Federalism,Party Organization and the Australian Greens

The influence of federalism on the organizational arrangements adopted by Australia's parties endures. This study examines the organizational structure of the State and Territory divisions of the Australian Greens through an analysis of their local party constitutions. It shows that there are important areas of difference in the organizations of state and territory Greens, despite their shared ideological commitment to inclusive internal party structures. These variations are a function of institutional and political factors, especially those induced by the Australian federal system. It is argued that differences in the organizational formats of state and territory party divisions reflect the historical circumstances in which they emerged and variations in the institutional (regional) setting in which they are located.     

Contemporary Australian Political Party Organisations

Contemporary Australian Political Party Organisations. Edited by Narelle Miragliotta, Anika Gauja and Rodney Smith (Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing, 2015), pp xx+263. AU$49.95 (pb).     

Trade Liberalisation in Latin America: the Bolivian Case1

Abstract— Bolivia adopted a drastic trade liberalisation in 1985 as part of its neo- liberal New Economic Policy. The paper discusses the theoretical arguments which underlie such a policy and the main neo-structuralist criticisms. It then looks at the effects of liberalisation on resource allocation, productivity growth and export performance. It concludes that the results have been disappointing which gives rise to some scepticism concerning the advantages of a wholesale policy of trade liberalisation in a low income country such as Bolivia.     

The Australian Greens: Party Organisation and Political Processes

The Greens challenge the Australian two‐party system by promoting an alternative political agenda and by facilitating democratic processes. Their recent successes in federal and state elections suggest that the party itself deserves closer scrutiny. This paper shows how the Greens are organisationally different from other parties currently active in Australian politics due to both their internal processes and their parliamentary practices. Recent theories of parties argue that party organisation has changed significantly for major parties, adopting an electoral‐professional or cartel model that centralises power and decision‐making in party representatives within parliaments. This paper shows how a smaller party uses identity formation processes to establish a distinctive organisational style. We examine the Greens' party organisation by analysing the interdependent relationships between the party membership, the state and national offices, and Green MPs. The paper is based on original research including in‐depth interviews undertaken with state and federal Greens members of parliaments.     

Liberalisation,the state and agriculture in India

Indian state embarked upon a comprehensive reform of the economy in late 1980s, and there is more or less consensus amongst policy makers regarding liberalization. The reform process in India has not encountered much resistance from pressure groups because it has not made much headway in respect of debureaucratising and depoliticising the management of the infrastructure and in decentralizing rural development.

It is important in this context to look at the macroeconomic policy changes and its impact on agricultural sector. This article attempts to analyse the performance of Indian agriculture under liberalisation. We know that in the recent past Indian agriculture is being neglected. The benefits of liberalisation could not hitherto reach the rural poor because of the failure of economic reforms to penetrate into the vital agricultural sector. The article also attempts to analyse the adverse impact, if any, of free market conditions on the rural poor and suggests changes to revamp agriculture so as to make it more competitive.     

韩国民主劳动党的崛起:背景与前景

在韩国第17届国会选举中,支持总统的开放国民党大获全胜,以往"朝小野大"的政治格局被彻底改变.与此同时,民主劳动党成功进入国会,这是左翼政党数十年来的首次突破,是韩国政治格局发生的一个重要变化.影响选举结果的主要因素除了左翼力量多年的经营以外,还包括新的投票方式、总统弹劾案偶然因素.综合来看,基于韩国目前的经济社会状况和政治力量对比,民主劳动党所能发挥的作用还相当有限.     

The Making of a Party System: Minor Parties in the Australian Senate

The Making of a Party System: Minor Parties in the Australian Senate. By Zareh Ghazarian (Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing, 2015), pp.233, AU$49.99 (pb).     

The Liberal Party of Australia and the Australian Women's Movement Against Socialisation 1947–54

During the Liberal Party of Australia's formative stages in the 1940s and early 1950s, the Federal and New South Wales Divisions of the Party tended to ignore and/or down play the activities of their women members and office bearers. The gulf that existed between the theory and practice in the Party was further highlighted by the formation and rapid growth of the Australian Women's Movement Against Socialisation, a right wing organisation that was formed in September 1947 to combat the Chifley Government's decision to nationalise the private banks. In New South Wales the AWMAS attracted a large number of women who were members and supporters of the LPA, many of whom were disillusioned with the Party. This article begins with an analysis of the rise of the AWMAS. This is followed by a review of the activities undertaken by women activists in the New South Wales Liberal Party who tried to introduce changes within the Party that would allow women members greater opportunities and thus combat the influence of the AWMAS. This is important because it sheds light on efforts to make the Party more attentive to the political needs of women, while it was still going through its formative stages. More importantly, the outcome of the conflict set the parameters for what women activists could hope to achieve in the short term in the Party in New South Wales and at the federal level.     

劳工组织、国内政治与冷战后美国对外贸易政策

冷战结束后,国内因素对美国外交的影响力日渐加强,经济贸易问题在对外政策中的地位显著上升.在北美自由贸易协定、贸易快速处理权、对华永久正常贸易关系等问题上,美国国内各种势力竞相发挥作用,试图通过国内政治影响对外贸易政策.其中,劳工组织的表现尤其活跃.劳工组织通过游说、政治捐款和选举投票等手段向国会议员尤其是民主党议员施加压力,要求其反对贸易自由化政策,从而在很大程度上参与了对外经贸政策的塑造.劳工组织反对贸易自由化的斗争,反映出美国劳工运动的复兴.但内部的分歧、外部的工商界打压等又限制着其在对外贸易政策上的影响.     

Market Power and Misunderstandings: The Case of EU‐Australian Trade Diplomacy

The article critically examines EU‐Australia relations through the negotiation of the 1994 and 2008 Agreements between Australia and the European Community on Trade in Wine. EU‐Australia relations are often characterised as defined by Australia's focus on the UK and the EU's agricultural policies. This article moves beyond these assumptions and analyses the negotiation of the wine trade agreements through three factors: the pattern of political institutions, power asymmetry and subjective utility of non‐agreement alternatives. It argues that perceptions, miscalculations, and misunderstanding have had an impact on how these factors shaped negotiation outcomes. These negotiations are an under‐studied case in the development of EU‐Australian relations, and are useful in understanding how the perceptions of negotiators shape outcomes in the EU's negotiations with Australia.     

全面从严治党视域下党的制度建设研究

党的十八大以来,制度建设贯穿政治立党、思想建党、组织管党、作风兴党、纪律治党和反腐败斗争全过程,党的制度建设成效卓著。其中,坚决做到两个维护是制度建设的纲和魂;推进作风建设是制度建设的开篇之作和重要内容;严肃党内政治生活是制度建设的重要抓手;完善责任体系、强化党内监督是制度建设的重要保障;加强纪律建设是制度建设的根...     

Australian Citizenship and the Two World Wars

This article surveys Australian citizenship: its distinctive characteristics in the first half of the twentieth century, and how these were changed by the experience of the two world wars. It argues that Australian citizenship, at the time of Federation, was racially exclusive, imperial, masculine and deeply anchored in the traditional view of the military obligation of the individual to the state. The world wars, especially the war of 1939‐45, encouraged some adjustment to these ideas, particularly in terms of the imperial link, women's status and the social rights of Australians. However, these conflicts were fought within a context of imperial loyalty and the intensity of their demands reinforced military service in defence of the nation as the primary civic virtue. The centrality of Anzac to Australian nationalism also perpetuated a gendered dimension to Australian citizenship. The world wars therefore, for all their dramatic impact on the lives of Australian families and the national political culture, did not force a major reconceptualisation of Australian citizenship.     

Australian Medical Intellectuals and the Great War

This article considers the way in which the Great War created unique conditions where medical intellectuals became part of a wider canvas of debate about psychology and medicine; mind and body; and, more broadly, crossed the artificial divide between the humanities and the medical sciences. Medicine has not been usually identified as a field for “intellectuals” as such. The nature of cultural and social analysis lends itself more readily to those working in the fields of sociology, political science, literature and history. But the medical intellectuals who are the subject of this article can be seen as extending our understanding of the relationship between the self and society. Such an intellectual engagement was considerably assisted, it is argued, by the advent of the Medical Journal of Australia a month before the outbreak of war. which initially served to document practices associated with medical science, but quickly evolved into a journal that connected medicine to the broader society and wider culture. The devastating impact of the war provided an extraordinary context within which these discussions took place, and radically challenged many assumptions held by the medical profession, especially with regard to the relationship between the mind and the body.     

The Transformation of Australian Electoral Analysis: The Two‐Party Preferred Vote — Origins,Impacts, and Critics

Measuring party support in Australia by constructing a “two‐party preferred” vote has had a profound effect, not only on the way political scientists, journalists, and politicians understand electoral “swing” and predict electoral outcomes, but also on their understanding of the party system, their thinking about electoral fairness, and their views about which party or parties can legitimately claim government. This article traces the origins — the maternity as well as the paternity – of the “two‐party preferred”. It documents its spread from federal to state elections, even as voting systems in some states have switched from exhaustive preferential to optional preferential. It discusses its wide‐ranging impact, and its implications for notions of electoral fairness and the legitimacy of election outcomes. It evaluates various criticisms of the concept — technical, pragmatic, and conceptual. And it notes the implications for marginal seat campaigning of the commonly observed “uniform swing”— implications completely at odds with the idea that marginal seats matter.