The Cerberus from Warringah: F.A. Bland and the Renaissance of the Public Accounts Committee

In 1932 the Lyons UAP government suspended the operations of the Commonwealth parliament's public accounts committee, allegedly as an economy measure. The role of public accounts committees is, in principle, that of a non‐partisan reviewer of the public finances, but in this case the committee had diverged from its charter and become involved in politics and policy. Twenty years later, the Menzies government resurrected the committee. A crucial figure in its re‐establishment was F.A. Bland, variously a professor of public administration, member for Warringah in the House of Representatives, and a significant public intellectual from the 1920s to the 1960s. Today Bland is almost forgotten but the role the re‐established committee played in its early days was largely a reflection of his interests and commitments.     

When winners are losers: The stalemate of Australian politics

The 1998 federal election emphasizes the fact that in Australian politics the power of the major parties remains strong both in terms of voter identification and in terms of setting the policy agenda on which political contests are fought, say Professors John Wanna and Patrick Weller from the Department of Public Policy at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. The results of the election nevertheless illustrate a substantial level of discontent in the community, and the term of the next government promises frequent stalemates, as the clash between the House of Representatives and the Senate makes the passing of controversial legislation difficult.     

Zur Geschäftsordnungsreform des österreichischen Reichsrates vom Dezember 1909

SUMMARY

In 1907, the (Cisleithanian) Austrian House of Representatives considered an electoral reform which was initially supposed to be connected with a comprehensive reform of the rules of procedure (Geschäftsordnungsgesetz); however, difficulties in the course of the negotiations led to the decision to let the House decide its own procedure in future. Subsequently, government bills were introduced repeatedly but remained either unfinished or altogether ignored. Furthermore, motions which were mostly politically motivated and focused only on certain aspects of procedure were put forward by various deputies.

The Austrian parliamentary system suffered from an antiquated procedure, with procedural wrangling and filibustering (Obstruktionen) against government and prime minister as impediments. At the end the eighteenth sitting of the twentieth session (15.12–19.12.1909), devoted mainly to such wrangles, saw a tactical move leading to a provisional procedural reform which was modest in content. The path towards this reform was paved with superficial discussions which were to uncover differences of opinion and breaches of the law; however, even the majority of parties who refused either reform or its development were actually in favour of it because they were after all supporters of a functioning parliamentary system. Reform contained various possibilities for speeding up the formal business routine as well as an ineffective paragraph on servants of the house (Hausknechtsabsatz), which enabled the Speaker to exclude a representative from a sitting.

Superficially, reform was designed to strengthen the Speaker of the House of Representatives but in fact none of the leading parties was really interested in getting rid of procedural obstruction by this means. What was of greater importance to them was to have an opportunity to agitate against the government or the majority in the House. Thus it does not seem surprising that shortly after the reform, obstruction started anew.     

Pitchers and catchers: Politicians,bureaucrats, and policy‐making in Japan

Yasuhiro Nakasone draws on his five years as Prime Minister of Japan and over forty‐five years as a member of the Diet's Lower House to analyze some of the fundamental characteristics of Japan's policy‐making process. He asserts that Japan urgently needs to reconstruct this process, so that political decisions are entrusted to elected politicians rather than to unelected bureaucrats. But he stresses that politicians must also have the responsibility to stand up for their principles, and be willing at times to go against the popular consensus. Yasuhiro Nakasone is chairman of IIPS and a member of the House of Representatives. He was assisted in the preparation of this article by IIPS Visiting Research Fellow Philipp Schuller, a doctoral candidate at Oxford University. An earlier and partial version of this article appeared in the October 1994 issue of Intersect.     

Women in the 1946 and 1993 Japanese house of Representatives elections: The role of the election system

Japan ranks near the bottom among the world’s democracies in electing women to public office. This is typically attributed to its male-dominated culture. While we do not dismiss this cultural argument, we focus on the House of Representatives to present evidence that the Japanese election system has been a significant barrier to women. Japan was a world leader in electing women under the 1946 election system but, when the system changed in 1947, a steady decline began in elected women. The new election system recently adopted will only marginally increase the election of women to the House of Representatives.     

‘As nearly subservient’ as it could be? Vocationalism and senatorial speaking behaviour in the Irish Senate 1938–45

Previous studies of the Irish Senate (Seanad Éireann) have derided its vocational ethos by pointing to the flaws in its electoral system and lack of government commitment to vocationalism. This article examines the reality of vocational representation in the House in its earliest years (1938–45) by analysing the motions raised by senators. Examined under different subject headings commensurate with the House's vocational panels, the motions indicate that although the electoral processes were blurred and unsatisfactory, speeches made by senators still often reflected vocational concerns. Even as party political concerns dominated, vocationalism was still seen to influence the speaking behaviour of some senators with Agricultural and Labour panellists displaying the strongest commitment to the principle. The motions also illustrate how the Seanad, shorn of the powers of its predecessor, assumed the role of a public forum for debate. Senators often felt that they fulfilled a purpose by simply raising matters of importance in the House, thus accounting for the large number of motions withdrawn after lengthy debates. This was especially true of the numerous motions raised by senators on matters relating to the Second World War. It is contended that such motions along with the domination of political parties and the persistent rumours of corruption in the electoral system served to undermine the vocational identity of the Seanad. However, despite these difficulties, the examples in early Seanad debates of some senators adhering to vocational ideals serve to highlight greater complexity in senatorial behaviour than dismissals of the Seanad often allow.     

Examining the Micro-level Foundations of Japan’s Two-party System Following Government Alternation

A consensus exists among political scientists and the media that a two party system has become firmly established in Japan, and power alternation following the 2009 House of Representatives election seemed to confirm this trend. In contrast, in this study I draw on both election and public opinion data to illustrate that Japan's two-party system rests on fragile micro foundations, particularly since the change of government, and may therefore not constitute a stable equilibrium. Specifically, the two-party system is sustained by the logic of competition in single member districts, but lacks strong backing among a large proportion of the public. Evidence in support of this argument include 1) decreasing vote shares for both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan in the 2010 House of Councillors election, and 2) a weakening relationship between support for these two parties in monthly polls, in contrast to previous years when LDP and DPJ ratings mirrored one another. I discuss some potential implications of these developments, such as the growing prominence of regional parties and prospects for electoral rule changes.     

Somaliland's post-war reconstruction: Rubble to rebuilding

ABSTRACT

This study captures the momentum of Somaliland's national reconciliation nationstate-rebuilding phase as it drives a reconstruction process involving the demobilisation of militias; internal state institutional reconstruction focusing on the House of Elders and the House of Representatives; the international dimensions of reconstruction involving humanitarian aid and developmental assistance; private reconstruction initiatives interacting with the development of a monetary exchange process and the participation of the Somaliland diaspora; and the role of women as the backbone of the Somaliland economy, and how all of these social components of nation-state building are framed constitutionally in the crafting of a multi-party democracy with northern Somali characteristics. However, the broader context in which these reconstructive dynamics unfold is conditioned by the emergence of militant expressions of political Islam within and outside the Somali coast in and around the Red Sea ‘Afrabian’ transregion and the Persian Gulf.     

Economics before politics– a colonial phantasy

I shall now try to recapitulate the argument of the paper and to draw a conclusion from it. The early pages gave evidence that, although the Australian government during the 1960s took the initiative in setting up the constitutional framework for a democratic polity, on the whole they assigned primacy, especially in the second half of the period, to policies of economic development. Without entering into the merits or successes of those policies themselves, I attributed the basic order of priorities to a mixture of motives and assumptions. The first assumption was that Australia's colonial responsibility and her commitment to heavily subsidised economic development required restraints on political development, and hence the prolongation of colonial dependence. The conflict between this assumption and Australia's trusteeship obligations could be rationalised by the notion of cautious ‘preparation’ of the people for self-determination, under Australian official guidance, and with the bait of continued Australian aid. This rationalisation seemed to be supported by a ‘vulgar’ Marxian belief in the primacy of economic activity and the secondary importance of political and other social functions. However, it was also hoped that economic change need have no awkward political repercussions. To sustain that hope, it was further assumed that while the colonial regime lasted, the government of Papua and New Guinea could be treated as essentially an administrative task, untrammelled by the claims of autonomous political ideologies and interests. If the policy makers for Papua and New Guinea held such a set of assumptions, consciously or otherwise, it would go far to explain some of the leading features of the country's governmental history in recent years: the strength of its economic planning machinery and the lack of sophistication in its administrative and political dealings; the relatively perfunctory efforts at political ‘preparation’; the attempts to keep local government and the public service ‘non-political’ and to contain incipient politics in the House of Assembly; the paternalistic controls over members of formal government institutions; above all, the failure to maintain meaningful communication with the groups of people most profoundly affected by the incidence of economic development itself. For experience had falsified the basic assumptions of policy, so far as they accord a primary role to economics, relied on a comfortable continuance of the colonial relationship, and conceived government mainly in terms of administration. Politics the demand for the reconciliation of conflicting interests by autonomous negotiation—had erupted in local government, in the House of Assembly, in political associations, and in the villages. I t had erupted in spite of the assumptions of the regime—and also because of them, for the more rigidly such beliefs are practised, the more violent is the reaction likely to be. The conclusion, then, is that politics is independent of economics, and interdependent with it. In the government of Papua and New Guinea, as of any such country, political skills are as important as economic planning if economic growth is to be matched by political stability.     

Presidential Preferences? The Supreme Federal Tribunal Nominations in Democratic Brazil

This article studies the processes of nomination and appointment to the Supreme Federal Tribunal in Brazil made by Presidents Sarney through Lula da Silva. It shows that in relations with the Senate, presidential anticipation prevails over presidential dominance. Brazilian presidents are successful appointers because they invest great effort in the moment of selection, when potential candidates are tested in the juridical and political communities. As a consequence, a uniform Senate approval of candidates coexists with a differential pattern of candidate recruitment. Sometimes presidents can select close candidates from their government; sometimes first‐choice candidates are ruled out for lack of consensus. The type of coalition the president heads and the number of vacancies available affect the president's chances of imposing a candidate. The filter posed by center‐right parties in the Senate induces the selection of nominees with centrist preferences.     

The presidency and democratic consolidation in Lithuania

Abstract

Presidents can contribute to democratic consolidation by contributing to the decision-making capacity of the state. Lithuanian presidents have done precisely that by using their powers of veto and legislative initiative to full advantage. Further, they can engage in policy implementation. While Lithuania's split executive gives primary responsibility for this function to the government, the president's role in the selection of the Prime Minister permits him to indirectly influence the effectiveness of the government. Finally, presidents play a major role in system maintenance. The primary means at the president's disposal for doing so is his role as the “guardian” of the Constitution and symbol of the state.     

The Kingmaker is Dead,Long Live the Kingmaker: Examining the Degree of Influence of Small Parties in the Coalition-formation Process in Germany

This article examines the role of small parties in the German party system. It thus attempts to make a contribution to a largely under-researched topic in the existing literature. The goal is to determine the influence and ultimately the pivotal role of small parties over time both federally and in each Land (1949–2010). For that purpose we develop a five-point ‘opportunity structure’ scale. During the heyday of West Germany's two-and-a-half-party system (from the early 1960s to the early 1980s) the FDP was not just the main small party but the pivotal kingmaker at least federally, deciding which of the major parties (CDU/CSU or SPD) would be in government. Since then the Greens and later the PDS/die Linke have also become durable small parties and play an important role in the government formation process. The analysis shows that based on our measure the Greens have at least equalled if not surpassed the FDP as the country's most influential small party since they emerged on the political scene in the early 1980s.     

Mobilising the Periphery: Brazil's My House My Life Programme and the Homeless Workers' Movement

Brazil's Movimento de Trabalhadores Sem Teto (MTST, Homeless Workers' Movement) has grown dramatically in recent years. This growth was partly provided for by the use of a large government housing programme, Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV, My House My Life), which allowed the MTST to construct housing for its members and swell its ranks with thousands of new members. Yet some have argued that the MCMV programme used by the MTST may compromise the autonomy of civil society organisations. This article, by contrast, argues that while the MCMV programme encouraged bureaucratic practices, it also helped to promote the cultural politics of the MTST.     

The Class of 96: A Biographical Analysis of New Government Members of the Australian House of Representatives

The 1996 federal election brought thirty-six new government members into the House of Representatives. The size of the "Class of 96" provides an opportunity for a comparison of biographical characteristics, looking for common experiences and backgrounds, as well as for an exploration of similarities and differences with previous cohorts of Coalition MPs. This examination will suggest that, in biographical terms, the "Class of 96" represents a significant new development in Australian politics. Further, a detailed analysis of the first speeches of the members of the "Class of 96" provides a window into the minds of those who have sought and achieved office on behalf of the Liberal and National parties after thirteen years in the political wilderness.     

Transgender Inclusion and Australia's Failed Sexuality Discrimination Bill

In 2013, one of the final acts of the Gillard government was to amend Australia's Sex Discrimination Act to add sexuality, gender identity and intersex variations as protected categories. This was not the first time the Commonwealth had considered anti‐discrimination legislation protecting LGBTI people. The most prominent example was the Democrats‐sponsored Sexuality Discrimination Bill, introduced to Parliament in November 1995, which included provisions to protect transgender people as well as gays, lesbians and bisexuals. The Senate referred the bill to an inquiry by the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, which received 436 submissions. Approximately 100 of these submissions specifically addressed transgender discrimination, some advocating for the rights of transgender Australians, and others focusing their attacks against the bill based on the transgender provisions. This article draws on the concept of transgender citizenship to examine the transgender‐related aspects of the inquiry and the debates in parliament, to understand the ways that the public and politicians framed transgender rights in the mid‐1990s. These debates are telling in how transgender issues and anxieties over gender fluidity have consistently become an easy target in wider debates about equality for sexual and gender minorities.     

Les institutions italiennes à travers les analyses de Luigi Sturzo (1871-1959)

From the 1950s Luigi Sturzo captured the dysfunctions of the democratic system instituted in Italy. He courageously denounced the evils that afflicted the newborn democracy. The strange relationship between government and opposition, the growing importance of the parties, the proliferation of legislation, the reversal of functions between parliament and government, the reform of the Senate, are just some of the problems identified by Sturzo. His criticism, however, was not pointless but proactive in the meaning that he diagnosed in weaknesses and indicated the means for a better and more efficient working of institutions in a democratic country without making it necessary to undermine the constitutional structure. At the basis of this, he articulated the idea of an ‘organic democracy’ and especially the inseparable link between morality and politics.     

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.     

The German Parliament

ABSTRACT

In the words of Louis Marie de La Haye Cormenin (1788-1864), the French lawyer, politician and pamphleteer, in the Livre des orateurs (1843), ‘Four people know the secret of the weakness of the parliamentary orator: his doctor, his confessor, his lover and his stenographer’. Stenographers worked for the first time in 1840 in the Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament. The Bureau of Stenographers as a permanent office was established in 1868. For the Upper House and the House of Representatives, a joint Bureau of Stenographers was organized with two superiors, four auditors, twelve ordinary stenographers and two rotation guides. The stenographers worked at five-minute intervals with no backlog of work. The stenographic report of each session was published half an hour later after the last word had been spoken in the session room. The parliamentary stenographer was required to have a university degree and to take a shorthand exam. Journalists, lawyers, professors and also engineers were employed as stenographers. Reproductive intelligence, quick comprehension, responsiveness, and craftsmanship were some of the qualities that were required to be a qualified parliamentary stenographer.     

Comalco's Development of Queensland Bauxite, 1955–1975

In 1954 Australia mined little bauxite and did not produce alumina, but by the end of the 1970s Australian industry accounted for more than one third of the western world's bauxite production and about one fifth of its alumina. This article examines the development of Comalco, the company which mined Australia's largest bauxite deposits in Queensland and was an essential part of Australia's entry into the world‐wide aluminium industry from the 1960s to the 1980s. Fundamental to Comalco's success was government‐industry co‐operation. The Australian government established an aluminium smelter for defence purposes in Tasmania that it sold to Comalco on favourable terms and then protected with tariffs and import restrictions. Moreover, federal government‐industry co‐operation stimulated the discovery of bauxite, the main source of aluminium, in northern Australia. Even more important to Comalco's success was the Queensland government which gave the company access to the best of the state's newly‐discovered bauxite deposits in return for the company's commitment to industrial development in the state on the back of mining. Using its relationships with state and national governments in Australasia, Comalco was able to harness competing aluminium companies in the building of the largest alumina plant in the world at Gladstone in central Queensland and, in doing so, set itself on the path to becoming a multinational company in its own right.     

China's industrial revolution: Politics,planning and management, 1949 to the present,by Stephen Andors

Abstract

The study of Chinese industrial development has come a long way since the 1969 publication of Barry Richman's Industrial Society in Communist China (New York: Random House, 1969). Richman recognized that China had begun to “organize conscientiously and vigorously for industrial progress since the beginning of the 1950's.” Unlike some of his predecessors, he did not explain China's industrial growth in terms of mass coercion or swarms of “blue ants” instead, he warned the reader that “in order to understand more fully how Chinese management and Chinese organization function, it is essential to have an understanding of Chinese ideology.” His examples of the use of ideology-e.g., the study of Mao's On Contradiction to help resolve a problem of cost vs. quality in bicycle production-were refreshingly concrete and useful.