APSA50: The jubilee conference of the Australasian Political Science Association

Timetable: Session 3
Wednesday 2 October: 2.00-3.30pm

Session 1    Session 2    Session 4    Session 5    Session 6    Session 7    Session 8    Session 9    Session 10
Wednesday    Thursday    Friday

Roger Scott, School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland
The decline of political science within the study of public administration
The study of government as a unique phenomenon has deep historical roots and has engaged the attention of philosophers, economists and lawyers throughout recorded history. Political studies as a separate discipline brought these pre-existing disciplines into focus. Under American influence, these studies also came to embrace aspects of human behaviour and to incorporate elements successively of psychology, social anthropology and sociology. Australian universities roughly paralleled this trend, with political studies emerging mainly out of departments of history but closely linked to related studies in law and philosophy. While "political science" was later to become the dominant title, three of the older institutions - Sydney, Tasmania and Queensland - adopted the title Government as the departmental nomenclature. This reflected in part the trend in those institutions for economists to demonstrate interest in the role of government and the functioning of governmental institutions. So these three departments of Government were closely attached to faculties of commerce, maintaining at least equal partnership with Arts. Over time, there have been powerful moves within these commerce faculties towards a market-focussed explanation for human behaviour and a disdain for the capacity of governments to function as efficiently as market-driven organizations in delivering services. This has led to declining concern for the unique character of public sector institutions. As a result, the separate study of public administration has experienced accelerating decline. The "vocational" appeal of public administration for students realistically assessing their career prospects has not been sustained in this skeptical environment. "Management" has emerged as a generic discipline, claiming to solve the ills of public bureaucracy by adopting the nostrums of the private sector. This has resulted in the widespread alienation of public administration from its previous setting in political studies departments. Public sector teachers often end up on the margins of management schools. Public policy as a study remains awkwardly poised as a result, sitting as it does on the fulcrum between organizational and State politics. The separation of politics from administration which was much debated nearly a century ago has come back to haunt scholars still interested in such matters and to damage wider understanding of the core processes of democratic government.

Carol Johnson, Politics Department University of Adelaide
Australian political science and the study of discourse
This paper argues that the study of political discourse, in its various forms and taking various approaches, has become an increasingly useful aspect of Australian political science. That development, in turn, is related to a "discursive shift", associated with the influence of neo-liberalism, that has taken place in Australian government discourse and that has challenged previous understandings of Australian political thought. As well, the increasing study of political discourse has been influenced by the impact of interdisciplinary approaches such as post-structuralist, postmodernist, feminist, queer, critical theory and postcolonial analyses. Such analyses can generate very useful insights. However, this paper also argues that one of the strengths of Australian political scientists' use of discursive approaches is that they are largely seen as merely supplementing more traditional approaches to the study of politics.

Chair: Marian Simms

Phil Chase, Senior Lecturer, School of Communication, Unitec, Auckland
Hegemony in abstraction: Media coverage and the 2001 local government election
The media are central to political communication in western liberal democracies. All media —and television in particular —have become primary sources of information —allowing the public to make informed decisions at election time. But increasingly voters are making their choices on the basis of mediated data devoid of substance or serious analysis. In October 2001 New Zealanders went to the polls for the triennial local government elections. This paper explores how publicly-owned national television and the regional daily press covered and portrayed the Auckland Mayoral election. It analyses the textand visuals of television's news and current affairs and the daily press coverage of items on the mayoral campaign drawing on elements of content and discourse analysis. The two media focused on differing facets of the election, and employed divergent linguistic and visual presentation styles; yet the resulting coverage was similar: highly segmented, trivialised, with a notable absense of genuinely insightful discourse. Voter citizenship needs were more ably met via the paid press advertisements, despite the initial press censorship. While appearing to provide some measure of balanced coverage, the media focused on story constructions which militated against voter understanding of policy platforms, public interest issues, and reinforced negative conventional perceptions of politics.

Andrew M Vandenberg, Centre for Citizenship and Human Rights, Deakin University
Trade unions, globalisation, and networked computers
Many trade union movements anticipate that networked computers constitute a means of both reversing declining unionisation densities and coping with the challenges posed by the globalisation of national economies. Reasons to doubt this include:
1) the individualising effects of new media;
2) a contemporary compulsion for public organisations to abandon the schooling of responsible and active citizens in favour of networking with interactive consumers; and
3) a tendency for global capitalism to outflank unions and de-link unions and parties within labour movements.
Reasons to investigate the union organising possibilities of networked computers include:
1) the potential for a post-liberal civic republicanism in the electronic mode of information;
2) the potential for local unionists to co-ordinate their organising with other activists in diverse social and political movements; and
3) the rise of a new internationalism among diverse groups critical of globalisation.
In light of these considerations, this article considers the Australian Council of Trade Unions' strategic plan Unions@Work along with international research on unions and networked computers, and argues that since networked computers will have no uniform or sweeping effects on all agents, organisations, or people it is likely that both market-friendly individualisation and post-liberal online republicanism will develop at once. Some unionists will turn to networked computers in order to gain better "customer service" while some will turn to them in order to organise community unionism. Similarly, a propensity for globalisation to de-link unions from national parties of labour may well combine with networked computers facilitating the emergence of stronger linkages in the international union movement. The doubters will therefore be right to some extent but unions should persevere anyway and make the most of the opportunities offered by networked computers.

Sally Young, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne
It is no longer possible to understand modern election campaigns without considering election candidates' reliance on mass media and expensive television advertising. Political advertising is now central to the conduct, if not the results, of modern election campaigns. The ultimate purpose of political advertising in elections is, of course, to win votes. While no researcher has been able to conclusively determine how, many have argued that advertisements do have an effect on voters and can even influence voting choice. Yet there is also evidence to suggest that political advertisements have other, perhaps unintended effects. It is alleged that they have contributed to the decline of the political parties, the rise of a cynical electorate and the 'dumbing down' of political debate. These are serious charges however, they have never been comprehensively tested in an Australian context. Instead, many claims and assumptions have been made about how modern Australian political advertising has degenerated. It is claimed that
1) the information content of political ads has declined;
2) that political ads have become more negative;
3) that political ads have become more personalised - focusing on the party leader instead of policies or the party; and
4) that the electioneering strategies behind political ads have changed as the principles of political marketing have taken hold.
This paper reports the results of a comprehensive study of political advertising in Australia. The researcher has collected and analysed over 1500 newspaper and television advertisements from 1949-2001. Analysis of these advertisements was performed using three complementary research methods - content analysis, discourse analysis and ad-mapping (that is, uncovering the decisions made by parties about when and where to place their ads as well as the frequency with which particular ads are run). The results reveal how Australian political advertising has changed over the past fifty years.

David Denemark, Department of Political Science, University of Western Australia
Information flow and voter decision-making in the 2001 Australian federal election: The role of international and domestic issues
This paper examines the role of TV coverage of international and domestic issues during the 2001 Australian federal election campaign, and its effects on voter decision-making. More specifically, it looks at voters' differential reliance on the two distinct, high profile sets of issues that dominated media election campaign coverage: the domestics issues that had been the focus throughout the election year (especially, health, education, and taxes) and the international issues that assumed centre stage just before the election was called (refugees and asylum seekers, terrorism, and defence and national security). Using an original content analysis of TV coverage, merged with the 2001 Australian election survey, interaction models yield significantly different patterns of reliance on international and domestic for groups of voters distinguished by the timing of their vote choice, and the level of their existing political interest and information. Those moderately-interested voters, who largely decided their vote choice about the time the election was called, were the most likely to cite international issues as the key to their vote choice, while those lower interested voters deciding just before or on election day were significantly more reliant on domestic issues. These patterns point to a variant on Zaller's (1989) model by showing that a single, high-intensity campaign can sustain within it two distinct issue agendas which voters with different cognitive skills and responsiveness to TV cues differentially utilize to inform their vote choice.

Political theory and politics II
Chair: Mary Walsh

Megan Alessandrini, School of Government, University of Tamania
A fourth sector: The impact of neo-liberalism on non-profit organisations
Modern society has traditionally been viewed as comprising of three sectors; government, market and civil society. The theoretical base of three pillars of government (or polity), commerce (or market) and civil society has historically been assumed to be a comprehensive structure of society. Many theorists have proposed different characteristics for the sectors but until recently none have proposed fundamental change to the structure. Debate over civil society has been a central element of political analysis for hundreds of years. Civil society has been variously theorised as subversive and detrimental to society at large, as the site of social action and as a category into which all human activity that is not market or government can be placed. In the late twentieth century civil society has been viewed as the site of social and community activity and more recently the activities of formal community organisations that have become increasingly involved in the delivery of human services. It has become evident that the traditional third sector has changed dramatically and is now polarised: some organizations remain highly altruistic and amateur in their structure and functions, but others have developed sophisticated and complex modes of operation in response to the shrinking welfare dollar. A 'fourth pillar' to the traditional tripartite separation has emerged. This fourth pillar is that of the 'entrepreneurial civic service sector'. Organisations engaged in one or a number of formal legally based arrangements with government and other funding sources are now indistinguishable in many respects from market-based organisations. They cannot however be categorised as market organisations because they are not focussed on profit or capital accumulation. These organisations' underlying goals are survival, growth and compliance with appropriate values. In pursuit of these goals, organisations are achieving greater independence through funding diversity and the implementation of managerial strategic plans and processes. It is apparent that an additional 'pillar' provides a theoretical base to contemporary societal structure, and more accurately reflects society and the relationship between government and human service organisations.

Chris Geller, School of Economics, Faculty of Business and Law, Deakin University
Single Transferable Vote with Borda Elimination: A new vote counting system
Dummett (1997) notes particular difficulties with single transferable vote (STV) and proposes an alternative vote counting system called "Quota/Borda system" (QBS) to remedy specific difficulties. I propose an alternative system, structurally related to QBS, which accomplishes similar solutions but has some significant differences. This alternative system is identical to STV in all aspects except one. It eliminates candidates in reverse order of their Borda scores rather than by their current ranking of first-place votes. I designate this system STV with Borda elimination (STV-B). STV-B and QBS share general features. They retain proportional representation from STV. However, they differ from STV is two critical manners. First, both permit some influence on candidate selection to occur between voting blocks. Second, they are much more stable than STV when subjected to small changes in voter preferences. Outcomes from STV-B differ from QBS outcomes in two ways. Under STV-B, a minority that shares some preferences may elect a candidate even if the minority is not a solid coalition, as is required for minorities under QBS. Further, QBS always selects Borda winners, either for a minority or overall. STV-B may reject a Borda winner through emphasis on each voter's most preferred candidates.

Sandra Lilburn and Damian O'Leary, Political Science Program, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University
The politics of conscience voting in Australia: Case studies in public deliberation
As a deliberative practice, conscience voting has far-reaching implications for public debate. In an ideal sense, conscience voting represents the high-water mark of deliberation, with representatives grappling with substantive issues on their merits, in full view of the public. In a less idealised sense, however, conscience voting permits representatives to assert their own value-bias and interests and to conclude issues with little input from their constituencies. By examining the political impetus behind conscience voting in three key arenas - the Federal Parliament, political parties, and the public sphere - this paper will illuminate the implications of this practice for democratic deliberation and representation. Utilising several case studies where conscience voting has been advocated, adopted, or formally rejected, the paper highlights concrete examples through which the complexities surrounding conscience voting as a deliberative practice can be analysed. The case studies have been chosen to facilitate an analysis of the interactions between the Parliament, political parties, and the public sphere. The case studies deal with a range of controversial issues including the regulation of private sphere relations, individual rights and freedoms, and matters of political and constitutional sovereignty. They are cases in which the conscience vote was called for in the context of a social controversy where a plurality of values or interests was at stake. In these cases the relationship between publicity and deliberation can be clearly drawn. They are all cases in which the occurrence of broad-based deliberation (within and between the Parliament, the parties and the public sphere) has some bearing on the legitimacy of the legislative process. The case studies are Medical Practices Clarification Bill 1973, Sex Discrimination Bill 1983, Euthanasia Laws Bill 1996, and the Sex Discrimination (Amendment) Bill 2000.

John Chesterman and David Tucker, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne
Minority rights in democratic Australia
Two recent and strongly contested political debates in Australia have each resulted in the Commonwealth government's rejection of claims by minority racial groups, and in each case the rejection appears to have received the overwhelming approval of the Australian public. The two debates — concerning the 1998 amendments to the Native Title Act, and the more recent treatment of 'illegally arriving' asylum-seekers —have seen a conservative Australian government, buoyed by vociferous public support and a compliant opposition, take uncompromising stands against what many expert commentators regarded as legitimate claims. In this paper we analyse these debates in search of their democratic implications for Australia, and we examine the extent to which the rejection of the claims constitutes a new approach to minority rights in Australia.

Murray Goot, Politics, Macquarie University
Party convergence revisited
That the major parties in Australia have converged is an idea of long standing. But proponents of the idea differ about when it happened, why it happened and what its consequences might be. In revisiting the party convergence thesis, this paper does three things. first, it provides a critical examination of the assumptions that underlie the thesis; in particular, it focuses on the widespread, if tacit, assumption that the only policies that matter are policies in one domain — typically, the economic policy domain. Second, it casts doubt on the validity of the thesis. It argues that those who propound the thesis generally conflate two analytically distinct dimensions of policy space — direction and distance — so that shifts by the parties in a particular direction (most recently, to the right) come to be read as a shift in the distance between the parties (almost always, a narrowing). It shows that, for voters at least, the parties remain distinct, not least in the positions they might be said to occupy on a left-right dimension. Beyond that, it points to the dearth of specific criteria, replicable measures and relevant dates. Third, it explores some features of Australian politics said to follow from the thesis, notably the claim that party convergence around left-right or economic issues accounts for the growth of minor party support, including the rise of Pauline Hanson's One Nation.

Richard Stanton, University of Western Sydney
Mezzanine politics
This paper examines the relationship between public opinion and public policy in a regional Australian city and provides evidence to support an argument that special interest groups have the capacity to escape scrutiny from within the public sphere. It demonstrates why community or special interest groups fail to achieve their goals and why others - which attain what I will refer to as 'mezzanine status' - succeed politically without reference to the Mayhewian notion of the redemption of rhetorical tokens. It follows the work of Habermas and Mayhew presenting evidence that professional communicators have the means of social influence at their disposal. It examines the role of the newspaper in the determination of sociopolitics and attempts to place in context theories of persuasion and influence as they occur at local government level. It analyses newspaper reporting of a proposal by an organisation known as Inland Marketing Corporation to influence local government in NSW to invest in a high-risk low-yield scheme to develop commercial interests using taxpayer funding. It achieves this through a content analysis of articles appearing in The Central Western Daily, in Orange NSW, and The Australian Financial Review. The paper focuses on the central roles played by journalists and politicians - acting as professional communicators - in the NSW regional city of Orange in supporting unconditionally economic development. It attempts to argue that political influence is assisted by mass media and of greater intensity in regional areas. It examines government financial support for the Inland Marketing Corporation based on Andsagar's (2001) proposition that interest groups attempt to shape public opinion using competing news frames. It provides an analysis of the political process of policy making at local level and the precedent to invest ratepayer funds in the high-risk low-yield proposal from the IMC. I will also attempt to show how the IMC has defined itself in media terms through ownership of the issue of fresh 'export produce' transport and logistics.

Peter Chen, University of Melbourne
‘They're not like us’: The deamalgamation of Delatite Shire
The forced amalgamation of local councils in Victoria under the Kennett government in the mid 1990s lead to a major period of upheaval and reform across the entire local government sector. Forced into new "mega councils" with appointed administrators and cuts to rate income, all councils struggled to merge political and administrative systems and cultures, manage service delivery, and move to new public management principles of contract management and privatisation of council functions. While most municipalities grudgingly accepted the new centrally-determined boundaries, Delatite Shire in North East Victoria saw ongoing resistance to the amalgamation from the southern community of Mansfield, bitterly opposed to the amalgamation with Benalla and the perceived loss of services and government staff from the region. From the formation of a locally-based residents association, the first democratically-elected council of the new shire was replaced by one comprised of pro-deamalgamation representatives, who successfully lobbied the State government for the opportunity to present a case for splitting the Shire. Following ongoing community consultation, the Council has been given the opportunity to split, an administrative exercise that will increase rates and create a new shire dependent on contracted services from surrounding municipalities. Examining the case, this paper explores the public debate and political strategies employed to advance and realise the deamalgamation policy, examining the problems associated with forming a community of interest within the new shire. Overall, the case presents some interesting comparisons with other pro-autonomy movements, the theoretical analysis of which is normally confined to religious and ethnic separatism. The paper concludes that, while practical limitations in effective public administration resulted from the ill-considered merger of Benalla and Mansfield, much of the political debate surrounding deamalgamation were based on the essential premise that separation was the only solution for significant financial and structural problems within the council. Thus political arguments were constrained within this 'pre-framed' debate.

States, nations and identity in international politics
Chair: Katrina Lee Koo

Ayla Göl, Department of International Relations, Australian National University
A critique of foreign policy analysis (FPA) in transitional states
This paper will challenge the orthodox understanding of foreign policy analysis (FPA) to demonstrate why an alternative approach to the foreign policies of transitional states is required. There are three main criticisms of the mainstream theories of foreign policy. The first criticism is that much of the literature has not only been within a behavioural framework that ignores the sociological analyses of the state but also FPA become restricted by a fetishism of decision-making as an end in itself. Although all foreign policy analysts did not neglect the sociological explanations about the state they have not reached the same level of analysis with sociology and more recently historical sociology. The second criticism against FPA is that its preoccupation with the 'big powers' and/or 'modernised/developed' states, in particular the United States of America. After the 1960s, a need of new theories for new states has become a subject for FPA since it cannot be separated from the main theoretical and methodological concerns of IR. In the 1970s and the 1980s, although most foreign policy analysts developed new models for the study of the newly emerging states' foreign policies the level of analysis was mainly restricted to domestic politics, interdependence and the role of charismatic leadership within Third World literature. The third criticism is that FPA has been inadequate in explaining foreign policy making in transitional states. In the 1990s, the debate over internal/external, domestic/foreign, and inside/outside within the IR theory forced foreign policy analysts to think about 'the domestic sources of foreign policy' and its converse, 'the external sources of domestic policy'. Based on these criticisms this paper will aim to expand the scope of FPA into post-positivism that suggests an analysis of the relationship between national identity construction and foreign policy making by emphasizing the role of agency and a socio-historical structure of transitional states.

Cameron Hill, University of Queensland
‘Imagining imperialism’: Constructivism, role theory and American debates over the Philippines, 1898-1913
The concept of states' 'role identities' and their sources has received much attention within recent contructivist international relations theory. In particular, the question of whether states' role scripts are principally drawn from 'structural' sources (international norms, social practices and interactions) or from 'corporate' sources (domestic narratives and state-society relationships) poses a key problem for constructivists interested in the empirical implications of key ontological questions such as the structure-agency problem. Drawing from official debates in the United States over the acquisition of the Philippines in 1898-1913, this paper contends that role identities must be understood as a product of both predominant structural and domestic norms. This is demonstrated by:
(1) the impact of dominant international colonial norms and social practices in structuring American debates over the Philippines question at the turn of the century:
(2) the role of domestic narratives such as liberalism, republicanism and exceptionalism in shaping the actual content of America's colonial policies in the Philippines. The paper concludes by assessing the ways in which constructivist theory should further elaborate the concept of role identities.

Chengxin Pan, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Australian National University
Two perspectives on self and other: Western and traditional Chinese views of identity: Implications for global politics
Sometimes in an effort to redress the wrongs of Eurocentrism, the claim is made that almost all Western ideas can find their counterparts in ancient China. In International Relations, similar attempts have been made to identify Chinese sources of what are commonly regarded as Western ideas, such as realism, power politics, the balance of power, and nationalism. In this paper, I want to examine in what sense this can be said about the notions of self and Other, central themes in the development of a Western theory of international relations. Without denying that there are commonalities between Western and traditional Chinese conceptions of self and other, I argue that significant differences exist between these perspectives. It is primarily because of those differences, I suggest, that 'Western' IR theory failed to take root in China before Western expansion into China in the nineteenth century. Moreover, I suggest that an appreciation of traditional Chinese way of relating self to other (rather than Other) in a non-dichotomised manner may help shed much-needed light on how we might better interact with one another in the increasingly globalised world.

Alan J Ward, Government Department, College of William and Mary, Virginia
A constitution for a divided society: The problematic case of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has a history of constitutional development dating to the Government of Ireland Act, 1920. This established Northern Ireland as a constitutional entity for the first time, with devolved self-government. The model of government used was majoritarian, and therefore inappropriate for a divided society containing two antagonistic communities, one Protestant/Unionist the other Catholic/Nationalist. Unionists were able to use their majority to monopolize the Northern Ireland parliament and executive in the unionist interest between 1921 to 1972, when the system was abolished by the UK parliament. Since 1972, Britain has been trying to devise a system of power-sharing that would provide both communities, and all major parties, with some share of political power.

Sam Pietsch, Australian National University
Government scapegoating of Jewish refugees in the 1930s
The quota imposed by the Australian government on Jewish refugees in the late 1930s has always been controversial. Most historians have held that the policy was adopted because that Australian public was anti-Semitic, and in particular that workers objected to Jews as a source of cheap labour. The policy is thus seen as a reflection of the racism already present in the community. This explanation ignores the sizeable support that Jewish refugees had amongst the community, especially as victims of fascism. On balance the press was favorable, and the labor movement particularly anti-Semitic. The ACTU and Sydney TLC both called for increased numbers of working class refugees. Anti-Semitism did exist, but it was not dominant in the community. Rather, the situation was one of ambiguity, in which strong leadership could have an important influence on public opinion. Instead, the government deliberately reinforced racial prejudice. Repeatedly, the government stressed that they would not allow refugees to undermine work conditions, despite the fact that their own inquiries showed the refugees posed no threat to workers. Anti-Semitism was not confronted by this position, but validated, reinforcing workers' fear of refugees. Why was this racist policy adopted? It was not a response to demands by workers. Workers were also concerned about immigration from Britain and Northern Europe, which the government encouraged. In fact, scapegoating of refugees was precisely designed to aid large scale immigration. By emphasising the perceived racial differences of the Jewish refugees an object for the fear of workers was created, distracting attention from other immigrants. The refugees thus acted as a lightening rod for criticism of the government, a policy which seems to have been somewhat successful. The government therefore showed it was prepared to encourage anti-Semitism in order to fulfill the perceived needs of capitalism for an increased labour supply.

Drew Cottle, University of Western Sydney
Helen Masterman-Smith, University of Western Sydney
Fretilin: Resistance and survival
This paper is concerned with the East Timorese organisation Fretilin. It examines its origins and the forms of its political resistance to the Indonesian invasion and occupation, before the UN referendum. The emphasis of this paper will be on the early years of struggle and the transformation of an ill-prepared organisation, based largely around the Catholic Church, into a nationalist resistance movement. The paper considers the ideologies and actions of Fretilin during this early period, how they have managed to survive decades of colonial oppression, and the organisation's responses to the changing political and economic terrain since that time. Fretilin's role in guerilla warfare, social struggles, and later civil disobedience will be examined. This paper questions some of the substantial gaps in our understanding of the East Timorese resistance movement, from the standpoint of Fretilin's political and social history.

Rick Kuhn, Australian National University
The tradition of Jewish anti-Zionism in the Galician socialist movement
One of Zionism's stock tactics has been to conflate Zionism and Judaism. Just as there are Jewish opponents of the racist Israeli state today, there have always been opponents of the Zionist strategy for dealing with anti-semitism. Rather than examining the largest Jewish socialist organisation in eastern Europe, the Bund in the Russian empire, this paper considers the attitude of its sister organisation in the Austrian Empire, the Jewish Social Democratic Party of Galicia (JSDP). From the its first public statements, on Mayday 1905, the JSDP emphasised its fundamental commitment to the class organisation of the Jewish workers, solidarity with the international working class and a commitment to class struggle. On the basis of this position, the Party explicity rejected Zionism. Not only in programatic terms, but also in its organisational, industrial, electoral activity the JSDP combatted the influence of Zionism and Labour Zionism. Like the Bund, the JSDP had considerable success and rapidly overtook the influence of Zionism in the Jewish working class.

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