Strategy: The all-encompassing impact of policy decisions on Australia’s political landscape is examined in depth by experts in Australia Fair?: Democracy, bureaucracy and the making of modern Australia. Photo: Supplied.
Strategy: The all-encompassing impact of policy decisions on Australia’s political landscape is examined in depth by experts in Australia Fair?: Democracy, bureaucracy and the making of modern Australia. Photo: Supplied.
In what way does strategic legislation drive political progress in Australia? An influential question, along with a few others. Crafting impactful policy to reform Australia’s political landscape. Interpreting public policy into a thriving Australian society. How does policy shape politics for a better Australia?
The extensive impact of policy decisions on Australia’s political landscape is comprehensively examined by specialists in Australia Fair?: Democracy, bureaucracy and the making of modern Australia.
Who briefs decision-makers on the problems affecting our daily lives? Authors James Walter and Carolyn Holbrook explore the world of departmental officials and political advisers who wield significant influence in shaping our society and assess how policy advice has changed since World War II. How has the relationship between our elected representatives and bureaucrats evolved? Have they delivered what the people want? What has been learned, and what’s forgotten?
“Performative politics” should not be put before policy. There has been an evolution as “… shifting cultural values, partisan beliefs, and shifting power balances have reshaped Australia’s democracy and communities”.
Getting from political theatre to policy work is realised as the spotlight is on the behind-the-scenes network that feeds into policy decisions — the interactions of political colleagues, experts, personal staff, lobbyists, advisers, consultants, pollsters and public servants.
Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University, James Walter, and historian in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University, Associate Professor Carolyn Holbrook, have authored a scholarly 393-page book.
”Policies are the flags that parties carry into battle,” they write. “If we notice them, it’s because they capture our attention as potential solutions to current concerns. But in the long run we assess policies in relation to what is implemented by parties in office, by what is done or not done. Policy work is the process of devising how ideas and objectives can be turned into action. It relies on expert advice and a professional class of civil servants — bureaucrats — who specialise in analysing the challenges governments face.
“Effective action arises from considered deliberation, influenced by these policy professionals, though partisan advisers, consultants and lobbyists also play significant roles. Public attitudes are kept in mind, yet outcomes might differ substantially from what was promised.”
Guided by knowledge that’s not shared, “… there is, then, always potential inequality at work, an inequality between the resources and the influence of the policy elite and the people. This is the divide on which we concentrate in this book.”
This book traces the personalities, mechanisms and institutions that have overseen the making of public policy in three foundational areas — immigration, Indigenous affairs and housing — during the post-war era. They attend to three crucial phases, exploring historical, institutional and organisational factors that lead to differences between the way social problems and their solutions are identified and understood by policy decision-makers and the perceptions of the public they are expected to serve.
Australia Fair? reveals how social change, ideological differences and power dynamics have transformed Australia’s political landscape and society.
Clearly, each of the policy domains they explore is highly contested. Competing interests propound incommensurate answers, amplified by partisan division, making them seemingly intractable areas of difficulty.
The academics show the post-war pursuit of growth and prosperity saw improving living standards, including access to housing, a bold immigration program directed to nation-building with a humanitarian emphasis, and incremental recognition of Indigenous rights. They examine, in each of their case studies, how decisions were influenced by assumptions specific to their time.
“History allows us to look back and see where and why there were shortfalls, and unintended consequences. We show that community activists and public officials were often leaders in identifying where more needed to be done.”
Every generation must reconsider recurrent social issues. There is no definitive solution. No-one can predict with certainty the outcomes of a particular course. The authors give interrelated reasons for their comparative historical approach.
There are queries that propel their policy history. They are rationalised and explained. The driver is whether the divide between officials and those they serve can be bridged. Can it be that later practice, and research development, assisted in this?
Significant and provoking, Australia Fair? forces us to adapt to modern rule-making, discuss political self-determination and take an active role in building tomorrow by creating the environment we desire.
Australia Fair?: Democracy, bureaucracy and the making of modern Australia, by James Walter and Carolyn Holbrook, Melbourne University Publishing, $39.99
