Search titles
Displaying results 361 to 370 of 376.
Power and Pork »
A Japanese Political Life
Authored by: Aurelia George Mulgan
Publication date: December 2006
Power and Pork: a Japanese political life aims to tell the ‘inside story’ of a Japanese politician—Matsuoka Toshikatsu—one of the more controversial members of Japan’s national Diet. Matsuoka belongs to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) as a representative of the Lower House constituency of Kumamoto No. 3, one of Japan’s regional electorates. His behaviour has been the subject of much speculation and commentary in the media. The book details Matsuoka’s political stratagems and policy activities as an archetypal ‘traditional’ politician representing farm and rural interests. As an old-style, old-guard LDP Diet member, Matsuoka is the kind of politician that former Prime Minister Koizumi targeted in his attempt to reform his own party and the policymaking process. Matsuoka’s reversal of fortune under Prime Minister Abe with his appointment to the post of Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries raises questions about the durability of Koizumi’s reforms.
The scope of the work is contemporary Japanese domestic politics, including electoral processes, zoku influence, pork barrelling and ‘money politics’ as exemplified by one of its key players. Power and Pork gives an account of how Matsuoka has catered to local, sectional and clientele interests in order to build and retain his political power base. One of the most important conclusions of the book is that individual ruling party backbenchers can exercise extraordinary influence over government policy in Japan.
Australian Department Heads Under Howard: Career Paths and Practice »
Collected Articles from The Canberra Times
Authored by: Paul Malone
Publication date: November 2006
The articles in this collection were first published in the Canberra Times between 14 November 2005 and 22 April 2006 in a slightly different format. In some cases two articles were published on the one secretary. These have been combined into one and minor edits and corrections have been made. The articles have not been updated to take account of events since they were first published.
Managing Consultants »
A Practical Guide for Busy Public Sector Managers
Authored by: Leo Dobes
Publication date: November 2006
A revised and updated 2016 edition of Managing Consultants is available.
Despite considerable investment in skills development, managers in public sector organisations still exhibit significant deficiencies in contract and relationship management skills and knowledge. This monograph is a practical, user-friendly guide to the benefits, perils and pitfalls of managing outside consultants.
Writing from years of experience in managing consultants in government, Dr Dobes guides on best practice, as well as including advice on what not to do, and how to rectify shortcomings in the process of using consultants effectively.
Australian Political Lives »
Chronicling political careers and administrative histories
Edited by: Tracey Arklay, John Nethercote, John Wanna
Publication date: October 2006
This monograph brings together some of the best practitioners of the art and craft of political biography in Australia. They are simultaneously some of our best scholars who, at least in part, have turned their attention to writing Australian political lives. They are not merely chroniclers of our times but multidisciplinary analysts constructing layers of explanation and theoretical insight. They include academic, professional and amateur biographers; scholars from a range of disciplines (politics, history, sociology, public administration, gender studies); and politicians who for a time strutted the political stage. The assembled papers explore the strengths and weaknesses of the biographical approach; the enjoyment it can deliver; the problems and frustrations of writing biographies; and the various ways the ‘project’ can be approached by those constructing these lives. They probe the art and craft of the political biographer.
Performance Measurement, Reporting, Obstacles and Accountability »
Recent Trends and Future Directions
Authored by: Paul G. Thomas
Publication date: October 2006
This monograph identifies the ways that ‘politics’ enters into the creation of performance measurement systems, the selection of the official and unofficial aims of such systems, the selection of performance criteria and measures, the interpretation of findings, the responses to such findings and the implications of performance reporting for the accountability of both politicians and public servants. Along the way, both the conditions favouring and the obstacles to successful performance measurement will be highlighted.
Islands of Turmoil »
Elections and Politics in Fiji
Authored by: Brij V. Lal
Publication date: August 2006
“It is not so much whether things are not as bad as they ought to be or could have been. It is, rather, whether things could have been much better”.
By rights, the island nation of Fiji should be thriving. It is easily the most developed country in the South Pacific; it is a hub for regional transportation and communication links, the home of international diplomatic, educational and aid organisations, with a talented multiethnic population. Yet, since its independence it has suffered two military coups in 1987 and an attempted putsch in 2000, resulting in strained institutions, and disrupted improvements to essential infrastructure, and to educational, social and medical services.
State, Communities and Forests In Contemporary Borneo »
Edited by: Fadzilah Majid Cooke
Publication date: July 2006
The name ‘Borneo’ evokes visions of constantly changing landscapes, but with important island-wide continuities. One of the continuities has been the forests, which have for generations been created and modified by the indigenous population, but over the past three decades have been partially replaced by tree crops, grass or scrub. This book, the first in the series of Asia-Pacific Environmental Monographs, looks at the political complexities of forest management across the whole island of Borneo, tackling issues of tenure, land use change and resource competition, ‘tradition’ versus ‘modernity’, disputes within and between communities, between communities and private firms, or between communities and governments. While it focuses on the changes taking place in local political economies and conservation practices, it also makes visible the larger changes taking place in both Indonesia and Malaysia. The common theme of the volume is the need to situate local complexities in the larger institutional context, and the possible gains to be made from such an approach in the search for alternative models of conservation and development.
NGOs and Post-Conflict Recovery »
The Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency, Bougainville
Edited by: Helen Hakena, Peter Ninnes, Bert Jenkins
Publication date: April 2006
When government services have broken down or when international nongovernment organisations are uninterested or unable to help, grassroots non-government organisations provide important humanitarian, educational and advocacy services. Yet, too often the story of the crucial role played by these organisations in conflict and post-conflict recovery goes unheard.
The Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency provides many salutary lessons for grassroots non-government organisations undertaking peacemaking and peace-building work. In the thirteen years of its existence, it has contributed humanitarian assistance, provided education programs on peace, gender issues and community development, and has become a powerful advocate for women’s and children’s rights at all levels of society. Its work has been recognised through the award of a United Nations’ Millennium Peace Price in 2000 and a Pacific Peace Prize in 2004.
This book makes a unique contribution to understanding the role of nongovernment organisations in promoting peace and development and gender issues in the South West Pacific.
Rule of Law, Legitimate Governance & Development in the Pacific »
Authored by: Iutisone Salevao
Publication date: December 2005
The notion that the rule of law embodies or guarantees all the essential requirements for a perfectly just society is extravagant and naïve. Nonetheless, the rule of law remains an essential human virtue whose usefulness the world has yet to outgrow. Using the rule of law as a mobilising theme, this book recasts Western theories of law, good governance and development in a Pacific perspective. While Iutisone Salevao works primarily within a legal analytical framework, he employs a multifaceted approach to address the challenge of making Western theories relevant to the concrete and normative contexts of the Pacific peoples, and to accommodate Pacific values, ideologies, structures and practices within the modern discourse on law.
Pacific Islands Regional Integration and Governance »
Edited by: Satish Chand
Publication date: November 2005
This book brings together experts from around the world to consider specific issues pertaining to regional integration and governance within small states. The authors collectively address the challenges posed to small states by the quickened pace of globalisation. The lessons learnt from the experiences of small states are then used to draw policy lessons for the Pacific island countries.
Pacific Islands Regional Integration and Governance will be of interest and relevance to academics and advanced students of the Pacific, its history and current challenges, as well as the general reader who has an interest in the area.