Elections Matter
Elections Matter

Author: Benjamin T. Jones

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781925523157

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In a world of fake news and populist politics, elections can seem like theatre. With growing rates of informal votes and a perceived narrowing of differences between the major parties, do Australian elections really matter? Taking ten examples, this book argues that elections do matter (even when you think they dont). It is not just elections with memorable jingles or triumphant campaigns from opposition to government that can shape the nation. Could it be that the Labor loss in 1969 formed the country more than the famous win in 1972? Or did the return of the Coalition in 1954 have more impact than securing government in 1949? Elections Matter looks at prime ministers and policies that never were and examines how the democratic process could have produced a different country. Had key elections taken a different turn, Australia might have had a different constitution, a different head of state, a different health and education system and a different foreign policy approach. This book looks at ten elections that formed Australia.--

The Prime Ministers
The Prime Ministers

Author: Iain Dale

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Published: 2020-11-12

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 1529312175

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**Winner of the 2020 PARLIAMENTARY BOOK AWARDS for Best Political Book by a Non-Parliamentarian** A Times Political Book of the Year 'An entertaining, thorough and informative canter through the characters and stories of prime ministers past.' - New Statesman 'A wealth of enjoyable insights into three centuries of Westminster politics... It is a most elegant hardback volume, with a gilded cover that looks a little like the famous front door of No. 10 itself; the ideal Christmas gift.' - Joyce McMillan, The Scotsman 'This is a timely study of UK Prime Ministers and Iain Dale has done the subject a great service with this measured and thoughtful labour of love which offers a fascinating set of insights into the history of Britain, politics, the role of Prime Minister, and elite and establishment power... a superb guide to the times we have lived through and are living in.' - Gerry Hassan, Scottish Review *** 'Many of my predecessors were giants, some had feet of clay, all possessed human foibles.' - From the foreword by Boris Johnson It has almost been 300 years since Sir Robert Walpole arguably became the first holder of the office of Prime Minister in 1721 - an office which today is under scrutiny like never before. The Prime Ministers, edited by leading political commentator Iain Dale, brings to life all 55 of Britain's 'First Among Equals' with an essay for each office holder, written by key figures in British politics. From the obscure 18th-century figures like the Earl of Shelburne to 20th-century titans like Churchill and Thatcher, this book provides a much-needed reminder about their motivations, failures and achievements.

The Cabinet Office, 1916–2018
The Cabinet Office, 1916–2018

Author: Anthony Seldon

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2016-12-08

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1785902032

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Since its creation in the depths of the Great War in December 1916, the Cabinet Office has retained a uniquely central place in the ever-changing political landscape of the last century. While the revolving door of 10 Downing Street admits and ejects its inhabitants every few years, the Cabinet Office remains a constant, supporting and guiding successive Prime Ministers and their governments, regardless of their political leanings, all the while keeping the British state safe, stable and secure. It has been at the centre of everything – wars, intelligence briefings, spy scandals, disputed elections, political crises – and its eleven Cabinet Secretaries, ever at the right hand of their political masters, have borne witness to them all. The true 'men of secrets', these individuals are granted access to the meetings that determine the course of history, trusted with the most classified information the state possesses. Written with unparalleled access to documents and personnel by acclaimed political historian, commentator and biographer Anthony Seldon, this lavishly illustrated history is the definitive inside account of what has really gone on in the last 100 years of British politics.

A State at Any Cost
A State at Any Cost

Author: Tom Segev

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2019-09-24

Total Pages: 816

ISBN-13: 1429951842

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2019 National Jewish Book Award Finalist "[A] fascinating biography . . . a masterly portrait of a titanic yet unfulfilled man . . . this is a gripping study of power, and the loneliness of power." —The Economist As the founder of Israel, David Ben-Gurion long ago secured his reputation as a leading figure of the twentieth century. Determined from an early age to create a Jewish state, he thereupon took control of the Zionist movement, declared Israel’s independence, and navigated his country through wars, controversies and remarkable achievements. And yet Ben-Gurion remains an enigma—he could be driven and imperious, or quizzical and confounding. In this definitive biography, Israel’s leading journalist-historian Tom Segev uses large amounts of previously unreleased archival material to give an original, nuanced account, transcending the myths and legends that have accreted around the man. Segev’s probing biography ranges from the villages of Poland to Manhattan libraries, London hotels, and the hills of Palestine, and shows us Ben-Gurion’s relentless activity across six decades. Along the way, Segev reveals for the first time Ben-Gurion’s secret negotiations with the British on the eve of Israel’s independence, his willingness to countenance the forced transfer of Arab neighbors, his relative indifference to Jerusalem, and his occasional “nutty moments”—from UFO sightings to plans for Israel to acquire territory in South America. Segev also reveals that Ben-Gurion first heard about the Holocaust from a Palestinian Arab acquaintance, and explores his tempestuous private life, including the testimony of four former lovers. The result is a full and startling portrait of a man who sought a state “at any cost”—at times through risk-taking, violence, and unpredictability, and at other times through compromise, moderation, and reason. Segev’s Ben-Gurion is neither a saint nor a villain but rather a historical actor who belongs in the company of Lenin or Churchill—a twentieth-century leader whose iron will and complex temperament left a complex and contentious legacy that we still reckon with today.

Toward the Charter
Toward the Charter

Author: Christopher MacLennan

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9780773525368

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At the end of the Second World War, a growing concern that Canadians' civil liberties were not adequately protected, coupled with the international revival of the concept of universal human rights, led to a long public campaign to adopt a national bill of rights. While these initial efforts had been only partially successful by the 1960s, they laid the foundation for the radical change in Canadian human rights achieved by Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the 1980s. In Toward the Charter Christopher MacLennan explores the origins of this dramatic revolution in Canadian human rights, from its beginnings in the Great Depression to the critical developments of the 1960s. Drawing heavily on the experiences of a diverse range of human rights advocates, the author provides a detailed account of the various efforts to resist the abuse of civil liberties at the hands of the federal government and provincial legislatures and the resulting campaign for a national bill of rights. The important roles played by parliamentarians such as John Diefenbaker and academics such as F.R. Scott are placed alongside those of trade unionists, women, and a long list of individuals representing Canada's multicultural groups to reveal the diversity of the bill of rights movement. At the same time MacLennan weaves Canadian-made arguments for a bill of rights with ideas from the international human rights movement led by the United Nations to show that the Canadian experience can only be understood within a wider, global context.

Breaking the Bargain
Breaking the Bargain

Author: Donald Savoie

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2003-12-15

Total Pages: 358

ISBN-13: 1442659297

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Canada's machinery of government is out of joint. In Breaking the Bargain, Donald J. Savoie reveals how the traditional deal struck between politicians and career officials that underpins the workings of our national political and administrative process is today being challenged. He argues that the role of bureaucracy within the Canadian political machine has never been properly defined, that the relationship between elected and permanent government officials is increasingly problematic, and that the public service cannot function if it is expected to be both independent of, and subordinate to, elected officials. While the public service attempts to define its own political sphere, the House of Commons is also in flux: the prime minister and his close advisors wield ever more power, and cabinet no longer occupies the policy ground to which it is entitled. Ministers, who have traditionally been able to develop their own roles, have increasingly lost their autonomy. Federal departmental structures are crumbling, giving way to a new model that eschews boundaries in favour of sharing policy and program space with outsiders. The implications of this functional shift are profound, having a deep impact on how public policies are struck, how government operates, and, ultimately, the capacity for accountability.

Anna Mercury #2
Anna Mercury #2

Author: Warren Ellis

Publisher: Avatar Press

Published:

Total Pages: 23

ISBN-13:

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Where is Anna Mercury from? Who does she work for? Where is New Ataraxia? WHAT IS GOING ON? It's all here -- the reveal of the new science-fiction stage created by Warren Ellis, who wrote the first graphic novel to win the prestigious Sidewise Award for alternate-world science-fiction. A high-octane blend of The Shadow, Tomb Raider, retropunk science fiction and 21st century Weird Pulp Action, ANNA MERCURY is a headlong adventure serial about a beautiful and mysterious spy-adventurer who is not what she seems...

Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd

Author: Patrick Weller

Publisher: Melbourne Univ. Publishing

Published: 2014-10-01

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0522867324

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It was a very different Kevin Rudd who returned to office in 2013. Kevin 07 was a fresh face and a new image: the convivial, Mandarin-speaking nerd who seemed so different from past leaders and who held so much potential. By 2013 Rudd retained some of his popularity but none of his novelty. The Opposition could say nothing derogatory about him that his colleagues had not already said. A series of policy grenades had to be defused. His second term was to be short, brutal and nasty. Yet, despite his defeat, Kevin Rudd was an unusual Labor leader and prime minister. Political scientist and biographer Patrick Weller spent several years observing and talking to Rudd and the people around him to explain how one person came to the job and sought to meet its demands. Weller takes us back to Rudd’s boyhood in Nambour, son of a poor Queensland dairy farmer; to a member without a faction who led a bitterly factionalised party; to the only federal Labor leader to win a majority since Paul Keating in 1993; and to only the second prime minister since 1914 to be sworn in for a second time. This book has the advantage of interviews in 2008 and 2009 with ministers who were then supporters but who became diehard enemies. Weller also had the benefit of unique access to the Prime Minister’s Office. His biography is a revealing account of the man who became prime minister - twice.

Off and Running
Off and Running

Author: David Zussman

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2013-12-31

Total Pages: 329

ISBN-13: 1442667273

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One of the most pivotal events in the electoral cycle is the transition of a newly elected political party from opposition to government. The incoming prime minister or premier must assemble a team of ministers, advisors, and staff that is competent and ready to govern, without disrupting the day-to-day functioning of their country or province. Off and Running sets the stage for successful transitions by describing the best practices from Canadian federal government transitions from 1984 to the present day. It draws on a number of sources: the author’s own career in public affairs, including his significant role in the transitions of both Chrétien governments in 1993 and 1997; extensive interviews with more than forty key individuals in the last eleven federal government transitions; and the international literature on government transitions, public administration, and management. Zussman goes step-by-step through the transition process from the pre-election stage to transition planning all the way to implementation and consolidation of the new government. This book is ideally suited to those seeking an understanding of how government works during one of the most crucial points in its life cycle.