A pattern is emerging in Western liberal democracies, in which centre-left and social democratic governments are losing power to centre-right governments. This paper outlines the extent of this pattern, and discusses factors that may be contributing to the process, such as a pendulum swing effect and the centre-right's greater success in capitalising on "value politics"...

In the Australian political party system Members of Parliament are sometimes given the opportunity to exercise a "conscience vote" on moral and social issues such as abortion, euthanasia and capital punishment. \The decision of the major parties to allow members a free vote on the Research Involving Embryos and Prohibition of Cloning Bill 2002 has...

This paper discusses the significant improvements in bilateral relations that have gone relatively unnoticed and concludes with a discussion of the implications of this enhanced relationship for the region including Australia.

This paper analyses the growth in numbers of ministerial staff and discusses the accountability of staffers, particularly their accountability to Parliament, in an historical perspective. It also looks at the regulation (or lack of regulation) of the people who work for the government of the day.

The accountability of ministerial staff has re-emerged as an issue during the hearings of the Senate Committee inquiring into "a certain maritime incident". The growth of ministerial staff numbers and the perception that they operate independently of direct ministerial supervision suggests that new accountability mechanisms should be considered, and this report discusses a number of...