Does Australia Still Need State Governments?— An Exchange

These two perspectives on the need for state governments were presented to the RIPAA National Conference on 30 November 1995, Brisbane.     

A Successful Transition? ACT Public Finances Under Self-government

Generous Commonwealth funding before self-government in 1989 meant that the ACT enjoyed high government expenditures and low taxation compared with the states. Self-government meant a transition to normal state funding, ultimately involving substantial reductions in Commonwealth grants. Successive governments aligned taxes with other jurisdictions, but failed to reduce expenditures, which remained well above Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC) assessments of levels necessary to provide a standard level of services. The fiscal position — however measured — has worsened. The transition to normal funding has been unsuccessful and, without the necessary adjustments, a heavy burden will be placed on future Canberrans.     

Elite Interviewing: Approaches and Pitfalls

Interviews are one of the major tools in qualitative research, although there is a limited literature on the subject of interviewing generally and elite interviewing particularly. The aim of this article is to introduce some of the issues involved in elite interviewing to researchers new to the use of the technique. Emphasis is also placed on the need for the interviewer to know his/her subject thoroughly, and to be prepared to be flexible in an interview situation. The information is based on the author's own recent experience of interviewing a number of top civil servants, both serving and retired.     

Insurgency, counterinsurgency, and the rational peasant

Many rational choice treatments of guerrilla insurgency have focused on the strategic calculus by which government and insurgent elites use the tactical weapons of coercion and benefits to win the support of nonelites. This paper uses Frohlich and Oppenheimer's model of the rational tax payer/tax evader to develop a model of the decision calculus by which nonelites respond to the tactical behavior of elites and thereby choose between supporting the incumbent regime, its insurgent opposition or neither. This model is then used to assess the likely impact of various insurgent and counterinsurgent tactics on nonelite support and loyalty.     

CEOs, POLICIES AND PUBLIC BODIES

Abstract: The literature on statutory authorities has concentrated largely upon matters of structure and administrative arrangements. One significant dimension which has received scant treatment is the idiosyncratic role of chief executive officers in such organisations and their ability to capture both the agency and policy-direction, often in ways immune from government control. This article mainly examines one example from the Northern Territory, the Darwin Trade Development Zone, but evidence is included to support the contention that similar processes occur in other statutory authorities both locally and elsewhere in Australia. It is argued that structural reforms cannot by themselves remedy the gap between expectation and policy-delivery. Avenues for reform are discussed, including the more orthodox accountability linkages, and the conclusions drawn argue for greater attention to be given to the appropriateness of chief executive appointments within a context of more disciplined and coherent policy-direction.