Parties, governments and pollsters: A new form of patronage?

In its first term, the Howard government hired Australasian Research Strategies (ARS), headed by pollster Mark Textor, to conduct market research for several Commonwealth departments and agencies. This was, the Labor Opposition claimed, a case of the Liberals handing jobs to their 'mates'. Textor played a key role in the Liberals' 1996 and 1998 federal election campaigns. However, Labor's attack rings hollow since in the 1980s the Hawke government similarly contracted Rod Cameron's ANOP to conduct opinion research for Commonwealth departments and agencies. At the time Cameron was Labor's strategic pollster and centrally involved in planning Labor election campaigns. On both sides of Australian politics, governments have begun to channel patronage towards their party's pollsters. In this research note, we suggest that this development cannot be explained as 'jobs for the boys'. Instead, this new form of patronage has its roots in the vital role that pollsters now play in guiding election campaigns, and in the commercial reality that Australian politics provides too little work to sustain specialist political pollsters. Parties in government now appear to utilise incumbency to sustain an ongoing relationship with the commercial polling organisations like ANOP and ARS to whom they will entrust much of the planning of their campaign for re-election.

Holt, Johnson and the 1966 Federal Election. A Question of Causality

US President Lyndon Johnson's state visit to Australia in October 1966, came at the pinnacle of support for Australia's military involvement in the Vietnam War. Johnson's visit also occurred just weeks before an election for the House of Representatives at which the ruling Liberal-Country Party Coalition won its eighth successive, and largest victory, The proximity of these events has led many to argue that a causal relationship exists between the two. Advocates of this thesis, however, have failed to support their position with any evidence other than the anecdotal. Contrary to the assertions made by numerous political historians and observers of the period, this paper finds no evidence to support a thesis of causality. This paper argues that the Coalition's landslide victory in 1966 was both a rejection of the tired and lacklustre leadership of Labor's Arthur Calwell and a measure of the electorate's overwhelming support for Holt and his Government's policies of conscription and military involvement in Vietnam.

Deciding who has the right to vote: A comparative analysis of election laws

The paper analyses seven potential restrictions to the right to vote in 63 democracies. Only two of these restrictions have given rise to a near consensus. An overwhelming majority of democracies have decided that the minimum voting age should be 18 and that the right to vote of mentally deficient people should be restricted. There is little consensus about whether the right to vote should be restrcited to citizens, about whether there should be country or electoral district residence requirements, about which electors residing abroad (if any) should retain their right to vote and about which prison inmates (if any) should have the right to vote. The paper also examines two factors that affect right to vote laws: British colonialism and level of political rights. The pattern found with respect to electoral systems, whereby former British colonies emulate their former ruler, is less systematic in the case of right to vote legislation. Finally, “strong” democracies are slightly more inclusive than “weak” ones when deciding who has the right to vote.

Health and demographic characteristics of respondents in an Australian national sexuality survey: comparison with population norms

Study objective: To assess the representativeness of survey participants by systematically comparing volunteers in a national health and sexuality survey with the Australian population in terms of self reported health status (including the SF-36) and a wide range of demographic characteristics. Design: A cross sectional sample of Australian residents were compared with demographic data from the 1996 Australian census and health data from the 1995 National Health Survey. Setting: The Australian population. Participants: A stratified random sample of adults aged 18-59 years drawn from the Australian electoral roll, a compulsory register of voters. Interviews were completed with 1784 people, representing 40% of those initially selected (58% of those for whom a valid telephone number could be located). Main results: Participants were of similar age and sex to the national population. Consistent with prior research, respondents had higher socioeconomic status, more education, were more likely to be employed, and less likely to be immigrants. The prevalence estimates, means, and variances of self reported mental and physical health measures (for example, SF-36 subscales, women's health indicators, current smoking status) were similar to population norms. Conclusions: These findings considerably strengthen inferences about the representativeness of data on health status from volunteer samples used in health and sexuality surveys.

Sexual dysfunction in the Australian population

AIM: To describe the prevalence and forms of sexual dysfunction experienced by Australians, and compare these with people in the United States. METHODS: A cross sectional, telephone interview survey of a randomly selected sample of men (n = 876) and women (n = 908) aged between 18 and 59 years on the electoral roll in all states and territories of Australia (response rate = 61%) was conducted between November 1999 and April 2000. RESULTS: Large proportions of Australian men (55.0%) and women (60.5%) reported at least one sexual problem within the preceding year. More serious sexual dysfunction (> 3 symptoms) was observed in 13.2% of men and 19.7% of women. DISCUSSION: Australia and the USA are similar with regard to the high rate of symptoms of sexual dysfunction observed in the population. The low rate of treatment points to both patient and doctor reluctance to discuss sexual performance and practices.

Passando do limite no ambiente de trabalho

Fernanda ?? servidora p??blica. Ap??s ter feito doutorado no exterior, retornou ao Brasil ??vida por aplicar seus novos conhecimentos em a????es desenvolvidas pelo minist??rio de origem. Contudo, seu novo superior imediato mostrou-se refrat??rio ?? servidora, demonstrando oposi????o sistem??tica e injustificada ??s suas ideias e ridicularizando-a em diversas oportunidades diante de seus pares e subordinados. As atribui????es de Fernanda foram paulatinamente retiradas, culminando na perda de seu cargo comissionado. A servidora tentou reagir, acionou o Departamento de Recursos Humanos do minist??rio e outros ??rg??os, mas nada adiantou. Fernanda, ao final, tomou uma atitude desesperada. O caso trata de ass??dio moral e de como tal situa????o se desenvolve dentro de um ??rg??o p??blico, sem que outros servidores e as unidades do ??rg??o se envolvam na quest??o. Ao final da narrativa, h?? quest??es para discuss??o que focam o ass??dio moral e seus desdobramentos

Texto para discuss??o 17: controle interno e paradigma gerencial

O interesse no estudo do tema ???controle??? surge num contexto de reforma administrativa com vistas adequar o aparelho do Estado ??s novas demandas do desenvolvimento econ??mico e social. O projeto de reforma administrativa de iniciativa do Minist??rio da Administra????o Federal e Reforma do Estado tem por base um diagn??stico de crise fiscal e de crise do modelo de administra????o burocr??tica caracter??stico do Estado nacional-desenvolvimentista e interventor, vigente entre os anos 30 e final da d??cada de 80 no Brasil. Tendo cumprido o seu papel no passado, o modelo burocr??tico torna-se obsoleto por seu car??ter excessivamente formalista e r??gido, hierarquizado e pouco comprometido com resultados. A alternativa a este modelo ?? denominada administra????o gerencial ou administra????o por resultados

Texto para discuss??o 37: planejamento estrat??gico municipal no Brasil: uma nova abordagem

A concep????o do Planejamento Estrat??gico Municipal visa substituir o pensamento est??tico da administra????o pela ideia din??mica do gerenciamento. No centro desse m??todo encontra-se o Planejamento Estrat??gico, o qual foi adaptado ??s condi????es espec??ficas da administra????o p??blica no Brasil e que deve ser complementado por uma vis??o de gerenciamento de projetos e por t??cnicas de trabalho participativas, transparentes e din??micas

Texto para discuss??o 43:os especialistas em pol??ticas p??blicas e gest??o governamental: avalia????o de sua contribui????o para pol??ticas p??blicas e trajet??ria profissional

Este relat??rio apresenta os resultados de uma pesquisa piloto de avalia????o sobre a contribui????o dos Especialistas em Pol??ticas P??blicas e Gest??o Governamental (EPPGGs), doravante tamb??m denominados apenas gestores, para Administra????o P??blica Federal (APF). Uma das quest??es centrais da pesquisa consistiu na determina????o da exist??ncia ou n??o de uma atua????o t??pica dos gestores na APF que os singularize qua membros de uma carreira espec??fica. S?? se pode falar da contribui????o dos gestores enquanto tal, em contraposi????o ?? contribui????o de uma s??rie de indiv??duos isolada e desarticuladamente, se for poss??vel diferenciar institucionalmente as formas de atua????o caracter??sticas dos membros da carreira. Assim, o fio condutor da investiga????o, de acordo com a problem??tica exposta acima, foi pautado pela id??ia de institucionaliza????o da carreira de EPPGG

Caf?? com debate: o papel da ci??ncia e tecnologia no desenvolvimento brasileiro: dilemas e perspectivas

A ENAP promoveu, no dia 30 de maio de 2005, mais um Caf?? com Debate. Desta vez, o evento contou com a presen??a do Sr. Arthur Oscar Guimar??es, Doutor em Sociologia pela Universidade de Bras??lia, professor e pesquisador do Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustent??vel da UnB, que discorreu sobre o papel da ci??ncia e tecnologia no desenvolvimento nacional e na promo????o da melhoria da qualidade de vida da popula????o

Caf?? com debate: observat??rio da competitividade e inova????o

O Caf?? com Debate recebeu o Professor do Departamento de Sociologia da USP, Glauco Arbix, para conversar sobre o observat??rio da competitividade e inova????o, no dia 19 de abril de 2007, na ENAP. O professor destacou que a inova????o n??o precisa estar ligada, necessariamente, com o ineditismo. Em muitos casos, uma combina????o de projetos ou tecnologias existentes pode constituir uma inova????o e gerar dinamismo em uma cadeia. Arbix apresentou o projeto do Observat??rio da Competitividade e Inova????o que est?? sendo desenvolvido em parceria entre ABDI, IEA e IPEA, cujo objetivo ?? criar m??tricas e sistemas para acompanhamento das inova????es. Consulte a apresenta????o feita pelo Professor

A pesquisa governamental de opini??o p??blica: raz??es, limites e a experi??ncia recente no Brasil

Este trabalho discute raz??es pelas quais se deve esperar que governos representativos mantenham um programa institucionalizado de pesquisa de opini??o p??blica. O argumento divide-se em quatro se????es. Na primeira, discutem-se raz??es te??ricas e operacionais para que os governos acompanhem ao longo do tempo o comportamento de opini??es e prefer??ncias dos cidad??os. Na segunda, descrevem-se as consequ??ncias da (im)popularidade governamental, medida sint??tica e crucial da rela????o entre representantes e representados. Em seguida, uma terceira se????o aponta poss??veis fronteiras ou limites que permitiriam distinguir o escopo das pesquisas de opini??o p??blica realizadas pelos governos daquele das conduzidas com prop??sito cient??fico, mercadol??gico e, sobretudo, eleitoral. Finalmente, a quarta se????o descreve a recente experi??ncia do governo brasileiro nessa ??rea

A pol??tica da reforma do Estado: um exame de abordagens te??ricas

O artigo aborda a contribui????o de tr??s diferentes perspectivas te??ricas ??? o institucionalismo da economia pol??tica (IEP), o institucionalismo da escolha racional (IER) e o institucionalismo da sociologia (IS) ??? para a compreens??o dos desdobramentos da organiza????o estatal e das pol??ticas de reforma do aparelho do Estado. Tais perspectivas s??o complementares ou excludentes, mas cada uma oferece explica????es diferentes sobre atores, prefer??ncias e dificuldades a serem enfrentadas. O texto explica algumas das hip??teses sobre reforma do Estado, contidas em cada perspectiva, observando as suas vantagens e limita????es, e fornece tamb??m uma avalia????o preliminar da relev??ncia te??rica de cada uma para a pesquisa emp??rica na Am??rica Latina e Europa Oriental.