Organisation and political analysis

The advent of the Hawke government may not warrant the title of ‘The Revolution in Australian Politics’, but it has raised questions about organisation and power, and the way in which these are handled in political science. This paper begins by identifying what is considered problematic in the political practices which are seen as distinctive in the Hawke government. It outlines the elements of the paradigm of organisation which underlies much political science, and identifies the way in which these are challenged by ‘corporatist’ or ‘Hawkeish’ forms of political activity. It argues that this paradigm of organisation is under attack on both conceptual and empirical grounds, and outlines an alternative paradigm of organisation and the way in which it applies to government. It concludes with a consideration of the implications of this approach for theorising about the state.     

FLPMA: A Decade of Management Under the ELM Organic Act

This article assesses the impact on public land management policy in the west following a decade's experience under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). The assessment first describes the political and institutional forces that converged to produce the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Organic act and then identifies three major policy innovations found in the Act. In conclusion, the article assesses the impact of these policy innovations of FLPMA on management of the public lands.     

EVALUATION OF THE MANGANESE ESR METHOD OF MARBLE CHARACTERIZATION

Results suggest that ESR studies of Mn⁺² in marble can provide an excellent discriminator for the determination of marble provenance. In comparison with other methods of quantitative analysis for manganese such as AA or NAA, the ESR method determines only Mn⁺² rather than total Mn, is inexpensive and rapid with no chemical preparation required, and does not consume the sample.