Ministerial Careers And Accountability In The Australian Commonwealth Government

This book examines the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of Australian cabinet ministers. It examines the sorts of jobs ministers do, what is expected of them, what they expect of the job and how they (are supposed to) work together as a team. It considers aspects of how they are chosen to become ministers; how they are scrutinised by parliament and the media; and how ministers themselves view accountability. It also looks at the causes of calls for ministers to resign, examines scandals around ministers and assesses ministerial accountability.

This book examines the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of Australian cabinet ministers. It examines the sorts of jobs ministers do, what is expected of them, what they expect of the job and how they (are supposed to) work together as a team. It considers aspects of how they are chosen to become ministers; how they a.

Governing cabinets are composed of ministers who come and go even as governments march on. They work for the chief executive, the prime minister or the president, for their parties and for the constituent groups from which they come. They are chosen for their role and dismissed from it for all sorts of reasons that vary across time and country. This book examines the process of selection, shuffling and removal of ministers in national cabinets around the world. Drawing on original data over several decades, it offers a series of case studies of countries from around the world with differing institutional and cultural structures including presidential and semi-presidential systems, and parliamentary, unitary and federal systems, some of which have experienced periods under authoritarian regimes. Featuring 14 case studies on North and South America, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, this book complements the earlier volume The Selection of Ministers in Europe (Routledge, 2009). This volume will be an important reference for students and scholars of political science, government, executives, comparative politics and political parties.

Prime ministers stand at the apex of government and loom large in the consciousness of the nations they lead. This book examines how prime ministers operate and how their performance as public leaders can be understood and evaluated.

This book looks at responsible government under the Australian Constitution. It undertakes a detailed examination of the history leading to the incorporation of responsible government into the Constitution, examining the political history and constitutional ideas which informed the framers' views. It draws on this history to develop a theory of responsible government and explore its implications for the interpretation of the Constitution and the structure of modern government in Australia. The book fills a major gap in our knowledge of the intellectual background of the Australian Constitution by explaining the constitutional ideas that have shaped the text and structure of the Australian Constitution. It contributes to worldwide debates about constitutional interpretation by showing how rigorous use of history can lead to novel interpretations of constitutions without being tied to the 'dead hands of the founders'.

This book contributes to and expands on the major international Comparative Policy Agendas Project. It sets the project in context, and provides a comprehensive assessment of the changing policy agenda in Australia over a forty-year period, using a unique systematic dataset of governor-general speeches, legislation and parliamentary questions, and then mapping these on to media coverage and what the public believes (according to poll evidence) government should be concentrating upon. The book answers some important questions in political science: what are the most important legislative priorities for government over time? Does the government follow talk with action? Does government attend to the issues the public identifies as most important? And how does media attention follow the policy agenda? The authors deploy their unique dataset to provide a new and exciting perspective on the nature of Australian public policy and the Comparative Policy Agendas Project more broadly.

The global political environment in the twenty-first century is proving dynamic and challenging for Australian policymakers and political institutions. Australian Politics in the Twenty-first Century contextualises the Australian political landscape through an institutional lens. It examines the legislative and judicial bodies, minor parties, lobby groups, the media and the citizenry, providing historical and contemporary facts, explaining political issues and examining new challenges. The second edition has been updated to reflect the application of political theories in today's civic environment. New spotlight boxes highlight issues including marriage equality, COVID-19 and federalism, the inclusion of First Nations peoples in the political system, and gender equality in public policy. Short-answer, reflection, research and discussion questions encourage students to test and extend their knowledge of each topic and to clearly link theory to practice. Written in an accessible and engaging style, Australian Politics in the Twenty-First Century is an invaluable introduction to the Australian political system.

Can the Australian state be restructured to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ensure that their distinct voices are heard in the processes of government? This book provides an answer to that question for Australia and provides guidance for all states that claim jurisdiction and authority over the traditional lands of Indigenous peoples. By engaging directly with Indigenous peoples' nuanced and complex aspirations, this book presents a viable model for structural reform. It does so by adopting a distinctive and innovative approach: drawing on Indigenous scholarship globally it presents a coherent and compelling account of Indigenous peoples' political aspirations through the concept of sovereignty. It then articulates those themes into a set of criteria legible to Australia's system of governance. This original perspective produces a culturally informed metric to assess institutional mechanisms and processes designed to empower Indigenous peoples. Reflecting the Uluru Statement from the Heart's call for a First Nations Voice, the book applies the criteria to one specific institutional mechanism – Indigenous representative bodies. It analyses in detail the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the Swedish Sámi Parliament, a representative body for the Indigenous people of Sweden. In examining the Sámi Parliament the book draws on a rich source of primary and secondary untranslated Swedish-language sources, resulting in the most comprehensive English language exploration of this unique institution. Highlighting the opportunities and challenges of Indigenous representative bodies, the book concludes by presenting a novel and informed model for structural reform in Australia that meets Indigenous aspirations.