Reshaping of Japanese Politics and the Question of Democracy

Japan's need for economic and political reform has been recognized but the means to achieve this has not. In this article, J.A.A. Stockwin, professor of Modern Japanese Studies at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies, University of Oxford, considers this question by examining the meaning of democracy then applying the theory to the specific case of Japan. He explains that although not identical to a democracy in a Western sense, Japan's system of government is genuinely democratic. Stockwin argues that Japan is now at a crossroads in her history, but before pressing for reform an understanding of the complexity of the Japanese system is necessary. He concludes that a radical restructuring of Japan's political party system towards a bipolar set of party arrangements is necessary but questions whether Prime Minister Junichirô Koizumi is up to the task.     

Wedge Politics and Welfare Reform in Australia

The election of the Howard Government has marked a paradigm shift in welfare policy with the implementation of far reaching reforms around the concept of mutual obligation. At the same time, there has been media speculation about the Government's use of 'wedge politics' to sustain its political agenda with respect to welfare and other policies. Wedge politics, however, is yet to receive detailed analysis in Australian political science. We define wedge politics to be a calculated political tactic aimed at using divisive social issues to gain political support, weaken opponents and strengthen control over the political agenda. The purpose of this paper is thus twofold: to develop a definition of wedge politics and to investigate how the Howard Government's welfare reform agenda might be understood as an example of such politics, drawing out its longer-term implications.     

Hamas in Politics: Democracy,Religion, Violence

Ahmed Midhat Efendi, a nineteenth century Turkish author, maintained that it was necessary to establish customs duties and other barriers against foreign sellers in order to convince them to produce locally in the Ottoman Empire. This would be a way to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to a country in need of capital and technology. However, today, liberals around the world as well as in Turkey see a free trade environment as a prerequisite for FDI. This study tries to find out whether a relationship existed between free trade and FDI inflows in Turkey during a period when the Turkish foreign trade and financial markets were almost completely liberalized.     

The Exoteric Politics of Bank Mergers in Australia

The Australian government's 1997 policy ban on in-market mergers among the largest four domestic banks has been a key intervention shaping the direction of bank consolidation in Australia as such mergers significantly accelerated from 1997 through 1999 in developed economies. This paper will show that the knowledge about the social and economic impacts of the bank mergers and the Treasurer's merger veto power made the policy debate exoteric (political and public) by including interests outside the banking policy community (i.e., interest organisations of employees, customers, and farmers, as well as political parties, and the broad public). Thus, the merger policy discussions were not esoteric, technical and limited to a small number of influential public and private sector institutions leaving policy discussions vulnerable to be structured to favour the interests of large, financial firms over other interests. This, in turn, created significant pressure on government for to retain the policy. The paper also outlines the significance of the domestic political conflicts and electoral politics in a world of global finance.     

李文教授主编《东亚:宪政与民主》读后感

李文教授主编的《东亚:宪政与民主》(中国社会科学出版社2005年11月出版)是一部从东亚的立场和观点出发,力求客观地反映、科学地解释东亚政治发展本身提供的全新的现象和见识的著作。全书共收纳了由中国社科院、北京大学、中山大学、暨南大学等研究机构和高校的22名学者所撰写的22篇论文。这些文章围绕“东亚国家的政治现代化没有盲目照搬西方模式,而是在不断探索符合自身实际的发展道路”这一客观事实,就“东亚的政治制度发生了怎样的变化,东亚政治现代化形成了哪些的新经验和新模式,东亚政治变革本身具有哪些历史意义,东亚政治发展的前景…     

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.     

The Limits of Discretion: The Role of the Liberal Party in the Dismantling of the White Australia Policy1

How significant was the role of the Liberal party in dismantling the White Australia Policy? Contrary to recent politicised claims and counter‐claims, the answer is not a simple one. The party began well, in the wake of Labor's clumsiness on immigration in the 1940s, but courageous exceptions to the rule during the 1950s were also undermined by enduring timidity. Pressure from concerned opinion, both inside and outside Australia, was making itself felt by the early 1960s, but it took Robert Menzies' retirement and concerted efforts by Peter Hey don, Hubert Opperman and the new Prime Minister Harold Holt to amend policy to provide a more significant number of non‐Europeans admission to Australia. The ideal of racial homogeneity died slowly for some, however, and it was left to the Whitlam Labor Government to sweep away what remained of the White Australia Policy.     

Personal Politics and Being British: Political Rhetoric,Democracy and their Consequences in Colonial New South Wales

This paper argues that although our understanding of politics in colonial New South Wales in the period after 1856 has increased in recent times there is little appreciation of the political rhetoric employed to justify those politics. It contends that the key to understanding that rhetoric is an appreciation that politics was not understood in terms of institutional design but focused rather on the quality of political leaders. In particular, as exemplified by the case of Henry Parkes, it involved being British and being able to work British institutions. This emphasis on personal politics, rather than institutional matters such as the creation of checks and balances, helped to shape the nature of democratic institutions in Australia. In particular it encouraged a form of democracy that concentrated power. The refusal of members of the Legislative Council to oppose the Influx of Chinese Restriction Bill is an early indication of the consequences of that form of democracy.     

From Protection to Competition: The Politics of Trade Practices Reform in Australia and the Trade Practices Act 1965

The Trade Practices Act 1965 was widely criticised as being weak and unproductive. It was a significantly watered‐down version of the original Bill overseen by Garfield Barwick. Although the final form of the Act was perceived as ineffective at the time, it is now viewed as an important step towards a national competition policy and a precursor to the opening up of the Australian economy. This paper outlines the economic, political and social background to the introduction of the legislation. We specify some of the factors that explain why its creation caused controversy and its importance in initiating change in Australians' attitudes towards collusive behaviour and economic protectionism.     

From Protection to Competition — The Politics of Trade Practices Reform in Australia

From Protection to Competition — The Politics of Trade Practices Reform in Australia. By Kerrie Round and Martin Shanahan (Sydney: The Federation Press, 2015), AU$125.00 (hb).     

Migrants,Identity and Radical Politics: Meaning and Ramifications of the Visits of Italian Communist Party Officials to Australia

This paper examines ten years (1963–1973) of visits to Australia of Italian Communist Party (PCI) officials. In particular, the visits' origins, meaning and ramifications are analysed and framed against the background of post‐war migrant worker identity discourses and radical politics. They appear to have shaped markedly the direction of the experience of Italian communists in Australia, especially in Sydney, and their interaction with both the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) and the PCI. Ultimately, they helped spread the message of Italian communism among migrants and encourage the replication on Australian soil of the successful experience of the Europe‐based PCI federations with thousands of worker members. For the CPA, which had been looking for new ways to break through to the hearts and minds of the migrant proletariat, the visits heralded a stronger partnership with its Italian members, a closer link with Eurocommunism, and a potential new stream of recruits that would have reversed the hemorrhaging of membership. The visits were instrumental, as argued in this paper, for the establishment and promotion of an Italian cultural and language space for which far‐left Italian migrants in Australia had long yearned.     

环境正义与生态帝国主义:基于美国利益集团政治和全球南北对立的分析

环境正义属于环保中的公平正义,与阶级、种族和收入差距直接相关。环境正义运动起源于美国,突出表现为反对环境种族主义的斗争,与民权运动相关联。本文系统考察了美国环境正义运动的历史及相关的国内外研究文献,并运用美国密执安大学社会研究所的《美国全国选举研究》(ANES)民意测验资料,分析了围绕环境正义问题的美国利益集团和政治意识形态冲突。同时,考察了其他一些国家的环境正义问题以及环境正义问题的国际延伸,即生态帝国主义和围绕环境正义的南北政治意识形态冲突。最后,探讨了环境正义和生态帝国主义议题对中国的启示。