• Labor’s first term report card

    John Quiggin     |      May 19, 2024

    The Albanese government’s electoral strategy has constrained it to do little more than tweak the policy settings it inherited from the previous government, and adopt them as its own.

  • Natural philosophy

    Open Forum     |      May 17, 2024

    Public policy should be based on scientific evidence – but scientists often lament the gap between science and policy, while policy-makers feel that scientists don’t deliver the evidence that is needed, so perhaps philosophical expertise can help close the gap between research and policy.

  • Chalmers’ budget giveaway

    Stephen Bartos     |      May 15, 2024

    Jim Chalmers has produced a benign third budget aimed at soothing hard-pressed voters agitated about their high cost of living and punishing interest rates without making things worse by over-stoking the economy.

  • Consultancy blues

    Marty Bortz     |      May 12, 2024

    The drive to privatise everything has led to consultants taking on the work of public servants. But at what cost? The PwC scandal in Australia highlights how the excessive use of consultants has very real implications for democratic decision-making.

  • The birth and death of democracy

    George Lawson     |      May 11, 2024

    In their interesting, carefully crafted book on the problems facing liberal international order, Peter Trubowitz and Brian Burgoon argue that the geopolitical predicament facing the Western democracies is premised on their domestic politics.

  • Lobbying gets an orange pass

    Joo-Cheong Tham     |      May 10, 2024

    The recently released Senate report on lobbying in the Federal government passes the buck on improving transparency or strengthening legislation against bribery and influence peddling to protect democracy.

  • Failure to launch

    Laura Woodbridge     |      April 29, 2024

    The lack of women in the national legislature suggests our political system is misfiring, and this inequality of gender representation also undermines the democratic notion of government being for the people, by the people.

  • Two into one won’t go

    Anne Twomey     |      April 23, 2024

    Lucy Bradlow and Bronwen Bock, have announced that they will run as job-sharing independent candidates for the inner-Melbourne federal seat of Higgins but that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to do so.

  • Women still see politics as a male-dominated domain

    Open Forum     |      April 17, 2024

    Despite growing momentum to increase female representation in Australia’s national parliament, it continues to be a male dominated domain. New research from Monash University explores why young women still feel reluctant to become a member of the national parliament.

  • Reforming public service leadership

    Odette Meli     |      April 14, 2024

    Australia’s public service needs a more robust system for decision-making and policy planning to navigate increasing complexities and become more resilient to change.

  • Fear and loathing in Australia

    Sarah Maddison     |      April 6, 2024

    Successive federal governments have called into question the values that lie at the very heart of Australia’s hard-won and cherished democratic freedoms.

  • Understanding “strategic culture”

    Andrew Carr     |      April 3, 2024

    Michael O’Keefe’s new book on Australian foreign policy making offers a detailed overview of Australia’s main diplomatic relationships and strategic culture.