National Coalition Government Research Articles

Norm-busting: rightist challenges in US and Australian immigration and refugee policies

Institutionalist scholars argue that international rights norms, judicial autonomy and discourses of immigrant nationhood constrain shifts to harsher immigration policies in liberal democracies, particularly settler societies. The Trump presidency and the Liberal–National Coalition government in Australia during the same period are occasions to test whether those norms functioned as expected in two paradigmatic country cases. Both governments attempted to undermine judicial autonomy, the illegitimacy of ethnic and religious selection of immigrants, the rights of detained children and families, and the principle of non-refoulement. A new institutionalist analysis of attempted norm-busting in each country specifies which norms were effective constraints. International legal and political constraints were weak. Domestically, norms obliging the protection of children were more effective than norms related to adults. Discourses favouring immigrant nationhood and opposing discrimination resonated, but were confronted by equally powerful discourses of insular nationalism and security that promoted restriction. While the judiciary moderately constrained new policies, particularly in the US, in neither country did the judiciary fully act in line with dominant theoretical expectations, because of both structural and normative weaknesses.

¿Reticencias coalicionales o estrategia política? La ausencia de gobiernos estatales de coalición en España.

Aunque en la reciente historia política española se han dado diferentes situaciones parlamentarias que auguraban la formación de un gobierno estatal de coalición, ello no ha sucedido en ninguna de ellas. Los efectos de los procesos electorales de 2015 tanto en el ámbito estatal como en el autonómico, unidos a la fallida investidura de Pedro Sánchez en septiembre de 2019, han hecho más necesario aún intentar comprender por qué el gobierno de coalición no aparece como un resultado normal en la política española.

Model for Performance of MGNREGS in Rural Asset Creation

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) was enacted on 23rd of August 2005 and got presidential assent on 5th of September 2005 expressing the consensus of the state to use fiscal and legal instruments to address the challenges of unemployment and poverty. The national coalition government described MGNREGA as revolutionary, and maintained that it would impact on poverty in a major way by building infrastructure and enhancing growth in rural areas.Right of unhindered access to all the diverse types of rural assets enhance peoples' employment availability and also generate income aspect, which if prudently nurtured can place them on the path of a sustainable livelihood. However local peoples' increased willingness and earnestness to take part in MGNREGA asset creation jobs, in the early years, is extremely important as otherwise in its absence or laggard progress of these activities there may be a deficiency in the requisite amount of rural infrastructure which stands in the way of sustainable income generation process.

Potential liabilities: Social investment policy as biopolitics in New Zealand – An examination of the National Coalition government’s welfare policies

Using Michel Foucault’s theories of biopolitics, about risk and security, I examine the welfare policies of the National Coalition Government in New Zealand (2008–2017). This government attempted to mitigate risk by projecting possible challenges and solutions to ‘vulnerable populations’. Welfare was re-defined in monetarist economic terms, as ways to ensure ‘small government’. Over the three terms of government they brought in changes across the education, and social services, with the intent of implementing new economic facets to reduce the cost to the state of beneficiaries and their dependent children. Using cross-ministry data collection, they planned to identify the ‘job-shy’ parents and children deemed ‘vulnerable’. Social Investment aimed to change the behaviours of such populations, whom the National Coalition government deemed future potential liabilities for the state. Projecting costs over 20 or 30 years and modelling the costs of dysfunction would give the social agencies improved information. Early intervention would save the state welfare budget, and responsibilize the young children at risk of themselves becoming beneficiaries later in life.

From Malcolm Turnbull to ScoMo: Crisis for the Centre-right in Australia

ABSTRACTAustralia witnessed a change of prime minister in late August 2018, with Scott Morrison replacing Malcolm Turnbull as leader of the Liberal–National Coalition government, even though the initial challenge came from Peter Dutton on the Liberal right. The immediate context was dissatisfaction on the Liberal right with government attempts to implement a new national energy policy. However, there had been long-term discontent from this quarter with Turnbull on the grounds that he was not a ‘true’ Liberal. Morrison as the new prime minister is more to the right than Turnbull but less so than Dutton. Domestically there will be some rightward adjustments in policy but not on a major scale; internationally there will be continuity with Australia’s previous policies. The Liberal leadership turmoil has strengthened the electoral position of the opposition Labor Party, with a federal election due by May 2019. More broadly the crisis could be seen as an Australian variant of the resurgence of the populist right in other countries, and the dilemmas in maintaining unity in centre-right parties; however, there have also been institutional factors that contributed to Turnbull’s rapid downfall.

Jumping Back and Forth between Domestic Courts and ISDS: Mixed Signals from the Asia-Pacific Region

It is uncontroversial that cross-border investments engender the possibility of disputes arising between investors and host States. What is unclear is whether such disputes should be characterized as being unique or distinctive because they involve foreign investors. What is further in controversy is whether there should be a customized mechanism to resolve such disputes. The institution of investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS), which has for some time enjoyed popularity as a way of resolving investor–State disputes, has come under renewed scrutiny over the past few years as a result of dissatisfaction articulated by a number of countries. Many South American and Asian countries have expressed concerns over the nature of ISDS and the organizations that facilitate it. This includes Nicaragua and Venezuela signalling an intention to terminate existing bilateral investment treaties (BITs), and Ecuador denouncing the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) established by the World Bank, which is the primary source of investment arbitration. In 2007, the Philippines negotiated to exclude ISDS in its free trade agreement with Japan.4 In March 2014, Indonesia indicated that it would terminate its BIT with the Netherlands and likely implement a scheme of terminating all of its remaining BITs as they become due to expire. In 2011, the Commonwealth Government of Australia stated in a Trade Policy Statement (‘the Policy’) that Australia would no longer agree to the inclusion of ISDS in its future bilateral and regional trade agreements (BRTAs), choosing instead to rely on alternatives to ISDS. After a change in Australia’s Government in 2013, two years after the Policy was announced, the new Liberal–National Coalition Government has retreated from that Policy notably by including an ISDS regime in the Korea–Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA) concluded on 5 December 2013, and the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) concluded on 17 June 2015. References to the Policy have been removed from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s official website, which indicates instead that it will consider the inclusion of ISDS on a case-by-case basis.8 Further, the Government has categorically stated that Australia’s ability to pass public interest legislation, such as in the areas of national security, public health, and environmental protection, will not be compromised. Notably, the Japan–Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA), concluded in April 2014, does not include an ISDS regime. Australia is currently in bilateral negotiations with Indonesia and India, as well as having a stake in the imminent Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). It is not clear what negotiation stance the Australian Government is likely to take with respect to these instruments. In formulating national investment policy, including with respect to ISDS, governments should seek to adopt measures that pursue broader economic development, encourage responsible investor behaviour, and are practical in ensuring policy effectiveness. These principles, addressing concerns about investment policy generally and ISDS in particular, are reflected in global debate over sustainable development, notably in the UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD). In light of a broader framework for sustainable development of investment policy, this chapter will consider the value of ISDS in resolving disputes between host States and foreign investors, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. It will argue that the oscillation between ISDS and domestic courts serves to destabilize international commerce as well as comity between states. It will recommend, in response, potential developments to the substantive and procedural execution of ISDS provisions. The chapter will focus on the policies articulated by Australia in its Policy Statement in 2011 and then in 2013. The chapter will also construe the positions adopted by a number of Asian countries as examples of developments taking place within the region and the potential future of ISDS regionally as well as internationally.

India-Myanmar Relations: From Idealpolitik To Realpolitik

India's relations with Myanmar was generally cordial and close prior to 1960s. Myanmar Prime Minister U Nu believed it as 'firm Indo-Burmese friendship'. This excellent bilateral relationship between the two countries was generated by political and economic cooperation, plus good personal friendship between U Nu and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Although there were several hiccups along with the relationship of the two countries in the 1960s and 1970s, the bilateral relations were still good. However, after the failed 1988 major demonstration by the Burmese pro-democracy movement against the military rule, the bilateral relations between India and Myanmar was disrupted. India started to criticise strongly the new Burma's military junta - the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). India offered shelters for anti-SLORC dissidents and pro-democracy activists. India criticised strongly Myanmar's poor human rights record and advocated for Myanmar's return to democracy. India gave permission for Myanmar's opposition - the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) to open its office in New Delhi in 1992. During this time, it is clear that India's foreign policy towards Myanmar was to champion democratic ideals, urging and pushing Myanmar to return to democracy. Myanmar saw this as interference in its domestic affairs, but Myanmar lacked a trump card in forcing India to reconsider its stance, prompting Myanmar to turn to China for support. By 1993, India shifted its stances towards Myanmar from advocating democratic ideals to a more realistic policy based on namely the China factor, the economic and strategic interests, and Myanmar's image and international legitimacy, and India's ambition in Southeast Asia.

Inter-governmental political relations in a federation and illegal mining of natural resources

The paper studies the impact of inter-governmental political relations on illegal resource extraction in a federal setup. In a stylized model, a corruptible sub-national politician accepts bribes from a private miner to allow under-reporting of mineral extraction and evasion of royalty payment. The probability that a mine is audited by a national audit agency increases with the extent of illegal mining. In addition, when the audit agency is politicized, the probability of audit declines with the political weight of the politician in the ruling national coalition government. We find that there is an endogenous threshold political weight beyond (below) which greater politicization of the audit agency leads to higher (lower) illegal mining. The threshold weight increases with the rate of fine on royalty evasion but decreases with the rate of royalty itself. The model also suggests that there is no unambiguous relationship between economic distortions in the form of illegal mining and the degree of rent extraction through bribes. As the audit agency becomes more politicized, the possibility of higher illegal mining but lower bribes or lower illegal mining but higher bribes cannot be ruled out.

Mosley and British Politics 1918-32. Oswald’s Odyssey.By David Howell.

There is no shortage of studies of Sir Oswald Mosley’s politics. Indeed more books, articles and essays have been written about him than about most cabinet ministers, and even most prime ministers. Given the perennial interest in ‘political extremism’, it is perhaps understandable that an abundance of studies exists and continues to appear for Mosley’s period as leader of the British Union of Fascists from 1932. But numerous studies have also commented on his earlier political career, and these have not been concerned simply to locate the sources of his fascism. Beginning in the 1960s with still useful articles by W.F. Mandle (not listed in the bibliography of this book) and more especially with Robert Skidelsky’s pioneering book on the second Labour government from 1929 to 1931, there has been much interest in Mosley’s fertile production of what might be termed ‘proto-Keynesian’ policies for reducing unemployment, his corporatist plans for institutional reform and economic reconstruction, and his imaginative attitudes towards the party-political system. His movement from military service to election as a Conservative MP in 1918, flirtation with the Liberal party and passage through the Labour party on the way to fascism has attracted the attention of those studying the restlessness of the ‘war generation’ of ‘young’ politicians. His period as a Labour minister from June 1929, his resignation in May 1930, his creation of a ‘New Party’ in March 1931 and its electoral obliteration in the general election of October 1931 has been traversed in numerous studies (including this reviewer’s) of the agonies of the Labour government and the drama of the creation and perpetuation of the National coalition government. Matthew Worley has recently published as many as four articles, a special journal issue with nine contributors, and a monograph on the 9-month span of the New Party. So what can be added about Mosley’s pre-fascist career?

The social division of welfare knowledge: policy stratification and perceptions of welfare reform in Australia

During its period in office (1996–2007), the Liberal–National coalition government increased stratification in the Australian welfare system by differentiating the norms and instruments applied to claimants groups. This article explores whether Australians accurately registered these developments by comparing voter assessments of policy generosity to different groups with an objective assessment of the direction of policy change. We find that voters were more likely to have recognised increased generosity to the middle class, and to have underestimated the tougher policies faced by some groups at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale. Their misrecognition of hardship raises broader questions for the political sociology of the welfare state.

The Free Education Policy in Kenya: A Critique.

Educational reforms are crucial in a country if the reforms benefit the intended target group. One of the educational reforms in Kenya was the introduction of Free Primary Education. This was informed by the need to improve access and equity in provision of education. Informed by the need to eradicate ignorance, poverty and disease, the independent Kenya government took to finance education soon after independence with Free Primary Education being fully realized in 1978. Later following the introduction of structural adjustment programme in 1990s and the World Bank recommendations, cost sharing in education was instituted. This saw a big number of children drop out of school due to poverty and other pressures from the education managers who were charging school levies. The national rainbow coalition government which came to power in 2003 instituted Free Primary Education to actualize one of the campaign pledges. This article critically discusses the Free Primary Education policy in Kenya articulating the benefits and the challenges thereof within the policy formulation framework. Suggestions are made on the best way to develop and implement policies to tackle challenges which emanate from implementing policies in haste. Key words: Policy, primary education.

Retrenching or renovating the Australian welfare state: the paradox of the Howard government's neo‐liberalism

Most conventional studies of the former Australian Liberal–National Coalition government refer to its neo‐liberal ideological agenda: its concern to reduce government interference with free market outcomes by restricting access to social security payments. That analysis suggests a substantial retrenchment of the Australian welfare state based on redirecting responsibility for the disadvantaged from government to corporations, private individuals and families. Yet there is increasing evidence from reliable sources that the government has not reduced social expenditure, and that increasing resources have been directed, particularly via the family payments system, towards some disadvantaged groups such as low‐income families and the aged. Utilising the theory of the US political scientist Paul Pierson, this article explores the joint paradox of Australian neo‐liberalism: the punitive treatment of some disadvantaged groups such as the disabled and lone parents versus the generosity towards other groups and, more generally, the growth rather than decline in social expenditure. The author asks what this paradox tells us about the likely future of the welfare state in Australia and elsewhere.

Making The Implicit Explicit: Values And Morals In Queensland Teacher Education

Since the mid-1990s, the role of the teacher has expanded to include overseeing and intervening in the moral development of students. In Australia, this expectation of teachers was generated largely by the national coalition government, and has been continued by the Labor government. As a result, it is essential that pre-service teacher education courses skill pre-service teachers in appropriate ways to educate students about values and morals. Additionally, education degrees must provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to analyse and reflect on their own values and morals. Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers (Queensland College of Teachers, 2006) takes the view that teachers must be reflective practitioners who are aware of their own morals and values. This paper argues that while Australian teacher educators integrate values into the units they teach and demonstrate values through what they teach and how they teach it, they often fail to address values and morals explicitly. Some ways in which teacher education degrees could be reshaped to provide an explicit focus on values and morals are discussed.

Challenges to India's Centralized Parliamentary Federalism

adjustment plans adopted in selected states. Devolution of economic decision-making to the states aggravates fiscal crises by facilitating populist political strategies and accentuating uneven development. Political challenges arisefrom issues such as central vs. state control ofpolice and security forces; movements for the creation of new states; and the implementation of constitutional provisions for village-level governance. Change in India'sfederalism has come about less through the adaptation offormal institutions than through the proliferation of state-based political parties, aggregating varied interests based on region, language, caste, class, or views on secularism. After the elections of 1999, more than 20parties managed to provide a stable national coalition government, transforming the political process. A national multiparty coalition again formed the government following the elections of 2004.

Uncertain Justice: Liability of Multinationals under the Alien Tort Claims Act

On August 31, 2000, a federal district court judge in California handed down a decision that disposed of a potentially groundbreaking human rights case.' In Doe v. Unocal Corp.,2 Judge Ronald S.W. Lew granted defendant Unocal's motion for summary judgment,3 thereby dismissing claims brought by fifteen Burmese villagers4 under the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. ? 1350 (ATCA).5 The plaintiffs sought to hold the defendant, a California-based energy company, liable for human rights violations committed by the Burmese military in furtherance of defendant's pipeline venture. An earlier version of the case, National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma v. Unocal,6

Effective environmental federalism? Australia's Natural Heritage Trust

This paper examines effective federalism in relation to the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT), now a AU$ 2.5 billion environmental policy initiative, and Australia's largest ever single environmental spending programme. In the absence of any other policy reviews or critiques, this paper is a descriptive and analytical piece, outlining and evaluating the NHT's administration, accountability measures and ecological outcomes against the goals of effective federalism. Effective federalism involves the national government seeking more efficient and effective delivery of environmental outcomes while revitalizing its partnerships with state and local governments to protect the environment. Both this term and the NHT are initiatives of the conservative national coalition government (which has been in office now since 1996) and have been implemented by its Environment Minister, Senator Hill. For the benefit of international readers, this paper places effective federalism in its historical context, and in the context of very familiar tensions for and against the devolution of environmental governance. It finds effective federalism to be an ambitious aim, indeed more so than the NHT's legislative goals of generating environmental investment and raising community awareness about the need for ecological sustainability. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

CIVIL CONSCRIPTION OR RECIPROCAL OBLIGATION: THE ETHICS OF ‘WORK‐FOR‐THE‐DOLE’

The Coalition parties campaigned on the need to create ‘real jobs’ during the 1996 Federal election. After a number of years in office joblessness, both for young people and prime age workers, remains as high as ever. Yet as major companies and government agencies continued to downsize their work force, the Coalition government decided to respond to this central social problem by introducing a ‘new’ plan that initially required some young people (between the age of 18–24 years) to work for their unemployment benefits. Those ‘eligible’ for participation in the program have been extended from its original ‘youth target’ to included older people. Prime Minister Howard maintained that his ‘work for the dole scheme’ will give priority to the long‐term unemployed and thereby help jobless young people, who he claims have lost the incentive to work and/or become welfare dependents, to re‐enter the labour market (DEETYA, 1998).In the first part of this article I query official justifications for the Australian workfare scheme; concentrating on the arguments for reciprocal obligation, I ask what those rationales indicate about government understandings of the causes of unemployment. In the later part of the article I assess the value of the scheme in terms of certain human rights criteria, arguing that it contravenes the Australian constitutions which prohibit any form of civil conscription.As I indicate, the workfare scheme provides little if any reasonable economic justifications, and none have been advanced by the Howard government. Although I concentrate on the Howard government's work‐for‐the‐dole policy initiative, it needs to be made clear that the principle of reciprocal obligation is not unique to the Liberal National Coalition government, it provides the basis for similar programs in the UK, USA and Canada. It was also embedded in the Keating Labor government's ‘Working Nation’ and has been practiced within many Aboriginal communities for many years.

The 1995 Malaysian General Election: Mahathir's Last Triumph?

In Malaysia's Apr 24-25, 1995 general election, Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad's ruling Barisan National coalition government was reelected in a landslide. Chin examines the reasons for the party's success and the implications of the vote.