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Introduction: Why and How You Should Use This Book

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Rodney Smith ,
Ariadne Vromen  and
Ian Cook
Rodney Smith
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Ariadne Vromen
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Ian Cook
Affiliation:
Murdoch University, Western Australia
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Summary

We wrote this book primarily for tertiary students and other people who want to orient themselves quickly to the keywords necessary for understanding contemporary Australian politics. In a series of short entries, the book outlines the main meanings of 101 of these words, highlights the links between them, outlines the main debates surrounding them, provides brief illustrations of their use, and suggests some further reading for those who want to find out more about them.

Keywords such as bureaucracy, executive, identity politics, liberalism, managerialism, separation of powers, social capital and wedge politics are often mentioned without explanation in lectures, textbooks and other materials encountered by people studying Australian politics. These terms are important to the overall arguments being made by lecturers and writers; however, those lecturers and writers tend not to have the time or space to define or elaborate on them. Some students and readers will be at least passingly familiar with at least some of these terms. They can, however, quickly lose the thread of general arguments when they encounter specific terms with which they are unfamiliar. The same points apply to more general audiences exposed to news reporting and commentary on Australian politics.

This book is designed as a tool for students and other people who find themselves wanting to gain basic knowledge about some keywords so that they can understand wider arguments about Australian politics. It is not a textbook.

Type
Chapter
Information
Keywords in Australian Politics , pp. vii - xv
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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References

Cook, Ian 2004, Government and Democracy in Australia, Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cook, Ian 1997, ‘Australian Political Thought’, in Smith, Rodney (ed.), Politics in Australia, third edition, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, pp. 67–81.Google Scholar
Henderson, Paul 2002, Oxford Politics Study Dictionary, Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jaensch, Dean 1996, The Australian Politics Guide, Melbourne: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Leftwich, Adrian (ed.) 2004, What is Politics?, Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Marsh, David and Stoker, Gerry (eds) 2002, Theory and Methods in Political Science, second edition, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millett, Kate 1977, Sexual Politics, London: Virago.Google Scholar
Macquarie, Penguin 1988, The Penguin Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Politics, Ringwood: Penguin Books in association with Macquarie Library.Google Scholar
Pringle, Helen 1997, ‘The Nature of Politics’, in Smith, Rodney (ed.), Politics in Australia, third edition, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, pp. 3–16.Google Scholar
Smith, Rodney 1997, ‘Power’, in Smith, Rodney (ed.), Politics in Australia, third edition Sydney: Allen and Unwin, pp. 17–34.Google Scholar
Thompson, Elaine 1980, ‘The “Washminster” Mutation’, in Weller, Patrick and Jaensch, Dean (eds), Responsible Government in Australia, Melbourne: Drummond, pp. 32–40.Google Scholar
Tiffen, Rodney and Gittins, Ross 2004, How Australia Compares, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vromen, Ariadne and Gelber, Katharine 2005, Powerscape: Contemporary Australian Political Practice, Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Williams, Raymond 1976, Keywords, Glasgow: William Collins.Google Scholar

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