Royal Commissions Of Inquiry

While there have been many different studies on public inquiries, Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries in Australia provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date overview of public inquiries in Australia. It is based on rigorous and in-depth analysis spanning several decades, and has required patient and painstaking work in defining and identifying different federal public inquiries and monitoring their performance over the last 100 years. ROYAL COMMISSIONS AND PUBLIC INQUIRIES IN AUSTRALIA will be of interest to all who seek to better understand the particular role of public inquiries and what their continued appointment tells us about trends in Australian government generally.' From the Foreword by Professor John Wanna, The Sir John Bunting Professor of Public Administration, Australian National University. ROYAL COMMISSIONS AND PUBLIC INQUIRIES IN AUSTRALIA provides the first comprehensive overview of the extent, use and impact of Commonwealth public inquiries appointed since 1901. Specifically, this new book:* defines 'public inquiries,' and delineates them from other advisory bodies;* details trends in public inquiry numbers since Federation and compares these to overseas jurisdictions;* classifies the different types and forms of public inquiries;* explains public inquiry procedures, powers and associated legislation;* analyses why public inquiries are appointed and their roles in the political system;* assesses their impact on public policy; and,* explores the continuing and future roles of public inquiries. Covering public inquiries appointed by the Commonwealth government since Federation, particular attention is given to those public inquiries appointed during the last thirty years, when inquiry numbers increased markedly. References to numerous inquiries throughout the book are supplemented by detailed case studies of key public inquiries, including royal commissions and appointed by different governments. This authoritative book has been written by an expert in the field. Lecturer Dr Scott Prasser has worked in federal and state governments in senior policy and research advisory positions. ROYAL COMMISSIONS AND PUBLIC INQUIRIES IN AUSTRALIA will be a valuable reference for those interested in a widely used, but often neglected, advisory instrument of modern government that continues to influence many areas of public policy.

Royal commissions and permanent commissions of inquiry.

This collection brings together leading Canadian scholars working in political science, public policy, and law to explore fundamental questions about the relationship between commissions of inquiry and public policy for the first time: What role do commissions play in policy change? Would policy change have happened without them? Why do some commissions result in policy changes while others do not? --

This book is the first comprehensive, integrated, and thorough exposition of the public inquiry as a governmental, legal and social institution. It examines the legal framework, the role of the commissioner and legal counsel, the rights and obligations of individuals who may be affected and its relationship to government, the media and the public.

Hundreds of commissions of inquiry have been struck in Canada since before Confederation, but many of their recommendations are never implemented. Reconciling Truths explores the role and implications of public inquiries, particularly their limits and possibilities in an era of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Providing examples and in-depth critical analysis of the leadership and process of various commissions, Kim Stanton offers practical guidance on how to improve their effectiveness. This forthright study affirms the potential of inquiries to create a dialogue about issues of public importance, paving the way for policy change and shifting the dominant Canadian narrative over time.

In the mid-nineteenth century, American and British governments marched with great fanfare into the marketplace of knowledge and publishing. British royal commissions of inquiry, inspectorates, and parliamentary committees conducted famous social inquiries into child labor, poverty, housing, and factories. The American federal government studied Indian tribes, explored the West, and investigated the condition of the South during and after the Civil War. Performing, printing, and then circulating these studies, government established an economy of exchange with its diverse constituencies. In this medium, which Frankel terms "print statism," not only tangible objects such as reports and books but knowledge itself changed hands. As participants, citizens assumed the standing of informants and readers. Even as policy investigations and official reportage became a distinctive feature of the modern governing process, buttressing the claim of the state to represent its populace, government discovered an unintended consequence: it could exercise only limited control over the process of inquiry, the behavior of its emissaries as investigators or authors, and the fate of official reports once issued and widely circulated. This study contributes to current debates over knowledge, print culture, and the growth of the state as well as the nature and history of the "public sphere." It interweaves innovative, theoretical discussions into meticulous, historical analysis.