SAWER, Marian
Governing for the mainstream : - Oxford : Blackwell Publishers Limited, March 2002
In this paper Ibegin by examining the role of estra-parliamentary institutions of representation within Australian democracy.I suggest that such institutions are an important supplement to majoritarian political institutions in ensuring that 'weak voices' are heard in the policy process. I then look at the impact of the Howard government on such extra parliamentary forms of community representation, drawing parallels with contemporaneous developments, seeking to impose managerialist models on community-based representation. The further controls introduced by the Howard government have, however, seriously reduced the capacity of community-based peak bodies to represent their constituencies. These constraints create the danger of a less inclusive democracy, where the voices of those outside the mainstream can be ignored or misrepresented
Governing for the mainstream : - Oxford : Blackwell Publishers Limited, March 2002
In this paper Ibegin by examining the role of estra-parliamentary institutions of representation within Australian democracy.I suggest that such institutions are an important supplement to majoritarian political institutions in ensuring that 'weak voices' are heard in the policy process. I then look at the impact of the Howard government on such extra parliamentary forms of community representation, drawing parallels with contemporaneous developments, seeking to impose managerialist models on community-based representation. The further controls introduced by the Howard government have, however, seriously reduced the capacity of community-based peak bodies to represent their constituencies. These constraints create the danger of a less inclusive democracy, where the voices of those outside the mainstream can be ignored or misrepresented
