Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism

The steady centralisation that is generally held to be a characteristic feature of Australian federalism has occasioned thorough description and regular comment but much less attempt at explanation or theorisation. This paper reviews the way we account for centralisation in federal systems in genera...

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Main Author: Fenna, Alan
Format: Journal Article
Published: University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishing Asia 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9655
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author Fenna, Alan
author_facet Fenna, Alan
author_sort Fenna, Alan
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description The steady centralisation that is generally held to be a characteristic feature of Australian federalism has occasioned thorough description and regular comment but much less attempt at explanation or theorisation. This paper reviews the way we account for centralisation in federal systems in general and Australian federalism in particular. In doing so, it considers institutional and societal modes of explanation in the context of patterns of difference between the leading federations. It concludes that as far as those broader patterns, or secular trends, are concerned, there is no avoiding a societal explanation — one that highlights the balance between forces of modernisation and the existence of a “federal society”.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-96552017-09-13T16:06:10Z Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism Fenna, Alan Constitution Government Politics Federalism The steady centralisation that is generally held to be a characteristic feature of Australian federalism has occasioned thorough description and regular comment but much less attempt at explanation or theorisation. This paper reviews the way we account for centralisation in federal systems in general and Australian federalism in particular. In doing so, it considers institutional and societal modes of explanation in the context of patterns of difference between the leading federations. It concludes that as far as those broader patterns, or secular trends, are concerned, there is no avoiding a societal explanation — one that highlights the balance between forces of modernisation and the existence of a “federal society”. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9655 10.1111/j.1467-8497.2012.01654.x University of Queensland and Blackwell Publishing Asia restricted
spellingShingle Constitution
Government
Politics
Federalism
Fenna, Alan
Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism
title Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism
title_full Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism
title_fullStr Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism
title_full_unstemmed Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism
title_short Centralising Dynamics in Australian Federalism
title_sort centralising dynamics in australian federalism
topic Constitution
Government
Politics
Federalism
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/9655