RESPONSIBLE PARTY GOVERNMENT AND STABLE COALITION: THE CASE OF THE GERMAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC

Abstract. The paper examines the internal stability of the S.P.D.-F.D.P. coalition which has governed the Federal Republic since 1969 and in particular the way in which foreign policy determined relations between government and opposition between 1969 and 1972. It also examines the ideological divisions within the S.P.D. and C.D.U./C.S.U., their exacerbation by the close result of the 1976 election and the effect this could have on further developments. It concludes that the 'stable coalition' in power since 1969, even if it fails to last its full term, is an important variant in the recognized typology of governments, and therefore of interest to the student of comparative government.     

THE STATES AND DEREGULATION: THE CASE OF SURFACE MINING

The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), passed to correct the abuses of surface mining, assigned key implementation roles to the states. While the federal government originally enforced SMCRA, states could operate the program themselves. Once states decided to run their own program the federal government would oversee them to insure they properly enforce the Act. This research examines the enforcement behavior of states in the 1980s. The results indicate that early in the Reagan administration eastern states enforced the SMCRA less stringently than other states. Eastern states increased their level of enforcement later in the 1980s in response to pressures for increased federal oversight from Congress, interest groups and others.     

AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT: THE MAKING OF TASMANIAN TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING LEGISLATION

Abstract: Town planning as part of a wider program of postwar reconstruction gained support in Tasmania in the 1940s. This support resulted in the passage of the Town and Country Planning Act 1944, the first major major piece of town planning legislation in Tasmania. This article examines the background to this statute, focusing on the deliberations of a joint committee of parliament appointed to hear the views of interested parties on town planning. Particular attention is devoted to the dispute over whether municipal councils or a town planning board with wide powers should regulate town planning. The land use planning reforms introduced in 1993 are also assessed.     

THE FEDERAL PRINCIPLE AND NATIONAL PLANNING

I am pleased to be able to speak today to this conference of the Royal Institute of Public Administration. Your conference comes at a time of renewed interest in federalism. In the past year or so there has been an upsurge of new studies and assessments of federalism in the universities and in the press. New life has been breathed into a subject which for so long has seemed dead in spirit, if not in die flesh.