The First Fifty Years. By Hilary Golder Ethics for the Public Sector: Education & Training. Edited by Noel Preston Corruption Character & Conduct: Essays on Canadian Government Ethics. Edited by John W Langford and Allan Tupper The Politics of Australia. By Dean Jaensch The Australian Form of Government: Models in Dispute. By Richard Lucy A National Survey of Indigenous Australians: Options and Implications. Edited by J.C. Altman Regional Change in the Economic Status of Indigenous Australians, 1986–1991. By J. Taylor     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
The Paradox of Parties: Australian Political Parties in the 1990s MARIAN SIMMS (ed.)
Removal of the Commonwealth Marriage Bar: A Documentary History MARIAN SAWER (ed.)
Transforming Government Enterprises: Managing Radical Organisational Change in Deregulated Environments BARRY SPICER, DAVID EMANUEL and MICHAEL POWELL
Ungoverning the Economy: The Political Economy of Australian Economic Policy STEPHEN BELL     

Reviews

From the Suburbs: Building a Nation From Our Neighbourhoods
Reflections on the Australian Constitution
Globalisation and the Sustainability of Cities in the Asia Pacific Region
Prisoners as Citizens: Human Rights in Australian Prisons
The Private Sector in Development: Entrepreneurship, Regulation, and Comparative Disciplines.
Paths to Justice: What People Do and Think About Going to Law
The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia
Fiscal Policies in Federal States     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
New York Unbound: the City and the Politics of the Future. Edited by P. SALINS
Ideas for Australian Cities , 3rd Edition. By HUGH STRETTON
Introduction to Australian Administrative Law. By MARGARET ALLARS
Management of Success: The Moulding of Modern Singapore. Edited by KERNIAL SINGH SANDHU and PAUL WHEATLEYd     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Alan Fenna, Introduction to Australian Public Policy
Jonathan Boston et al. , Public Management: The New Zealand Model
Bryan Horrigan (ed.), Government Law and Policy – Commercial Aspects
Robert Hyslop, An Australian Memoir: A Very Civil Servant
Robert Reich, Locked in the Cabinet
Delmer Dunn, Politics and Administration at the Top: Lessons from Down Under
Robert McChesney et al. , Capitalism and the Information Age     

BOOK NOTES

Government Service as a Profession, Brisbane, Queensland Regional Group of the Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1978 K. WINDOW, Local Government Reform, Brisbane, Queensland Group of the Royal Institute of Public Administration, 1978 JAMES M. BUCHANAN and RICHARD E. WAGNER, FiscalResponsibility in Constitutional Democracy, Leiden and Boston, Studies in Public Choice, No. I, Martinus Nijhoff, 1978 Y. FORTIN, Le Controle de I'Administration Economique en Grand-Bretagne, Paris, Editions du CNRS, 1978 Ethics in Public Administration: A Bibliography, Canberra, Public Service Board, 1979 R. N. SPANN, Government Administration in Australia, Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1979 COLIN PRITCHARD and RICHARD TAYLOR, Social Work: Reform or Revolution? R. T. GOLEMBIEWSKI and M. COHEN, People in Public Service: A Reader in Public Personnel Administration, Illinois, Peacock Publishers Inc., 1976 CLAUDIA D. SCOTT, Local and Regional Government in New Zealand: Function and Finance R. M. BURNS, Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers: Canadian and Australian Experiences, Canberra, The Australian National University Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations, Research Monograph No. 22 1977 ALBERT BRETON and ANTHONY SCOTT, The Economic Consrirurion of Federal Stares, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1978 Bureau of Transport Economics, A Discussion Paper of Transport Planning in Sydney to 1975, Canberra, AGPS, 1978 RUSSELL MATHEWS, Australian Federalism 1977, Canberra, The Australian National University Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations, 1978 RICHARD L. DAFT and SELWYN W. BECKER, Innovarion in Organizations. Innovation Adoption in School Organizations, New York, Elsevier, 1978 RICHARD LEHNE, The Quest for Justice. The Politics of School Finance Reform, New York, Longmans, 1978 JEAN I. MARTIN, The Migrant Presence. Australian Responses 1947–1977, Sydney, George Allen & Unwin, Studies in Society series No. 2, 1978 H. WHITMORE and M. ARONSON, Review of Administrative Action, Sydney, The Law Book Co., 1978 R. A. WILD, Social Strarification in Ausrralia, Sydney, George Allen & Unwin Australia Ltd., Studies in Society series No. 3,1978 ADAM GRAYCAR, Social Policy: An Australian Inrroducrion, Melbourne, Macmillan, 1977 DAVID SOLOMON, Inside rhe Australian Parfiamenr, Sydney, George Allen and Unwin, 1978 J. R. HAY, The Development of rhe British Werfare Srare. 1880–1975, London, Edward Arnold, 1978 INA BERTRAND, Film Censorship in Australia, St. Lucia, University of Queensland Press, 1978 BRUCE MUIRDEN, When Power Wenr Public: a Study in Expediency: the nationalisation of the Adelaide Electric Supply Co., Bedford Park, APSA, Politics, Flinders University, 1978 ANDREW LEMON (ed.), Archives Conference Proceedings, 1977, Australian Society of Archivists, P.O. Box 83, O'Connor 2601, 1978 H. C. COOMBS, Kulinma: Listening to Aboriginal Australians, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1979 DIANA CLOSE, LOULA RODOPOULOS, JENNIE M. BRIGGS, and ELISABETH GAWITH, Interviewing Immigrants: Developing Research in the Australian Context, Melbourne, Clearing House on Migration Issues, 1978     

BOOK NOTES

D. C. PEARCE (ed.), The Australian Administrative Law Service
DAVID BLACK and MICHAEL WOOD, Western Australian Elections and Politics 1965–1978: A Handbook and Guide, South Bentley     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Glyn, Davis and Michael, Keating, The Future of Governance: Policy Choices
Geoffrey, Bolton, Edmund Barton: The One Man for the Job
John, Halligan and Roger, Wettenhall, A Decade of Self-government in the Australian Capital Territory
Christopher, Sheil, Water's Fall: Running the Risks with Economic Rationalism
Gerard, Carney, Members of Parliament: Law and Ethics
Stephen, Hamnett and Robert, Freestone, The Australian Metropolis: A Planning History
Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision (SCRCSSP), Linking Inputs and Outputs: Activity Measurement by Police Services: Research Paper     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
Profiles of Government Administration in Asia JOHN HALLIGAN and MARK TURNER for the Australian Public Service Commission (Canberra, AGPS, 1995, 179pp)
Profiles of Government Administration in Asia JOHN HALLIGAN and MARK TURNER for the Australian Public Service Commission (Canberra, AGPS, 1995, 179PP)
Globalization and the ASEAN Public Sector SIRAJUDDIN H SALLEH and LEDIVINA V CARIO (eds) (Kuala Lumpur, Asian and Pacific Development Centre, 1995, 433pp)
The Struggle for Australian Industrial Relations B DABSCHECK
Gender, Politics and Citizenship in the 1990s BARBARA SULLIVAN and GILLIAN WHITEHOUSE (eds)
Tunnel Vision: The Failure of Political Imagination JAMES WALTER
Postmodern Public Administration: Towards Discourse CHARLES J. FOX and HUGH T MILLER
Postmodern Revisionings of the Political ANNA YEATMAN
Henry Mayer. Mayer on the Media: Issues and Arguments RODNEY TIFFEN (ed.)     

BOOK NOTES

T. H. KEWLEY, Australian Social Security Today .
RUSSELL MATHEWS, Australian Federalism 1979 .
ALAN THOMAS, Broadcast and Be Damned .
RALPH PER VAN and CAMPBELL SHARMAN, Essays on Western Australian Politics .
DAVID DONNISON with PAUL SOTO, The Good City: A Study of Urban Development and Policy in Britain .
ROBERT ALBON (ed.), Rent Control, Costs and Consequences .
MICHAEL E. CORBY, The Postal Business, 1969-79: A Study in Public Sector Management .
Efficiency in Government Expenditure .
H. SADDLER and others, Public Choice in Tasmania .
ROBERT J. HAYNES, Organisation Theory and Local Government .
D. J. WALMSLEY, Social Justice and Australian Federalism
PETER RYAN, Redmond Barry, A Colonial Life 1813–1880 .
Directory to Commonwealth and State Government Services in South Australia .
Administrative Review Council , Fourth Annual Report.
RUTH ATKINS, Albany to Zeehan: A New Look at Local Governments .
Relations between Levels of Government .
Endowed Lectures, 1974–1979 .
Proceedings of the National Government Accounting Convention .     

BOOK REVIEWS

Review of Public Service Personnel Management in Victoria, Report to the Honourable J.E. Kirner MP, Premier of Victoria. By JOHN ALFORD, FAY MARLES and JOHN POWER
Review of The Auditor-General: Ally of the People and Parliament — Reform of the Australian Audit Office, Report 296
Sisters in Suits: Women and Public Policy in Australia, by MARIAN SAWER
Bureaucrats, Technocrats, Femocrats: Essays on the Contemporary Australian State, by ANNA YEATMAN
Decisions and Organizations. By J.G. MARCH     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
JAMES WALTER, The Leader: A Political Biography of Gough Whitlam .
R. B. SCOTTON and HELEN FERBER (eds), Public Expenditures and Social Policy in Australia .
ANDREW DUNSIRE, The Execution Process , Vol. I: Implementation in a Bureaucracy .
HAL COLEBATCH, Policy, Process and Outcome in Government: A Study of the Rural Improvement Programme .
JOHN WARHURST, State Governments and Australian Tariff Policy , Canberra, Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations, Australian National University.
BERNARD BARRETT, The Civic Frontier .     

THE POLITICS OF MICROECONOMIC REFORM: STRUCTURING A GENERAL MODEL1

Abstract: This paper examines the current endeavours to render the Australian economy more economically efficient. While the case for microeconomic reform is clear in economic theory, Australian public policy analysts are less sanguine about the possibilities for its long-term success. This paper seeks to develop the parameters of a simple general model to explain both why microeconomic reform proposals are dominant today on the Australian policy agenda and, more importantly, what the conditions are for their success or failure. This general model provides a framework that will allow further elaboration in case studies of particular episodes of microeconomic reform.
The paper concludes pessimistically; micro-economic reform has been subsumed into the normal political agenda contests of Australian party politics. The pressures of such "politics" inclines Australian reforming towards incrementalism, rather than the Simon-style rationalism implicit from micro-economics. This mode of policy implementation will inhibit microeconomic reform in the longer term.     

Reviews

Book reviewed in this article:
From Hawke to Keating, Australian Commonwealth Administration, 1990–1993 Jenny Stewart (ed.)
The Second Keating Government, Australian Commonwealth Administration 1993–1996: Gwynneth Singleton (ed.)
Understanding Governance: Policy Networks, Governance, Reflexivity and Accountability R.A.W. Rhodes