Understanding Australia's Neighbours is a comprehensive introduction to the study of Asia. Written thematically, it provides comparisons between Asian and Australian societies, and encourages readers to think about Australia's neighbours across a wide range of social, economic and historical contexts. Topics covered include: *The nature of tradition and modernity *change to the family and religion *the role of colonialism and nationalism in political change *nation-building *economic development *international politics *globalisation *democracy and human rights. Fully revised and updated, it...

Voters expect their elected representatives to pursue good policy and presume this will be securely founded on the best available knowledge. Yet when representatives emphasize their reliance on expert knowledge, they seem to defer to people whose authority derives, not politically from the sovereign people, but from the presumed objective status of their disciplinary bases.

This book examines the tensions between political authority and expert authority in the formation of public policy in liberal democracies. It aims to illustrate and better understand the nature of these tensions...