School of Social and Political Sciences - Research Publications
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ItemDarebin eForum Report( 2004)This report provides an assessment of the pilot electronic democracy project undertaken at Darebin City Council during 2004. The Darebin eForum provided Council staff and Darebin residents the opportunity to discuss policy related issues via electronic mail in a structured manner which allowed the Council to summarise topics of interest and concern to feed into pre-existing decision-making processes. Based on research conducted with participants during the pilot project, a number of conclusions can be drawn regarding the value and future viability of the online forum. These are: The pilot project did not attract a wide number of participants from outside of the Council organisation and participants reflected a relatively narrow slice of the diversity within the City of Darebin. Overall, the average eForum participant was a forty-year-old English speaking, educated, and computer literate woman in full time employment. These participants tended to exhibit characteristics that would classify them as joiners who tend to be in well-developed social and work networks, and tend to have a consociational and communitarian outlook, who would therefore be attracted to discussion lists of this type. This finding indicates that the work of recruitment for the eForum of residence of the city needs to be a priority for future iterations or implementations of this concept. The selection of topics for discussion on the eForum allowed discussion to develop amongst the list participants, even where some topics were outside of the specific knowledge for interest of members. This was advantageous in the development of an active group of participants as topics were inclusive of participation across a number of levels. The selection of topics, however, may have been overly broad and fail to deliver instrumental outcomes either to participating staff members with responsibility for policy development, or a reasonable minority of non-staff list participants who focus their interest
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ItemA comparative analysis of political email lists(Centre for Public Policy, 2004)Utilising three similar, but slightly different Australian general political email discussion lists, this paper examines the degree to which these lists, as a new form of 'public sphere' (Dahlberg, 2001) can be seen to undertake, or fulfil, the 'traditional' functions of political associations (formal and informal),specifically: political socalisation, aggregation, and mobilisation. Using a combination of content analysis, observation, and network analysis to examine the content of messages travelling over these lists and the social community they embody, this paper concludes that these lists do fulfil important political socialisation functions, but do not provide the means by which political interlocutors can turn this social bonding and education into practical political expression. While each list had significant similarities, it appears that important "bracing" factors lead to the success or otherwise of lists as lively places for debate. In particular, the role of moderation and promotion is critical in the establishment of political discussion lists that develop enough 'critical mass' to sustain a community of interest large enough to appear self-replicating. The research points to the important relationship between online political forms of expression and extant political organisations, structures, and institutions for further research.
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Iteme-lection 2004? New media and the campaign( 2004)This paper explores the use of new media technologies, such as the Internet, in the Australian federal election campaign of 2004. With indications of a closely-contested campaign dominating media coverage in the lead up to October 9, normal assumptions of campaign strategies would call for the use of the full range of campaigning techniques to pry open pockets of support in key marginal seats. Internationally, new media technologies have become increasingly important in political campaigning, both as a tool for direct communication between partisans and electors, and as a particularly powerful method of networking together people, money, and issues. Based on research conducted on parties, candidates, and non-party activists, this paper argues that the use of new technologies in the Australian electoral environment remains limited and, in some aspects, has declined from the previous electoral cycle. This can be attributed to a number of factors: fundamental difficulties in aligning new communications channels to Australia's political geography, low perceptions of the efficacy of new technologies in shifting electors' voting intentions, and the failure by organised political parties to systematically resource and strategise new media technologies within their conventional communications and campaigning strategies. Overall, while a number of interesting campaigning innovations were observed and individual candidates had a greater online presence in this electoral cycle, innovation in the use of new technologies for political purposes has remained relatively low compared with comparative jurisdictions.
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ItemeGovernance practice and potential in the local government sector( 2003)This paper presents initial findings of a research project into the current extent of, demand for, and strategic inhibiters / facilitators to / for the development of electronic governance (eGovernance) in the local government sector in Australia. Undertaken by members of the sector in Victoria, in conjunction with the Centre for Public Policy of the University of Melbourne, the project is will produce a final detailed strategic report by the middle of 2004. Based on the results of survey data collected by members of the project team during 2002-3, this paper argues that the local government sector, as typified by municipalities in the state of Victoria , can be seen to have an interest in a broad range of activities that fall under the rubric of eGovernance as defined within.
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ItemPornography, protection, prevarication: the politics of internet censorship(University of NSW Law School, 2000-03)A short article that discusses the development of internet censorship laws in Australia, the politics surrounding them, and the symbolic nature of this legislative regime.
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ItemPolitical Big Brother site masks curious agenda(australia.internet.com, 2001)Outlines some of the interesting characteristics of political campaigning aimed at youth in the 2001 Australian federal election using online webpages.
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ItemPolitical big brother site masks curious agenda(australia.internet.com, 2001-10)Outlines some interesting characteristics of the ALPs use of websites in political campaigning.
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ItemInformation Technology in Teaching and Learning: A Report on Trial Applications of MultiMedia in the Department of Political Science( 2003-06)In accordance with the policy of the University of Melbourne to develop and integrate the use of Information Technology (IT) in teaching and learning, in 2003 a small-scale trial was undertaken to apply desktop MultiMedia (MM) to the teaching of one subject which had made limited use of teaching in learning in previous years.This document reports on the outcomes of this trial, indicates the positive and negative benefits of this application, and makes some conclusions about barriers and enablers to the implementation of IT in the teaching environment. The aim of the document is to:•Report on agreed activities to the Head of Department, Political Science, and•Provide feedback on IT applications in teaching to other staff of the University of Melbourne.
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ItemAustralia: where forward co-regulation?(NetAlert, 2002)Regulation of the online environment has become a common problem for many governments around the world. While the motivations for regulation are diverse, in their desire to censor Internet content, English-speaking countries have tended to focus on the moral implications of unfettered communication between computer users. Issues associated with intellectual property protection, harassment, and criminality following behind initial policy positions aimed, largely, at pornography and other morally-unacceptable forms of communication. In Australia, initial policy debates about Internet content focused almost exclusively on pornography and paedophilia, focusing on conflict between the protection of minors from offensive and morallydegrading material and the freedom of adults to communicate content of interest to them. In 1999, the Federal Government introduced the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Act prohibiting the unrestricted distribution of material that would be classified 'R' or greater under the existing film and literature classification regime. In 2000, following public debate about the extent of gambling in the Australian community, the government introduced a moratorium on the expansion of online gambling services in Australia, followed in July 2001 by the Interactive Gambling Act to prohibit the operation of online casinos within Australia. While initial regulatory proposals countenanced the possibility of strict regulation, each law was curtailed to regulatory regimes that would minimise compliance costs for certain established commercial players. (From Introduction)
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ItemWho's in the joined-up government? Australian elected representatives adaptive responses to network technology(The University of Melbourne - Centre for Public Policy, 2002)