Much of the most interesting and controversial work in analyzing democratic institutions over the recent past has its intellectual origins in public choice economics. The analytical apparatus derived for the study of human behavior in markets is applied to a political setting. The electoral process is viewed as a kind of market in which the currency is votes and party competition is the primary mechanism by which the policies that citizens want are ensured. This book explores the advantages and problems with democratic institutions in a series of essays representing a variety of disciplinary...

Should government's power to tax be limited? The events of the late 1970s in the wake of California's Proposition 13 brought this question very sharply into popular focus. Whether the power to tax should be restricted, and if so how, are issues of immediate policy significance. Providing a serious analysis of these issues, the authors of this 1980 book offer an approach to the understanding and evaluation of the fiscal system, one that yields profound implications. The central question becomes: how much 'power to tax' would the citizen voluntarily grant to government as a party to some...

Environmentalism is one of the major issues of our time. A key question is how responsive are Australian institutions to the challenges posed by environmental issues? This book focuses on how effectively political institutions and organisations are able to address concerns about the deterioration of the environment. The book considers the key players in environmental debate and policy-making: social movements, interest groups, political parties, the media, the parliaments and the bureaucracy. It contains much rich empirical material. This stimulating and original book makes an important...

For most of Australia's colonial history its indigenous people have been denied full membership in Australian society. This book examines the history of their citizenship status and asks whether it is possible for indigenous Australians to be members of a common society on equal terms with others. Leading commentators from a range of disciplines examine historical conceptions of indigenous civil rights, consider issues arising from recent struggles for equality and consider possibilities for multicultural citizenship that recognize difference.

This lively and accessible book analyzes the role of journalism and the scope of its democratic purpose. Schultz examines key news stories, and looks at the attitudes of Australian journalists themselves. The ideal of the fourth estate has been impaired by concentrated media ownership and by commercial, political, ethical and occupational interests. Schultz argues for a revival of the fourth estate based on journalistic independence and political autonomy, together with increased accountability and responsiveness.

Australia once had extremely high levels of trade union participation yet since the 1970s the number of union members has been falling dramatically. This book gives the clearest picture yet of why people do or do not belong to unions and, in a sophisticated way, examines the reasons for union decline. Uniquely, it considers both macro and micro levels, looking at the structure of the economy and the labor market, the ideological dispositions people have toward unionism, the role of the state and the political and industrial strategies of unions.

This important interdisciplinary volume explores feminist approaches to institutional design and reshaping. It looks at the scope for ensuring that Australian institutions acknowledge gender difference and deliver more equitable outcomes. It shows how gendered regulatory norms underpin and intersect with all other institutional settings. The leading team of writers discusses topics including: institutions, embodiment and sexual difference; the welfare state; housing policy; household work; republicanism and citizenship; and gender-based discrimination.

Australia once had extremely high levels of trade union participation yet since the 1970s the number of union members has been falling dramatically. This book gives the clearest picture yet of why people do or do not belong to unions and, in a sophisticated way, examines the reasons for union decline. Uniquely, it considers both macro and micro levels, looking at the structure of the economy and the labor market, the ideological dispositions people have toward unionism, the role of the state and the political and industrial strategies of unions.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis on the design of institutions for the new Europe. Addressing critical issues such as the appropriate distribution of political powers, the next step in the constitution process, allocation of taxing powers and distribution of policy-making responsibilities.

Societies function on the basis of rules. These rules, rather like the rules of the road, coordinate the activities of individuals who have a variety of goals and purposes. Whether the rules work well or ill, and how they can be made to work better, is a matter of major concern. Appropriately interpreted, the working of social rules is also the central subject matter of modern political economy. This book is about rules - what they are, how they work, and how they can be properly analysed. The authors' objective is to understand the workings of alternative political institutions so that...