Leaders,the Economy or Iraq? Explaining Voting in the 2004 Australian Election*

Following the 2001 “border security” election, it was assumed that the 2004 federal election would revert to the traditional campaign battleground of socio‐economic issues. This prediction proved to be only partly true, and while economic and social issues did figure in the election campaign, much more important were popular perceptions of the leaders. Indirectly, the Iraq War also had some impact, mediated through evaluations of John Howard. Analysis of leader effects suggests that Mark Latham was not the electoral liability for Labor that many have subsequently claimed. Ultimately, the Coalition won the election because they had a highly popular leader who had presided over a period of sustained economic growth. The election emphasizes the central role that the party leaders play in modern election campaigns.     

The Idea of Constitutional Pluralism

Constitutional discourse has perhaps never been more popular, nor more comprehensively challenged than it is today. The development of new constitutional settlements and languages at state and post-state level has to be balanced against the deepening of a formidable range of sceptical attitudes. These include the claim that constitutionalism remains too state-centered, overstates its capacity to shape political community, exhibits an inherent normative bias against social developments associated with the politics of difference, provides a language easily susceptible to ideological manipulation and, that, consequent upon these challenges, it increasingly represents a fractured and debased conceptual currency. A rehabilitated language of constitutionalism would meet these challenges through a version of constitutional pluralism. Constitutional pluralism recognises that in the post-Westphalian world there exists a range of different constitutional sites and processes configured in a heterarchical rather than a hierarchical pattern, and seeks to develop a number of empirical indices and normative criteria which allow us to understand this emerging configuration and assess the legitimacy of its development.     

Divorce, Custody, and Spousal Violence: A Random Sample of Circuit Court Docket Records

The fastest growing marital status category in America is divorced, with the number of divorced individuals quadrupling between 1970 and 1996. The majority of children in divorced families live with a single parent and often lose contact with the noncustodial parent. A recent review of the literature suggests that many noncustodial fathers fail to keep contact with their children and become delinquent in child support payments because of their dissatisfaction with the custody arrangement. However, there has been little examination of how custody arrangements are typically determined or settled. In addition, divorces that involve spousal violence bring further complications to child custody, visitation, and child support decisions. This study included a 20% random sample of court records for all divorces settled in one county judicial circuit court during 1998. The purpose of this study was to examine characteristics of divorcing adults as well as characteristics of child custody arrangements, visitation, and child support decisions. Contrary to popular belief, findings from this study indicate that divorce actions were almost always settled through agreement of the divorcing parties rather than by adjudication. About 38% of the couples had children in common and between 78 and 92% of cases were settled through agreement, which suggests that fathers are in fact agreeing to the custody arrangement, rather than being forced into it. About one in five records overall noted spousal violence, and there was no significant difference in settlement methods for couples with or without spousal violence. Cases with children and spousal violence were significantly more likely to have also mentioned substance use and postdecree activity. This study suggests a need for more focused attention on divorce cases with spousal violence to reduce postdecree court involvement and safety of children and adult victims, as well as further study into what causes noncustodial parents to lose contact with their children.     

The Cost of Good Intentions: Thermal Discomfort in Traditional Public Housing Units With Preset Thermostats

Cold and hot housing environments are known correlates of physical and psychological health conditions, decreased productivity, and issues with quality of life. The purpose of this study is to establish whether the use of preset thermostats creates disproportionate thermal discomfort (a housing unit feeling hot or cold) for people in older housing (n = 296). In-depth qualitative interviews (n = 25) elaborate on resident experiences. Implications for evaluation, practice, and policy are discussed.     

Province-state trans-border relations: a preliminary assessment

Abstract. This article attempts to explore the relationships between Canadian provinces and American states in a systematic, empirical fashion. The constitutional context within which provinces and states may legitimately interact is far from definitive, particularly on the Canadian side. However, the relative lack of precise constitutional guidance has not prevented the development of a complex mélange of official relations between provinces and states. These trans-border relationships may be classified according to their degree of formality and their function. Oddly enough, there appears to be a larger number of formal as opposed to informal relations. Functionally, province-state contacts may be categorized as regulatory, third-party, protective-environmental, public works, and public service. In addition, the impact of geography and time are considered as conditioning factors. A number of illustrative examples are given, particularly province-state co-operation in pollution control and in the suppression of forest fires. In conclusion, the article finds that province-state trans-border co-operation is natural and involves no challenge to the primacy of the respective federal governments in their conduct of foreign relations. However, the broader significance of these subnational official ties remains to be assessed. Sommaire. Cet article tente d'examiner, dune façon empirique et systématique, les relations entre les provinces canadiennes et les Etats américains. Le contexte constitutionnel à l'intérieur duquel les provinces et les Etats peuvent entretenir des relations officielles est loin d'être définitif, surtout au Canada. Néamoins, ce manque relatif d'un régime juridique précis n'a pas empêché les Etats et les provinces de développer un mélange complexe de liens officiels. On peut classifier ces relations province-état selon leur degré de formalité et selon leur fonction. Singulièrement, il semble y avoir un nombre plus grand de relations formelles que de relations informelles. D'un point de vue fonctionnel, on peut catégoriser les liens province-état comme étant régulatoires, de tiers parti, reliés à l'environnement, aux travaux publics et à la fonction publique. De plus, l'auteur constate le rôle important que jouent la géographie et le temps dam les contacts province-état. Quelques exemples illustratifs sont donnés, particulièrement touchant la coopération province-état dam les domaines de la protection de l'environnement et de la suppression des feux, de forêts. Pour conclure, l'article constate que les relations province-état sont naturelles et qu'elles n'impliquent aucun déft à la primauté du gouvernement fédéral de chaque pays concernant les relations étrangères. Cependant il faut attendre les événements pour analyser les contacts province-état dans une plus grande perspective.     

The viability and possible applications of high resolution mark replicator casting compound in document examination.

Mark replicator casting compounds are commonly associated with recovering toolmark detail. A series of experiments was designed to identify the possible applications, and assess the overall viability, of using mark replicator compound to record indentations on questioned documents. The trials included testing the effect of Isomark High Resolution Mark Replicator on different paper-based substrate types, and observing in particular, any damage that it may cause. The experiments also tested the effect that the mark replicator has on subsequent fingerprinting techniques. It was found that the mark replicator successfully recorded indentations on paper and card surfaces. In some cases, the mark replicator caused staining on some of the surfaces and had a negative effect on the quality of fingerprints subsequently developed.     

Kantian Liberalism, Regime Type, and Military Resource Allocation: Do Democracies Spend Less?

In this paper, we evaluate the liberal claim that democratic states devote fewer resources to their militaries. Low military spending is thought to avert conflict spirals and release more resources to fund domestic programs. While prominent in many liberal international relations theories, most notably in Immanuel Kant's, this proposition has received little empirical scrutiny. Using several indicators of military resource allocation and data on a wide range of states since 1816, we find empirical support for the liberal argument, although regime type is not necessarily the strongest influence on military resource allocation.     

On tort as an implicit insurance system with state-dependent utility: The case of child mortality risk

Parents deriving utility from children and their material standard of living will equate neither marginal utilities of consumption nor of income across states of the world and, contrary to claims in the literature but according with the historical record, will sometimes purchase fair insurance against child mortality risks even if a child's death reduces the marginal utility of consumption. Thus criticism of tort as an implicit insurance system should be refocused. It is not inefficient per se because it leads to payouts in death-contingent states but, rather, because the implicit third-party insurance which it provides crowds out more cost-effective first party insurance which households would and did purchase prior to the expansion of suppliers' liability under tort.     

Experimental Results of a Residential House Fire Test on Tenability: Temperature,Smoke, and Gas Analyses

A fire experiment conducted in a British 1950s‐style house is described. Measurements of temperature, smoke, CO, CO₂, and O₂ were taken in the Lounge, stairwell, and front and back bedrooms. The front bedroom door was wedged open, while the door to the back bedroom was wedged closed. Contrary to expectations and despite the relatively small fire load, analysis and hazard calculations show permeation of toxic fire gases throughout the property with lethal concentrations of effluent being measured at each sampling point. A generally poor state of repair and missing carpets in the upper story contributed to a high degree of gas and smoke permeation. The available egress time was calculated as the time before the main escape route became impassable. Given known human responses to fire, such an incident could have caused fatalities to sleeping or otherwise immobile occupants.