The Howard Decade in Australian Government and Politics

Abstract

This collection of papers, focusing on domestic politics, examines a decade of Australian government and politics from 1996–2006 under the Prime Ministership of John Howard. Leading a conservative Coalition government made up of his own Liberal Party and its junior partner the National Party, Howard has won four elections and is facing a fifth election in 2007. The decade has been characterised by the electoral success of the government, the divisiveness of the debates that surround it, the centrality of Howard himself, and the limits to the explanations advanced in studies of both Howard himself and his government. This collection aims to contribute further to these explanations by offering qualitative analysis of the style of the government; quantitative analysis of the government's appeal to voters; examination of both Howard's central administration and his government's approach to federalism; and four studies of economic and social policy.