Julia Gillard's Citizens' Assembly Proposal for Australia: A Deliberative Democratic Analysis

Many governments have embraced the rhetoric of inclusive citizen engagement. Greater public involvement promises to strengthen democratic institutions and improve the quality of policy decisions and services. How do these aspirations sit alongside the reality of Australian federal politics? This article investigates the responses of elite policy actors to the Gillard government's proposal to conduct a citizens’ assembly on climate change in 2010. Drawing on over 200 media articles, the authors identify a series of procedural, institutional and political objections raised by elite commentators against the citizens’ assembly proposal. Many of these objections have little basis in the experience of deliberative designs in practice. Some, however, reflect the challenge of realising inclusive, deliberative governance in highly politicised contexts.

很多政府对公民广泛参与的说辞爱不释手。更大程度上的公共参与有助于强化民主体制,改善政策及服务的质量。这种渴望与澳大利亚联邦政治的现实相处如何呢？本文考察了政策精英对杰拉德政府倡议在2010年召开的气候变化公民大会的反应。本文浏览了200多篇媒体文章,发现了这些人从程序、体制、政治等等方面反对公民大会的倡议。不少反对意见在精心设计的实践经验中并没多少基础。但有些却反映了高度政治化的语境中正在实现的广泛参与所构成的挑战。     

The Changing Fortunes of a Policy Entrepreneur: The Case of Ross Garnaut

Few people inside or outside government have had a greater impact on public policy in Australia than Ross Garnaut. His report in 1990 provided a blueprint for Australia's economic ‘engagement’ with Asia, whether or not one agreed with its underlying logic and analysis. The reception of his report on climate change in 2011 could hardly have been more different. Why is it that some ideas enjoy wide support from influential actors and are enthusiastically taken up by policymakers, while others struggle to gain traction, even when backed by government? This paper provides some possible answers to this puzzle by identifying factors that facilitate or obstruct the influence and impact of ‘policy entrepreneurs’.

在澳大利亚政府内外,对公共政策影响最大的人士莫过于郜若素了。他发表于1990年的报告,你同意其逻辑分析也好,不同意也罢,反正它都为亚澳经济关系提供了蓝图。他于2011年发表的环境报却得到迥然不同的反应。何以一些观点能够得到重要社会主体的广泛支持以及政策制定者的积极采纳,而另一些观点哪怕是有政府做后盾,也难得推广呢？本文通过寻找有利或有碍“政策专业户”发挥影响的因素,对这个问题作了回答。     

The opinion–policy link in Australia

Whether or not policy is responsive to public opinion is central to questions of representation. Democracy by many accounts is premised on there being a strong correspondence between public opinion and policy. This link has not, however, been examined in detail in Australia. This article examines the policy–opinion link in a more robust way than that has previously been achieved in Australia, through the use of legislative data from the Australian Policy Agendas Project (APAP) and public opinion data from Roy Morgan. The article asks: is policy congruent with public opinion in Australia? In addressing this question, we examine to what extent policy accords with the preferences of the public. This in turn provides us with some answers about how representative Australian democracy is, as well as contributing to an international debate about the responsiveness of policy to public opinion.

政策是否要对舆论负责,这是代表制的核心问题。民主的前提往往就在于舆论和政策之间的息息相通。但在澳大利亚,人们并没有仔细地研究过二者间的关联。本文根据澳大利亚政策议题计划提供的立法资料以及罗伊摩根提供的舆情资料,对政策—舆论关联做了比以往充分多的研究。本文试问：政策与舆论在澳大利亚是否一致？我们考察了政策在多大程度上符合民意。这也为澳大利亚民主在多大程度上具有代表性的问题提供了答案,对于国际上争论政策对民意的回应问题也具有参考意义。。     

Community participation and local governance in Bangladesh

As a condition of receiving foreign aid, developing country governments have actively tried to achieve pro-people development through community participation in local-level development projects. Based on a case study of Bangladesh, this article analyses the impact of community participation on the various governance-related issues such as accountability, transparency, responsiveness and predictability during the implementation of such projects. The empirical findings reveal that efforts to achieve such objectives have mostly been futile, leaving community participation in the local governance process as an inchoate and piecemeal affair. Political manipulation, clientelism and inadequate governance structure and processes have been the key stumbling blocks contributing to such failures. This study provides important insights into governance at the local level, implying that greater awareness and participation are needed to formulate and implement effective community-based local governance in developing countries such as Bangladesh.

作为接收外国援助的一项条件,发展中国家的政府会积极通过地方层面的发展项目的社区参与,来取得民生的发展。本文基于对孟加拉的一项个案研究,分析了社区参与对各种治理相关话题的影响,诸如项目实施期间的问责、透明度、因应、可预见性等等。实证研究发现,实现这些目标的努力大多劳而无功,搞得地方治理过程中的社区参与有始无终,七零八落。政治操控、裙带关系、不到位的治理结构及过程都是导致失败的绊脚石。本文深入考察了地方层面的治理,指出在孟加拉国这样的发展中国家,需要更大的自觉和更多的参与来规划并实施有效的社区层面的地方治理。     

Beyond Mainstream Approaches to Political Participation: A Response to Aaron Martin

Aaron Martin's (2012) recent article is the first to use survey data to compare the political participation of young people with that of older age groups in Australia. As such, it adds to our empirical knowledge of political participation, particularly by emphasising the changing focus of young people's engagement. Yet, like most mainstream, and especially quantitative, political participation researchers, Martin does not engage adequately with the growing, more critical literature). This response raises some of the issues emphasised in this literature, relating them directly to Martin's contribution. It has four sections: firstly, a brief consideration of Martin's main conclusions; secondly, a discussion of putative reasons for the change in forms of participation; thirdly, a consideration of broader forms of political participation; and finally, a consideration of the relationship between identity and political participation, which is at the core of most broader discussions of the latter.

阿隆·马丁（2012）在最近的文章中首先使用调查资料对澳大利亚年轻人和更年长者的政治参与做了比较。他的研究,特别是关于年轻人参与焦点的转移那部分,丰富了关于政治参与的实证知识。但与从事政治参与的主流尤其是定量研究的学者一样,马丁对于正在出现的、批判性的文献缺乏足够的关注。本文根据这些文献提出跟马丁研究相关的问题。本文包括四个部分：1）简要评述马丁的主要结论;2）讨论参与形式变化的推定原因;3）思考更为宽广的政治参与形式;4）思考身份与政治参与之间的关系,那是在更大范围内讨论政治参与的核心问题。     

Policy entrepreneurs and promotion of Australian state knowledge economies

Policy entrepreneurs seek to shift the status quo in given areas of public policy. In doing so, they work closely with others, and their activities call for high levels of political skill. This article examines the actions of policy entrepreneurs who promoted the development of knowledge economies in two Australian states: Queensland and Victoria. During the past two decades, national and sub-national governments around the world have sought to nurture knowledge economies within their borders. Our analysis of knowledge economy advocacy improves understanding of how specific individuals – as strategic team builders – can promote major policy change. This focus on team work and coalition-building as central elements of the process of policy entrepreneurship offers a corrective to some earlier studies that inappropriately conferred lone hero status to policy entrepreneurs.

政策企业家们试图改变公共政策特定领域内的现状。在这个过程中,他们与他人密切合作,他们的活动呼唤高水平的政治技巧。本文考察了政策企业家在澳大利亚的昆士兰和维多利亚两个州促进知识经济的行动。在过去二十年里,世界各地国家以及次国家政府都想在自己的版图内培育知识经济。我们对知识经济促进情况的分析有助于更好地理解何以某些个人如战略团队的建设者们可以促成重要的战略转变。本文聚焦团队工作以及联盟建设,将其视为政策企业家活动的核心因素。这样一种视角是对以往过分强调个人英雄的一种修正。     

Ecological modernisation,industry policy and the Australian automotive industry, 2007–13

Ecological modernisation (EM), in theory and practice, has increasingly become central to contemporary state environmental reform agendas. EM's allure lies in its central tenet that the contemporary institutions of capitalism can be ecologically adapted to achieve ‘win–win’ economic and environmental outcomes. How government policy can best accomplish this aim is contested, however, with weak and strong EM approaches advocating different roles for the state in facilitating ecological restructuring. The latter approaches argue that for EM processes to be successful, state intervention via ecological industrial policy is required. This article makes a unique contribution to the industry policy and EM debate by assessing the manner in which EM was conceptualised and implemented within the Australian government's automotive industry policy between 2007 and 2013. This analysis raises issues about the institutional capacity of states to pursue either weak or strong forms of EM.

生态现代化在理论上和实践上日益成为当代国家环境改革的中心议题。环境现代化所以诱人在于其核心原则：当代资本主义体制生态上可以取得经济、环境的双赢结果。不过政府政策如何实现这一目标确是挑战,生态现代化有强、弱二途,政府在促进生态重构时扮演不同的角色。按强势思路,要想生态现代化成功,需要国家通过生态产业政策进行干预。本文对2007至2013年澳大利亚政府的汽车产业政策形成和实施的方式做了评估,希望以此对产业政策以及生态现代化的辩论有所助益。本文还提出了国家实施强、弱生态现代化的体制能力的问题。     

The Women,Peace and Security agenda: Australia and the agency of girls

This article argues that young women and girls are significant stakeholders in peace and security efforts. Understanding their roles, views and capacity is essential to an adequate perspective on peace and security. Yet girls remain the most marginalised group when it comes to peace and security efforts globally. Gender- and age-based hierarchies often leave their interests ignored. Excluding girls hinders prospects for sustainable peace by denying their rights, entrenching inequity and affecting future chances for increasing women's participation. Australian government statements on Women, Peace and Security are evaluated on how they relate to young women and girls. The article presents a series of cases to analyse how young women are impacted by security factors, how they are actively working to create peace and security, and how to better include girls in seeking peace. Options for action by Australian policymakers are discussed.

本文指出,青少年女性是和平与安全努力的重要相关方。正确的和平安全观需要理解这些青少年女性的角色、观点和能力。但全世界但凡涉及和平安全,女孩都是一个最边缘化的群体。性别及年龄的等级制忽视了她们的利益。对女孩的排斥拒绝了她们的权利,强化了不平等,妨碍了妇女未来的参与,这都不利于未来的持久和平。作者评估了澳大利亚政府关于妇女、和平及安全的宣示与青少年女性有多大关系。本文分析了安全因素如何影响年轻女性,青年女性右如何积极致力于创建和平及安全,和平事业该如何吸收女孩等等。作者还讨论了澳大利亚政策制定者的行动选择。     

New public management and welfare-to-work in Australia: Comparing the reform agendas of the ALP and the Coalition

Since the 1990s, the adoption of new public management (NPM) as a management philosophy has translated into multiple waves of reform in the employment services sector in Australia, namely Working Nation (1994–96), Job Network (JN: 1996–2009) and Job Services Australia (JSA: 2009–present). Each wave has sought to improve the preceding policy. In this article, we examine changes implemented during the Rudd/Gillard Labor governments. Using government policy documents and survey data from frontline employment services staff, we compare JSA to JN against five benchmarks. Our data indicate that JSA has generated modest improvement. JSA is also a system with less emphasis on strong forms of sanctioning. Our combined data suggest that policy actors operating under NPM conditions are indeed able to influence specific aspects of frontline practice, but they must spend great effort to do so and must accept new imperfections as a consequence.

1990年代以来,新型公共管理被作为一种管理哲学而被接受。这导致了就业服务部门的数次改革浪潮,即工作国（1994—96）、工作网（1996—2009）、澳大利亚工作服务（2009至今）。每波浪潮都力图改良此前的政策。本文考察了陆克文/吉拉德工党执政时期的变革。作者根据政府的政策文件、一线就业服务机构员工的调查数据等等,在五个基准点上将澳大利亚工作服务与工作网做了对比。根据我们的资料,澳大利亚工作服务这个系统带来的改进最小,也不大注重强有力的制裁。我们认为,实施新型公共管理的政策制定方的确能影响一线实践的某些方面,但他们还要花大力气,还要接受往后新的不圆满。     

When do Citizens Demand Punishment of Corruption?

Under what conditions do citizens demand punishment of corrupt government officials or actions? Citizens' demands complement and motivate government actions. Studies suggest, however, that citizens' demands are weak and not credible. This paper considers that credible demands are the outcomes of strategic interaction between citizen groups. The results from experimental surveys in Australia and the United States show citizens' demands are credible across various conditions, including size of participants or groups, and regardless of whether they suffer losses from corruption, or whether other participants suffer losses from corruption. This paper makes three contributions. Firstly, it delineates a theoretical model that predicts concerted action. This is a useful alternative to extant treatments that generally report outcomes where coordination problems and free-ridership undermine citizens' concerted action and credibility. Secondly, experimental results clarify several conditions under which citizens' demands are credible, that is, when citizens act in concert to demand punishment. Thirdly, the consistent results across Australia and the US where individualism is high provide useful baselines for further studies.

公民们在什么情况下会要求惩治腐败的政府官员和腐败行为？研究证明,公民的要求虚弱而不可靠。本文认为可靠的要求来自公民群体间的战略互动。澳大利亚和美国的实验调查表明,公民的要求可靠与否取决于诸如参与者或群体规模等条件,而不论他们是否从腐败中受损,或别人是否从腐败中受损。本文有以下三点贡献。第一,勾画了预测腐败的模型。目前的方法报告了协调问题和免费搭车消弱公民协调行动和工信度的结果。该模型可为替代方法。第二,实验结果表明在一些情况下公民的要求是可靠的,那就是,当公民协调一致要求惩治腐败的时候。第三,个人主义发达的澳大利亚和美国的调查结果可以成为进一步研究的基点。     

Ideas-Centred Explanations of the Rise of Neoliberalism: A Critique

This article critically examines the assumption that the spread of neoliberal policy programs of privatisation, deregulation and marketisation is explained principally by policymakers coming under the influence of fundamentalist neoliberal ideas and the think tanks through which they were proselytised. The article outlines the conditions that must be satisfied for this thesis of ideational causation to be considered plausible. By examining the relationship between neoliberal think tanks and the Howard Coalition government in Australia, the article offers indicative evidence against this dominant conceptual framework for understanding the rise of neoliberalism. It concludes that this narrative offers a poor guide to understanding actually existing neoliberalism.

本文批评了一种观点,该观点认为新自由主义的私有化、解除管制、市场化之类政策的推广缘于政策制定者受了原教旨新自由主义思想及思想库的影响。作者指出了这一思想因果关系若要成立须满足的条件。通过分析新自由主义思想库与霍华德政府的关系,本文反驳了这种有关新自由主义的流行观点,认为这种叙述无益于指导对真实存在的新自由主义的理解（Brenner and Theofore 2002）。     

The Limits of Low-Tax Social Democracy? Welfare,Tax and Fiscal Dilemmas for Labor in Government

The Australian Labor Party, following its election to government in 2007, has implemented an ambitious social policy agenda with spending on hospitals, pensions and community workers, as well as programs for parental leave and disability. It has also reformed taxes, in part to finance these reforms, implementing the mining and carbon taxes in 2012. Labor, however, has difficulty avoiding deficits because tax revenues are too low to finance expanded welfare. This article explores the political constraints and opportunities involved in financing welfare by examining voter responses to the ANU Poll of September 2011. Spending on welfare is supported by low-income earners, while taxing big industries finds greater support among university-educated voters. The article advances an explanation for this mismatch and for why tax resistance has hindered Labor's efforts to finance welfare expansion.

澳大利亚工党在2007年选举上台后实施了雄心勃勃的社会政策计划,涉及医院、养老金、社区工作人员、带薪育婴假、残疾人等项开支。它还在2012年改革了税收,推行采矿及碳排放税为上述改革筹集资金。不过,工党苦于避免赤字,因为税收太少,资助不了扩大的福利。本文分析了选民对2011年9月ANU民调的回应,探讨了资助福利之举的限制与机遇。低收入者支持福利开支,受过高等教育者则多支持向大企业征税。本文解释了这种矛盾,以及为什反税收阻碍了工党资助福利扩张的努力。     

Sceptical partisans: How citizens think about political finance

This article investigates how citizens form their opinions on political-finance issues. Two distinct mechanisms are elaborated. First, citizens may be ‘faithful followers’, adopting positions that reflect their partisan loyalties. Second, citizens may be ‘sceptical’ and lean against cues from their party leaders. Drawing on a survey of Australian attitudes to political finance, I assess the extent to which predictions from these theories are observed in reality. The evidence suggests that Australians interpret political finance as ‘sceptical partisans’, broadly sceptical of political elites, while retaining partisan loyalties that are triggered when two conditions are satisfied: the issue has obvious partisan implications, but encouragement of partisan impulses does not threaten the competitiveness of elections.

本文探讨了公民如何形成对政治献金的态度。学者们提供了两个不同的机制。首先,公民可以是“忠实的追随者”,选择反映其党派忠诚性的立场。其次,公民可以凭着其党派领导人的暗示,持怀疑的态度。笔者将澳大利亚人对政治献金的态度同以上理论假设做了比对。有证据表明,澳大利亚人视政治献金为“拉帮结伙”,大体上对政治精英心存怀疑,不过又保持其党派忠诚。只要满足两个条件,忠诚就会出现：话题有着明显的党派含义,但党派冲动并不威胁选举的竞争性。     

‘Protectionism,obviously, is not dead’: A case study on New Zealand's biosecurity policy and the causes-of-effects of economic interests

New Zealand is valuable as an extreme case in agricultural trade liberalisation and in market-oriented national biosecurity policy, for exploring the causes-of-effects of economic interests on national biosecurity policy. The article argues that the state is the best advocate of agro-economic interests and that international negotiations on trade liberalisation played a decisive role in the protectionist and economic orientation of New Zealand's biosecurity policies. The study contributes to improving theoretical work on the relationship between international cooperation and domestic reform politics. It suggests a historical-institutionalist and dynamic perspective which incorporates the role of institutionalised vested interests and effect of timing and sequencing. This perspective helps to explain why states' policy preferences originate from economic interests and why patterns of interaction between international and national processes have such a strong effect.

新西兰作为农业贸易自由化以及市场导向的 生物安全政策的一个极端案例,对探讨经济利益与国家生物安全政策的因果联系,是非常有价值的。作者认为,政府是农业经济利益的最佳辩护师,贸易自由化的国际协商对于新西兰生物安全政策的保护主义及经济的取向起了决定性作用。本研究致力于完善有关国际合作及国内改革政策之间关系的理论探讨。本文建议采用一种历史—制度主义以及动态的视角,将制度化的既得利益以及时间、时序的作用纳入视野。这样一种视角有助于解释为什么政府的政策倾向源自经济利益,为什么国际过程与国家过程的互动模式会有如此强烈的效果。     

Bridging the information gap: A survey of politics and international relations PhD students in Australia

This article analyses the results of the first exclusive survey of politics and international relations PhD students in Australia. The survey was completed by 186 students from 22 universities. Students were asked 54 questions covering five areas: candidate choices, degree structure, research interests, workload pressures and the role of the Australian Political Studies Association (APSA). Our findings indicate that students base their choice of institution on pre-existing personal relationships rather than university reputation or research expertise; want more coursework and methodological training; believe scholarship-application outcomes are not based on merit; feel they cannot meet the field's workload expectations; and are unaware of APSA. This article raises important questions about the opportunities and support that individual academics, departments and university administrations provide to potential and existing students.

本文分析了澳大利亚首次政治学与国际关系学博士生专门调查的结果。调查涉及22所大学的186位学生。这些学生回答了涵盖五个领域的54个问题,包括博士候选人选择、学位结构、研究兴趣、课业负担以及澳大利亚政治学会的作用。我们的研究发现：学生对院校的选择基于既有的个人关系而非学校的研究声誉;他们希望更多的课业、更多的方法训练;他们认为奖学金申请的结果根据的不是能力表现;他们认为自己达不到所学领域的课业期待;他们不了解澳大利亚政治学会。本文就个体院系管理方提供给在读和潜在学生的机会和支持提出了一些重要的问题。     

The irrelevance and (new) relevance of religion in Australian elections

This article assesses religion and voting in Australia since 1987 and examines how Tony Abbott's status as Liberal leader corresponded with changes in leader evaluations and voting, and with significant changes in Australian parties and the electorate. Religious attendance became associated more strongly with Liberal voting in 2010. Catholics voted Liberal significantly more from 2010, in significantly higher numbers they viewed the Liberal leader more positively in 2013, and they viewed the Labor leader significantly less so. Evaluations of Abbott were structured by attitudes about abortion and same-sex marriage, whereas evaluations of Kevin Rudd were not. The article discusses how these results are not unique to Australia, but fit patterns observed with centre-right parties in other western democracies.

本文考察了1987年以来的宗教和投票,并研究了托尼·阿伯特作为自由党党首如何应对在党首评价及投票方面的变化,以及澳大利亚政党和选举上的重大变化。宗教的参与和2010年的自由党投票关系密切。而自2010年起,天主教徒明显地更多投自由党的票;2013年更多天主教徒对自由党领导人做正面评价;他们对工党领导人评价就要低得多。对阿伯特的评价主要取决于堕胎和同性结婚问题,而对陆克文的评价则不是这样。本文讨论了为什么这样的结果并不是澳大利亚的独特现象,其他中右翼当政的西方民主国家也是这样。     

Deterring the ‘boat people’: Explaining the Australian government's People Swap response to asylum seekers

This article examines why Australia has taken a tough stance on ‘boat people’, through an analysis of the Malaysian People Swap response. The findings support the view that populism, wedge politics and a culture of control drive Australia's asylum-seeker policy agenda. The article further argues that these political pressures hold numerous negative implications for the tone of Australia's political debate and the quality of policy formulation, as well as for asylum seekers and refugees themselves.

本文通过分析“马来人交换协议”的反响,探讨了为什么澳大利亚对“船民”采取了一种严厉的立场。根据作者的研究,民粹主义、极端政治以及控制的文化推动了澳大利亚的难民政策。作者指出,这些政治压力给澳大利亚政治辩论的定调以及政策制定的质量,对避难者和难民,都带来消极的影响。     

The Limits of Compulsion: Demographic Influences on Voter Turnout in Australian State Elections

It is often assumed that the problem of electoral participation in Australia has been solved with an entrenched regime of compulsion in enrolment and voting. In recent elections, however, one-fifth of eligible Australians failed to cast a valid vote. This study aims to identify those demographic groups which contribute to this substantial rate of abstention. The authors used Random Forests to model the effects of demographic factors on voter turnout in three Australian state general elections. Results suggest that resource barriers have been generally surmounted, but lower levels of population stability and interaction contribute to a decline in electoral participation. These findings have implications for electoral administration, urban form and compulsion itself.

人们经常说,澳大利益选举参与度的问题已经通过强制性投票解决了。不过在近年的选举中,有五分之一的适龄澳大利亚人没有进行有效投票。本文意在探讨哪些人群造成了如此大比例的弃权。作者使用“随机森林”分析了人口因素对三个州普选结果的影响。结果表明,资源障碍一般说是消除了,但较低的人口稳定与互动水平导致了人们对选举的消极态度。这个发现对于选举的管理、城市的形态以及强制本身都有着参考价值。     

The politics of lowering the voting age in Australia: Evaluating the evidence

There is a vigorous international debate about lowering the voting age to 16, with some jurisdictions already moving in this direction. The issue of the voting age also intersects with broader normative and empirical approaches to youth political engagement. Using evidence from Australia, this article evaluates empirically the arguments put forward for lowering the voting age. The findings suggest only partial support for lowering the voting age to bring it into line with other government-regulated activities. There is no evidence that lowering the voting age would increase political participation or that young people are more politically mature today than they were in the past. The absence of empirical support for the arguments in favour of lowering of the voting age has implications for how to transform democracy in order to attract greater youth engagement.

是否把选举年龄降到16岁,国际上有着激烈的辩论。有些法律体系已在朝这个方向运动。选举年龄的话题与更广泛的、有关青年政治参与的规范性及经验性研究有所交集。本文根据澳大利亚的资料,从实证的角度评论了主张降低投票年龄的观点。本文的发见仅部分支持降低选举年龄与有关政府法规的接轨。现在无法证明降低选举年龄会提高政治参与,也无法证明今天的年轻人比过去的年轻人政治上更成熟。降低选举年龄的主张缺少实证的支持,那么该如何改变民主制度以吸引年轻人更多的参与呢？     

Online petitions in Australia: Information,opportunity and gender

This article compares offline and online petition signing in Australia, to examine whether online forms of political activity can mobilise citizens who would otherwise not participate. Using data from the 2010 Australian Election Study and a model of civic voluntarism comprising online and offline resources, the article presents several unexpected findings. First, women are significantly more likely than men to sign both written and e-petitions, and this will likely continue with the increasing circulation of e-petitions and corresponding decline in written petitions. Second, Australians from a non-English-speaking background are underrepresented in the signing of written petitions but not of e-petitions. Civic skills gained in the workplace and voluntary organisations positively predict both forms of petition signing, but language, gender and income do not constitute barriers to the signing of e-petitions. This article contributes to emerging evidence the internet can mobilise traditionally underrepresented groups to participate in political activity.

本文对澳大利亚脱线和在线请愿做了比较,以了解在线的政治活动能否动员起本来不参与政治的公民。笔者使用了2010年澳大利亚选举研究的数据以及比较在线与脱线资源的公民志愿行动模型,获得了若干意想不到的发现。首先,比起男子,妇女联署纸本及电子请愿书的可能性会大得多,这种情况会伴随着电子请愿的流行和纸本请愿的式微而继续下去。公民在工作单位以及志愿者组织那里获得的技能有助于他们积极参与两种请愿,而语言、性别、收入也不构成电子请愿的障碍。本文印证了互联网可以动员以往不大被代表的人群参与政治活动的说法。