Howard, Downer and the Liberals' Realist Tradition

The successive Howard Governments sought not only to make foreign policy in response to new regional and global agendas, but to respond to and to seek to manage new forms of electoral challenge with new forms of nationalism. This has resulted in a set of important departures from the major Liberal tradition in international affairs, the claim to a realist approach to foreign policy, and has led to the need to manage the consequences of those departures. The boundary that realism sought to draw between the domestic and international politics, as the spheres of values and interests respectively, became increasingly blurred. In relations with the Asian region the expression of strong domestic (nationalist and internationalist) agendas led initially to distancing from Asian engagement. However, from 2002, a more realist-focused external policy led to new forms of state to state re-engagement in pursuit of national interests. In the commitment to military operations in Iraq, the Anzac legend is interpreted to supply nationalist legitimation which would not normally be required for wars fought for realist (i.e. defensive) reasons. A future Liberal prime minister would lack Howard's touch here. In the debate in the Liberal Party over defence doctrine, an attempt by the Defence Minister to reformulate the realist doctrine of Defence of Australia into an expeditionary construct was rejected.     

The Effect of Voting Technology on Voter Turnout: Do Computers Scare the Elderly?

In the aftermath of the Florida debacle in the 2000 Presidential election, there has been an emphasis on replacing voting equipment perceived as inferior (e.g., punch card ballots) with more technologically advanced voting methods. It is possible, however, that not all voters will be comfortable with high-tech voting devices. Elderly voters, for example, might be familiar with the old voting machines but apprehensive about computerized voting. If this is the case, the fear of new voting technology might cause the turnout of elderly voters to decrease. We test for this effect by analyzing the change in voter turnout across Georgia counties in the two most recent gubernatorial elections, as it relates to the share of the counties’ populations that is over the age of 65 years. Consistent with the hypothesis that computers scare the elderly, we find a significantly negative relationship between the change in voter turnout and the elderly share of the population. An additional 1% of the population that is elderly is associated with a 0.3–0.4% decrease in turnout. The hypothesis that elderly voters were apprehensive about the change in voting technology is also supported by the increase in absentee balloting.     

Full Disclosure: Unanticipated Improvements in Property Tax Uniformity

This paper contributes to two strands in the property tax literature. One thread considers the effects of full disclosure requirements or “truth in taxation” on the rate of property tax growth. The second studies the determinants of assessment uniformity. This article focuses on the role of full disclosure in changing administrative incentives and improving the uniformity of the property tax. A panel of 29 Utah counties over a 32‐year period is used in a TSCS analysis. Findings suggest there is substantial evidence that full disclosure improved uniformity in Utah, but limited evidence that it restrained property tax growth.     

Earthquakes and Aftershocks: Race, Direct Democracy, and Partisan Change

Although dramatic partisan change among the electorate is infrequent, the issue agendas of parties may produce large shifts. A major cause of such change is the politics of race. In a political environment charged with racially oriented issues, racial groups often align themselves with different parties (as witnessed most recently in the American South). Yet, if racial appeals violate norms of equality, these appeals may rebound on the party using them. Consequently, members of the (white) racial majority and racially targeted minority may both move away from the offending party. Using data from the California Field Poll, we find that racially charged ballot propositions sponsored by the Republican party during the 1990s in California reversed the trend among Latinos and Anglos toward identifying as Republican, ceteris paribus, by shifting party attachments toward the Democratic party. Our results raise serious questions about the long-term efficacy of racially divisive strategies for electoral gain.     

Social Justice Issues in the Management of Religious Diversity in Australia

New religions, both those arriving by way of the cultural baggage of migrants and those which are part of the panoply of recent New Religious Movements and the New Age, have challenged and changed Australia's religious demography, but have been incorporated into Australian society in a comparatively peaceable way due to Australia's very tolerant religious institution. The effective management of this new religious diversity has been made possible by previously existing norms and expectations (i.e., institutions). The attempt to enact federal legislation to protect freedom of religion and belief in response to ICCPR Article 18 spearheaded by Australia's Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission provides an opportunity to examine a particular case of the management of religious diversity. Groups that viewed the consequences of religious difference from a social justice perspective supported the legislation, and those that essentialize religious difference opposed it.     

MANAGING AUSTRALIA'S POLICE: THE CHALLENGE TO IDENTIFY WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE—POLITICIANS OR POLICE?

Abstract: The management of police by government in Australia is a controversial but neglected topic, with little research or theoretical work having been undertaken. What is clear from the limited information available is that governments tend to adopt an arms-length policy and allow police to act with a greater degree of independence than they do with many other government agencies. What underpins this approach is the traditional British model for managing police. This model is considered in this paper, along with other matters such as local police statutes, discretion, statutory authority status and accountability. These aspects of the arms-length approach are discussed in the light of current policy-making and accountability systems. Consideration is also given to the question of whether this approach by government is still appropriate.     

Reapportionment and partisan competition: When does reapportionment matter?

This research considers the effects of reapportionment on partisan competition. More precisely, this study develops a set of specifications under which we might expect varying effects of reapportionment on electoral patterns. By considering the history of political competition in the state, the geographic distribution of partisans, the history and methods of previous apportionments, and the political nature of the reapportionment, a set of specific hypotheses regarding the effects can be deduced. The theory is tested by application of it to the state of Oklahoma. Utilizing an interrupted time-series analysis of election results, we conclude that the 1964 reapportionment in Oklahoma had immediate electoral consequences. The 1971 reapportionment had virtually no effect. These findings are consistent with the expectations based on the theory developed in the paper.