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politics
Essays & reportage
Caught out: Edna and Jack Ryan and the 1951 referendum
Lyndall Ryan
13 October 2014
Expelled from the Communist Party for not toeing the line,
Lyndall Ryan
's parents were faced with a dilemma when Robert Menzies’s government tried to ban the party
International
Mid-term blues
Lesley Russell
7 October 2014
The odds aren’t good for the Democrats in next month’s elections, but this referendum on Barack Obama’s presidency isn’t over yet,…
National affairs
Shock of the new
Peter Brent
6 October 2014
A Labor think tank has given a timely warning about the seductive appeal of triumphs past, says
Peter Brent
National affairs
Militarisation marches on
Henry Reynolds
25 September 2014
The militarisation of Australia’s history has begun to reflect back on the present and change our political practice, argues
Henry Reynolds
The rise and rise of the right in New Zealand?
Jennifer Curtin
23 September 2014
Or is it more a case of the declining left?
Jennifer Curtin
looks at the evidence from Saturday’s poll
National affairs
Peephole to power
Stephen Mills
19 September 2014
Private secretary, chief of staff, enforcer?
Stephen Mills
looks at the role of the prime minister’s most influential gatekeeper
National affairs
Surging with the sophomores
Peter Brent
19 September 2014
There’s a case for encouraging popular but defeated MPs to throw their hats back into the ring, argues
Peter Brent
International
Far right in Europe’s far north
Andrew Vandenberg
16 September 2014
Electoral advances by the Sweden Democrats at last Sunday’s election pose a challenge to cosmopolitan Sweden
Books & arts
Labor’s persuasion problem
Frank Bongiorno
9 September 2014
Was the Gillard government more competent than its critics claimed?
Frank Bongiorno
reviews a new appraisal
National affairs
War games
Peter Brent
7 September 2014
Despite the commentary, there’s no evidence that a significant number of voters want a prime minister on war footing, writes
Peter Brent
Books & arts
What makes them run?
Brett Evans
5 September 2014
Three new political biographies reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the genre
National affairs
Who’s losing their base?
Peter Brent
21 August 2014
When “Howard’s battlers” defected from Labor in 1996, political commentators shifted their focus to Sydney’s western suburbs, writes
Peter Brent
.…
National affairs
Climate change and the intellectual decline of the right
John Quiggin
18 August 2014
No arguments seem to sway right-wing politicians and commentators in the United States and Australia, says
John Quiggin
. Will we have to wait for demography to do its work?
Essays & reportage
Chief Justice Carmody and the “merit principle”
Andrew Lynch
18 August 2014
What are we looking for in judges, and particularly in a chief justice? The controversy over the Queensland government’s appointment of Tim Carmody QC helps clarify the…
National affairs
Labor, the Coalition and the problem of political identity
Norman Abjorensen
12 August 2014
Labor and the Coalition are caught between vying for the middle ground and differentiating themselves in the political marketplace. Behind it all, there’s one vital…
International
Not over till they’re over: the countdown to the US midterm elections
Lesley Russell
11 August 2014
Although some commentators say the results are certain, writes
Lesley Russell
, the race that will shape Barack Obama’s final two years in the White House is far from over
National affairs
If an election had been held on the weekend…
Peter Brent
7 August 2014
What happens when you add a hypothetical to a hypothetical?
Peter Brent
casts a sceptical eye over the polling industry
National affairs
The winter of Senator Faulkner’s discontent
Brett Evans
29 July 2014
Tradition triumphed once again at the weekend’s state Labor Party conference in Sydney, writes
Brett Evans
.
Essays & reportage
Germany on song
Klaus Neumann
24 July 2014
Germany and its football team have evolved in tandem over the past six-and-a-half decades.
Klaus Neumann
traces the story from the 1954 “Miracle of Bern” to…
From the archive
The rise and fall of Labor’s first party professional
Stephen Mills
21 July 2014
Cyril Wyndham, the energetic, reformist outsider, changed forever the way Labor organised itself federally. And then he paid the price
National affairs
And the rest say “no”
Peter Brent
17 July 2014
There’s a pattern to the success of attempts to change the Australian constitution, writes
Peter Brent
, with lessons for advocates of Indigenous recognition
International
A post-winter’s tale
Geoffrey Barker
10 July 2014
Three-and-a-half decades after the winter of discontent,
Geoffrey Barker
revisits a warmer and more diverse Britain
National affairs
What should Labor stand for?
Geoff Gallop
4 July 2014
The best way forward for Labor doesn’t fit well with structures inherited from the past, writes
Geoff Gallop
National affairs
Dancing in the dark
Peter Brent
3 July 2014
Both the major parties have made a habit of misinterpreting the polls on climate change. The latest results shouldn’t provide any comfort to the Coalition
National affairs
There’s something about Victoria
Paul Rodan
30 June 2014
Paul Rodan
looks at Victoria’s stubborn tendency to vote Labor in state and federal elections
National affairs
The Abbott government’s war on transparency
Rodney Tiffen
5 June 2014
There’s a worrying thread running through decisionmaking in Canberra, writes
Rodney Tiffen
Books & arts
Labor’s history wars roll on
Stephen Mills
4 June 2014
Paralysed leader or bad advice?
Stephen Mills
reviews a new account of the Rudd–Gillard government and what it says about the party’s future
Europe’s, and Britain’s, populist moment
David Hayes
30 May 2014
The electoral victory of UKIP, an anti-immigrant and anti-Europe party, redraws Britain’s political map, says
David Hayes
Books & arts
How it all went wrong
Andrew Dodd
28 May 2014
Philip Chubb’s insider account of the demise of Kevin Rudd’s climate scheme is essential reading, says
Andrew Dodd
National affairs
When Gough Whitlam helped out with the woodchopping
Paul Rodan
22 May 2014
Poorly judged preselections are a problem for both major parties, writes
Paul Rodan
, and the electoral implications are becoming clearer
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