State budget outcomes and Australian state politics revisited: The impact of parties

This research note reviews work by Gerritscn on budget outputs in Australian States, and more specifically on the explanatory significance of Labor and non‐Labor parties in office. It also extends his work by introducing a comparative dimension across time. This consists of comparison of the findings for the period Gerritsen saidied (1979/80–1982/83) with a later period (1985/86–1987/88) to assess the impact of partisan change in Slate governments on their relative budget efforts. The findings offer more support for the partisanship hypothesis than Gerritsen's allowed, by virtue of the findings for Western Australia and Tasmania. It concludes that though budget efforts are structured by a number of factors, partisanship nevertheless appears a potent explanatory variable.     

James Arbuckle and Dean Swift: cultural politics in the Irish confessional state

James Arbuckle, born a Presbyterian in Belfast, educated at Glasgow University, moved to Dublin under the patronage of the radical Whig Viscount Molesworth. He arrived at the time of Swift's triumph as ‘The Drapier’. Writing under the name ‘Hibernicus’, he produced a series of essays in the style of Addison's Spectator (1725–26). They can be read as a ‘polite’ Whig critique of Swift's Irish writing, particularly on confessional division. Arbuckle was clearly identified as a political opponent of Swift in a series of lampoons from Swift's circle. He wrote more incisively against the confessional state in his 1729 work The Tribune, lost to historians because of a mistaken attribution to Swift's friend Delany. This article will study Arbuckle's critique of Swift, aiming to give an insight into cultural conflict, both Whig/Tory and Anglican/Presbyterian in a period when both Whig and Presbyterian views have generally been overlooked.     

The politics of prevention. Safe sex

In the Philippines, preventing AIDS and promoting condom use means taking on the Roman Catholic Church, which asserts condom/AIDS promotion is a subterfuge for promoting the acceptability of condom use for contraception. The Catholic Bishops Conference believes the solution lies in the formation of "authentic sexual values." The Secretary of Health in the Philippines considers that all Filipinos must fight AIDS and dispassionately hands out condoms to everyone everywhere he goes. Secretary Flavier claims he is being "condomized without trial." There are 368 identified carriers of HIV infection of which 68 have AIDS. Other estimates are of 35,000 HIV-infected persons. A study commissioned by Kabalikat recently found that 30,000 men aged 18-45 years in Manila have 2 or more sexual partners and do not use condoms. Some find the controversy is really about Flavier's aggressive style. Senator Francisco Tatad considers Flavier a "moral pollutant," while Senator Ernesto Maceda sees Flavier as acting to drown out the Church's powerful voice. Meanwhile, the health secretary finds that the publicity encourages open discussion. Cardinal Jaime Sin has declared in a large public gathering that the enemies of the Filipino family must not be allowed to win. Birth control, according to Senator Tatad, is "oppressive to the moral and religious beliefs of the Catholic majority." There is a plan to include AIDS education in high schools, which the Senate is currently investigating because of the religious consequences. The health secretary's plan is to promote a higher standard of living though family planning for a small family size. The target is to reduce fertility rates from an average of 3.9/women of reproductive age to 3.2 and to increase contraceptive acceptors from 42.5% to 52%. An independent poll reports 76% practicing birth control. Family planning has been a policy for a while, but it lacked commitment and political will. The family planning campaign will be launched in rural areas where the control of the church is not as strong. The educational emphasis has been supported by local governments and private groups such as DKT which perform street plays, of which an example is given. The Church is being challenged to set up natural family planning clinics in every diocese.     

Australian politics

David Black (ed.), The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832–1990 (Perth: Parliament of Western Australia, 1991) pp.558. $n.p. ISBN 0 7309 3983 9.

D.H. Borchardt, Commissions of Inquiry in Australia: A Brief Surrey (Melbourne: La Trobe University Press, 1991) pp.107. $24.95 ISBN 1 86324 011X.

John Connell and Richard Howitt (eds), Mining and Indigenous Peoples in Australasia (Sydney: Sydney University Press in association with Oxford University Press, 1991) pp.204. $22.95 ISBN 0 424 00177 2.

Mark Considine, The Polities of Reform: Workers’ Compensation from Woodhouse to WorkCare (Geelong: Centre for Applied Social Research, Deakin University, 1991) pp.118. $17.50 ISBN 0 7300 1472 X.

D.C. Corbett, C. Selby Smith and R.F.I. Smith (eds), Public Sector Personnel Policies for the 1990's (Melbourne: Public Sector Management Institute, Monash University, 1989) pp.329. $20.00 ISBN 0 7326 0146 0.

Brian Costar and Scott Prasser (eds), Amalgamate or Perish?: The Future of Non‐Labor Parties in Australia (Toowoomba: University College of Southern Queensland) pp.121. $9.95 ISBN 0 909756 04 X.

David Neal, The Rule of Law in a Penal Colony: Law and Power in Early New South Wales (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.266. $39.95 ISBN 0 521 37274 X.

Michael Pusey, Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation‐Building State Changes Its Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.310. $n.p. ISBN 0 521 33661 9.

Randal G. Stewart and Ian Ward, Politics One (Melbourne: Macmillan, 1992) pp.243. $24.95 ISBN 0 7329 0247 9.

John Uhr (ed.), Decision‐Making in Australian Government: Program Evaluation (Canberra: Federalism Research Centre ANU, 1991) pp.170. $np. ISBN 0 7315 1129 8.

Comparative and international politics

Robert Aldrich and John Connell, France's Overseas Frontier: Départements et territoires d'outre‐mer (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp.357. $49.95 ISBN 0 521 39061 3.

Article 19, International Centre on Censorship, Information Freedom and Censorship, World Report 1991 (London: Library Association Publishing Ltd, 1991) pp.471. £22.50 ISBN 1 85604 021 6.

Carl Bridge (ed.), Munich to Vietnam: Australia's Relations with Britain and the United States since the 1930s (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1991) pp.237 $24.95 ISBN 0 522 84436 7.

Charles Carstairs and Richard Ware (eds), Parliament and International Relations (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991) pp.195. $35.00 ISBN 0 335 09698 0.

Tun‐jen Cheng and Stephen Haggard (eds), Political Change in Taiwan (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner, 1992 ) pp.269. $US35.00 ISBN 1 55587 275 1.

Robert O. Freedman, Moscow and the Middle East: Soviet Policy Since the Invasion of Afghanistan (Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.426. $49.95. ISBN 0 521 35976 7.

David S.G. Goodman and Gerald Segal (eds), China in the Nineties: Crisis Management and Beyond (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991) pp. 226. $24.95 ISBN 0 19 827363 0.

Larry B. Hill (ed.), The State of Public Bureaucracy (Armonk, New York, and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1992) pp.234 $US42.50 ISBN 1 56324007 6.

Christopher Hood and Michael Jackson, Administrative Argument (Aldersbot: Dartmouth, 1991) pp.221. £30.00 ISBN 1 85521 023 1.

Mary Kaldor (ed.), Europe From Below: An East‐West Dialogue (New York: Verso, 1991) $29.95 ISBN 0 86091 522 0.

Colin Mackerras and Amanda Yorke (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.266. $25.00 ISBN 0 521 38755 8420.

Geraint Parry, George Moyser and Neil Day, Political Participation and Democracy in Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp.509. $57.50 ISBN 0 521 33602 3.

Marcus G. Raskin, Essays of a Citizen: From National Security State to Democracy (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1991) pp321. $US27.50 ISBN 0 87332 764 0.

Emir Sader and Ken Silverstein, Without Fear of Being Happy: Lula, The Workers Party, and Brazil (London: Verso, 1991) pp.177. $34.95 ISBN 0 86091 523 9.

Haim Shemesh, Soviet‐Iraqi Relations, 1968–1988: In the Shadow of the Iraq‐Iran Conflict (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1992) pp.28. $US42.00 ISBN 1 5587 293 X.

Wayne S. Smith (ed.), Toward Resolution? The Falklands/Malvinas Dispute (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991) pp.159. $US25.00 ISBN 1 55587 265 4.

Ramesh Thakur and Carlyle A. Thayer, Soviet Relations with India and Vietnam (Houndmills Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992) pp.315. £35.00 ISBN 0 333 43751 9.

Joseph S. Tulchin (ed.), Economic Development & Environmental Protection in Latin America (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991) pp.143. $US9.95 ISBN 1 55587 288 3.

Yaacov Y.I. Vertzberger, The World in Their Minds: Information Processing, Cognition, and Perception in Foreign Policy Decision‐making (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990) pp.447. $US42.50 ISBN 0 8047 1688 9.

Robert M. Worcester, British Public Opinion: Guide to the History and Methodology of Political Opinion Polling (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.231. $29.95 ISBN 0 631 17059 6.

Leslie Zines, Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.118. $35.00 ISBN 0 521 40039 2.

Political theory and methodology

Michèle Barrett, The Politics of Truth: From Marx to Foucault (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991) pp.288. $32.95 ISBN 0 7456 0503 6.

Peter Beilharz (ed.), Social Theory: A Guide to Central Thinkers (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1991) pp.242. $22.95 ISBN 1 86373 163 6.

Robin Blackburn (ed.), After the Fall: The Failure of Communism and the Future of Socialism (London: Verso, 1991) pp.327. $29.95 ISBN 0 86091 540 9.

Tom Bottomore (ed.), A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, second edn (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.647, $45.00 ISBN 0 631 16481 2.

Noberto Bobbio, Which Socialism?: Marxism, Socialism and Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990) pp.242. $27.95 ISBN 0 7456 0128 6.

Noberto Bobbio, Which Socialism?: Marxism, Socialism and Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990) pp.242. $27.95 ISBN 0 7456 0128 6.

Stewart R. Clegg, Frameworks of Power (London: Sage Publications, 1989) pp.297. $n.p. ISBN 0 8039 8161 9.

Wendy Donner, The Liberal Self: John Stuart Mill's Moral and Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991) pp.229. $US12.95 ISBN 0 8014 9987 9.

Ian Forbes, Marx and the New Individual (London: Unwin Hyman, 1990) pp.247. $n.p. ISBN 0 04 445432 5.

Alan Hamlin and Philip Pettit (eds), The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991) pp.207. $39.95 ISBN 0 63118088 5.

Oskar Kurer, John Stuart Mill: The Politics of Progress (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1991) pp.224. $US52.00 ISBN 0 8153 0135 9

Howard Williams, International Relations in Political Theory (Milton Keynes and Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992) pp.143. $34.95 ISBN 0 335 15627 4.     

A bargain between the secular state and Turkish Islam: politics of ethnicity in Central Asia

Abstract. This paper reveals and analyses the ethnic politics mobilised by a fast‐growing Islamic movement, the Gülen movement, which emerged in the 1980s in Turkey and expanded to Central Asia in the mid‐1990s. Following the micro‐sites, where nationness is reproduced as an everyday practice, my ethnographic research in Almaty‐Kazakhstan explored the emergent Islamic sensibilities for the nation and ethnic identity. Revivalist Islam has often been essentialised as incompatible with nationalism, since it has been widely associated with the Muslim community rather than nations and nation‐states. I argue that this bias is facilitated and maintained by the deep division in the literature. Scholarly work on both Islam and nationalism are split into two opposing approaches, state‐centered and culture‐centered. The findings of the present study challenge the binary thinking that juxtaposes politics against culture and dichotomises ethnic and state‐framed base of nationalism and nationhood. My major finding is that the Gülen movement has not only inherited the symbols and myths of descent from the founding fathers of the Turkish state, but it is also currently reproducing the related ethnic politics in cooperation with–not in opposition to–the secular states in the post‐Soviet Turkic world. The study reconciles ethno‐symbolic and state‐centered approaches in explaining the convergence between Islamic and secular nationalism in the formation of ethnic politics in Almaty‐Kazakhstan.     

German politics

G. Smith, W.E. Paterson, and P.H. Merkl, Developments in West German Politics (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1989) pp.359. $35.00 ISBN 0 333 47368 X.

W.E. Paterson and D. Southern, Governing Germany (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.340. $34.95. ISBN 0 631 17101 0.

R.J. Dalton, Politics in West Germany (Glenview, Il: Scott, Foresman, 1989) pp.376. $45.00. ISBN 0 673 39887 0.

D.L. Parness, The SPD and the Challenge of Mass Politics: The Dilemma of the German Volkspartei (Boulder Westview, 1991) pp.194. $80.00. ISBN 0 8133 7997 0.     

Block politics

This paper explores how young people have experienced everyday life on ‘the block’ in a racially diverse lower to working class community in New York City over time, a concept that I refer to as block politics. Broadly defined, block politics refers to the process in which young people's territories are socially conceived, performed, maintained and challenged in everyday life. Gendered and racialized norms and practices play an important role in determining how young people construct their identities and that of their block. Block politics represents one of the many ways in which young people express and articulate their sense of social and spatial inclusion/exclusion, something that has transcended both time and space in urban communities in the United States.     

Rumour and politics

This article contends that rumour—the circulation of unverified information —is an important form of political communication which deserves more attention from political scientists. To illustrate this claim a study is made of the part played by rumour in the ‘destabilisation’ of Malcolm Fraser's position as leader of the Liberal Party in August to October 1981. Health is a natural subject of rumour, and rumours about Mr. Fraser's health were used as the basis for speculation about a possible leadership challenge by Mr. Andrew Peacock. The collective character of parliamentary party politics, the artificial nature of media ‘facts’ and the predominance of certain types of news value in the media all encourage such rumours to flourish. The rumours had the effect of destabilising Mr. Fraser's position by creating and then enlarging a climate of uncertainty and anxiety within the Liberal Party and the electorate. Mr. Peacock was thereby enabled to test the strength of his potential support without being obliged to risk an open challenge. The author concludes that the most apt model of rumour to this case is that of ‘milling’, on the analogy of a ‘milling crowd’.