Inquiry into Local Government Responsibilities and Funding

On 30 May 2002 I announced a major inquiry into local government. The inquiry is to be conducted by the multi–party House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration. In this article I look at the background to the inquiry and at some of the things I hope it will achieve.     

Making moral citizens: On Himmelfarb's de‐moralization thesis

One of the most popular and pressing problems in the attempts of contemporary Western social and cultural commentators to understand these times is the question of whether it is possible to identify a worrisome and unstoppable process of de‐moralization. This process is frequently taken to involve the cutting of the ties and identities of citizenship so that individuals are left to wallow in swamps of anomie and disrepute; swamps in which the supposed achievements of civilization are undermined by the reappearance of activities which are taken to be more reminiscent of the mythical state of nature. In this article I will examine one of the most well‐developed and intellectually plausible versions of this de‐moralization thesis. I will outline and attempt to contextualize arguments rehearsed by Gertrude Himmelfarb in her book The Demoralization of Society (Himmelfarb, 1995). I hope to show that the de‐moralization thesis is based upon a specific articulation of citizenship to civilization. I will then offer aspects of a sociological critique of Himmelfarb and, implicitly therefore, of the connection of citizenship to civilizaton. I will develop this possible critique through an account of some themes contained in the work of Zygmunt Bauman.     

Comparative public adminstration: The United States view in international perspective

In the study of comparative public administration in the United States, there are currently four directions of development associated with bureaucratic and policy models, case and component approaches, the comparative study of organizations, and application. The characteristics of these developments are outlined in this article, recent publications surveyed and future trends discussed. The extent to which there is a peculiarly American or Western tradition in the comparative study of administration is considered and issue is taken with the argument presented by Dwivedi and Nef (1982) for greater autonomy.