Individual Ministerial Responsibility During the Howard Years: 1996–2007

Upon winning the 1996 election, John Howard became the first Australian prime minister to codify his understanding of individual ministerial responsibility by publishing A Guide on Key Elements of Ministerial Responsibility. This article examines how this ministerial code of conduct was applied to significant allegations of ministerial impropriety that occurred during the 1996–2007 Howard era, and highlights the relationship between the media, the Prime Minister's response and the ultimate outcome. It finds that Howard's early rigorous application of the Guide to allegations of conflicts of interest involved political pain and instigated its decline. Howard retreated, redefined ministerial responsibility as requiring deliberate wrongdoing and raised the threshold required for a minister's dismissal. His inability to firmly apply the Guide to instances of ministerial misconduct betrays the traditional view that ministers are responsible for their own actions. The contemporary practice is that ministers do not resign for departmental failures for which they are not personally responsible, irrespective of the gravity of that wrongdoing.     

The importance of thin layer chromatography and UV microspectrophotometry in the analysis of reactive dyes released from wool and cotton fibers

Samples of reactively-dyed wool and cotton were obtained from a range of dye manufacturers, dye distributors and the Forensic Science Service (FSS) Fibre Data Collection. The wool fibers were red in color and had previously been compared using comparison microscopy (CM), visible range microspectrophotometry (VS) and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The cotton fibers were blue and black in color and had not been previously compared. Red, blue and black fibers were chosen because they are often encountered in casework. The usage of reactive dyes to color fibers has increased over the last 10-15 years and these are often seen in casework. Before techniques were available that allowed reactively-dyed fibers to be compared using TLC only CM and microspectrophotometry were routinely carried out. Many laboratories, who had a microspectrophotometer, only had a visible range instrument. It was therefore important to see which techniques provide additional information, that gives greater individuality to fibers, to that obtained from CM. The color was released from the wool and cotton fibres using alkaline hydrolysis and a cellulase enzyme respectively. Many of the red wool samples were differentiated from each other using CM. More differentiation was found using VS and even more when ultraviolet range microspectrophotometry (UV) or TLC was used. Two samples could only be differentiated using TLC because CM, VS and UV failed to separate them. The black cotton samples were predominately differentiated using CM but VS allowed for further differentiation. With the samples used in this project UV and TLC failed to separate the samples further. The blue cotton samples benefited from the use of CM, VS and either UV or TLC to reduce the number of matching pairs. All techniques aided differentiation although with this set TLC and UV proved to be complementary techniques. Results demonstrate that TLC and UV both yield important information over and above that obtained from CM and VS. Although in some parts of the project TLC and UV are complementary if the concentration of the dye in the fiber is not sufficient for TLC or the scientist doesn't wish to 'destroy' the fiber UV would be of more use than TLC.     

Macro Measures and Mechanics of Social Capital

Interest in social capital has grown as it has become apparentthat it is an important predictor of collective well-being.Recently, attention has shifted to how levels of social capitalhave changed over time. But better measures are required totest even basic hypotheses such as establishing the directionof causality between the two components of social capital. Inthe following analysis, I develop macro measures of social capitalthrough the development of longitudinal measures of civic engagementand interpersonal trust. I use these measures to test basicassumptions about social capital. The result is not only thefirst over time measures of social capital, but also an increasein our understanding of social capital as a macro process withcomplex causes and effects.     

Trends in development administration: The continuing challenge to the efficay of the post-colonial state in the third world

‘Development administration’ has become established and recognized as a distinct enterprise of academic study and practice. This paper visits some of the major themes that have been examined by. the ‘development administration community’ by focusing on common concerns with (1) building effective administrative capacity as part of the development process that is also. (2) responsive and accountable and (3) equitable. It is argued that these persistent themes—amid the diversity of approaches and ideological susceptibilities-constitute a continuing challenge to the efficacy of the post-colonial state in the management of development activities.     

越南——广西提升与东盟合作的重要伙伴

广西与越南的合作在经贸基础、发展战略、合作机制及项目等方面已具备诸多优势,可通过推进项目合作、处理贸易逆差、引导边贸转型升级、加强北部湾合作开发等方面着手,探索与越南合作的新优势和新途径,以越南为支撑点促进与东盟的全局合作。     

Business engagement in violence prevention and peace-building: the case of Kenya

Kenyan business was important in mitigating episodes of election violence in 2007–2008 and 2013. This article finds that this role was motivated by the ethical and moral commitments of key business leaders to further peace in times of violence; and by interests in preventing future economic loss. However, by adopting a lens that situates business roles in violence prevention and peace-building within Kenya’s conflict systems and political economy, the article finds a paradox: this lens confirms the Kenyan ‘success story’ with respect to specific violent episodes; but it also reveals a much more limited role for business in transforming the underlying sources of conflict; especially when these are congruent with key business fundamentals connected to land ownership, property rights, export-oriented production or services, or a ‘limited’ access order. Overall, the article highlights that business should leverage its comparative advantages within broader multi-stakeholder coalitions, especially in terms of its ability to influence political leaders, entry-points for informal dialogue to diffuse crises and capital to support peace-building initiatives.     

Taking Time Seriously

Dramatic world change has stimulated interest in research questions about the dynamics of politics. We have seen increases in the number of time series data sets and the length of typical time series. But three shortcomings are prevalent in published time series analysis. First, analysts often estimate models without testing restrictions implied by their specification. Second, researchers link the theoretical concept of equilibrium with cointegration and error correction models. Third, analysts often do a poor job of interpreting results. The consequences include weak connections between theory and tests, biased estimates, and incorrect inferences. We outline techniques for estimating linear dynamic regressions with stationary data and weakly exogenous regressors. We recommend analysts (1) start with general dynamic models and test restrictions before adopting a particular specification and (2) use the wide array of information available from dynamic specifications. We illustrate this strategy with data on Congressional approval and tax rates across OECD countries.