Era Of Government Research Articles

Still the Era of Party Government

Journal Article Still the Era of Party Government Get access Richard Rose Richard Rose Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Parliamentary Affairs, Volume 36, Issue 3, 1983, Pages 282–299, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/36.3.282 Published: 01 July 1983

TRADE UNIONS, NEW TECHNOLOGY AND INCOMES POLICY: DISCLOSURE AND USE OF COMPANY INFORMATION

This article views prospective change in the industrial relations system, during the Hawke Government era, from an information system perspective. Exogenous forces emanating from technological change, cyclical and structural unemployment, and the framework of an incomes-prices policy, suggest that contentious policy issues of company information disclosure to unions and employees will occupy a prominent place on the agenda for the future of Australian industrial relations. Problems of disclosure are analysed against international trends, and reform proposals for Australian disclosure policies are critically examined. Some options are elaborated for the development of improved disclosure practices.

African Labour in Natal: Attempts at Coercion and Control 1893–1903

The year 1893 marks the inauguration of the responsible government era in Natal when the White settler community attained the right to elect a government from their own ranks to represent their interests. It was no secret that one of the objects behind the protracted struggle for constitutional reform was the desire to obtain control of Native policy. The tale of settler aspirations and the pressures placed on the African population in the 1890s and 1900s has been dealt with in several secondary works. This article proposes to examine just one of the issues in the first ten years of the responsible government period namely, the labour question.

Right for Its Time? An Essay Review

The Australian Commission of Inquiry into Poverty conducted an extensive study of the social and economic conditions of lower income groups in Australia from 1972 to 1976. The nature and extent of poverty in the country have been thoroughly documented in the thirty reports so far published. This review focuses on the first main report, Poverty in Australia, which is concerned primarily with economic deprivation. In order to alleviate this problem a guaranteed income is recommended. The report does not address the issue of inequality despite the fact that the inquiry spanned the era of Labor government when hopes were fanned for a new society structured to achieve greater equality among its citizens. Converging social, economic, and political factors led to reinstatement of the conservative government which had appointed the commission. Therefore, the fact that the report reflects a "liberal conservative" philosophy enhances the probability of adoption of its recommendations and renders it right for its time.

The Multinational Corporation and the Future International System

It has been asserted that the multinational corporation is an instrument for peace and will spur an era of international government. These claims must be viewed in the light of other changes taking place in the international system, particularly tendencies toward regionalism and increasing conflict between rich and poor nations. Multinational corporations, with headquarters in a few rich countries and directed by nationals of these countries, will increasingly be perceived as neo-colonial activities. Response to the multinational corporation, and other tendencies in the international system, make it likely that the future international system will be composed of large regional states, with increasing bipolarization between rich and poor regions. The major countervailing force, global, functional, intergovernmental organizations, will probably not be able to prevent this trend because of the unwillingness of the rich superpowers to permit these organizations to be responsive to the demands of the less developed countries. The greatest contribution of the multinational corporations may be their demonstration of the potential of nongovernmental international activity as a challenge to the intergovernmental system. Might new nongovernmental international movements be formed that cut across the widening rich-poor gap? If this bipolarization is to be checked, these new nongovernmental movements, intergovernmental agencies, and multinational corporations must build more symmetric organizations that permit full participation by interests in the less developed nations and are responsive to their needs.

Conflict of Interest in Federal Procurement

The era of big government has thrust sharply into focus the matter of business ethics in transactions between public authorities and those with whom they deal. Open corruption in the federal government has never been condoned by the American public, but the ethics of individual officials have not always been scrutinized as closely as they are today. As government has grown more and more pervasive, standards of conduct for public officials have been pushed ever upward until they now stand at an all time high. Bribery, and some aspects of dealing in favor of self, have long been outlawed, but it is only recently that legislative and regulatory actions have been taken to strike at some of the more subtle and pernicious aspects of conflict of interest in public office.