RSSS Theme events for March 2007
MONDAY 26th MARCH
3.30-5.30PM
ROSS HOHNEN ROOM, CHANCELRY BLDG
THE QUALITY OF WELFARE STATES: HOW AUSTRALIA COMPARES
How well do the institutional arrangements that countries have put in place to govern the welfare of their populations actually perform?
How well off are Australians compared to citizens of some of the Western nations?
And how well are public policy researchers able to answer these questions
Presenters:
Professor Frank Castles (Political Science, RSSS); Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark (Economics, RSSS); and Professor Bob Goodin (Philosophy, RSSS)
Professor Frank Castles
Not All Social Expenditure Measures Are Equal
Using OECD comparative data, Frank Castles shows that, if our ultimate welfare state quality criteria are low levels of poverty and inequality, not all social spending is equal. High levels of public spending and high taxes on public spending deliver higher quality outcomes than private spending and low taxation.
Professor Deborah Cobb-Clark
Will We Know 'Quality' in Social Policy if We See It?
In Australia, as in many other countries, there is increasing interest in understanding the effects of social programs and public policies. While academic researchers are working to assess the strengths and weaknesses of alternative evaluation methods, policy makers are turning to the results to provide the foundations for evidence-based policy. This talk will discuss how we can begin to develop a deeper understanding of how well social programs actually work.
Professor Bob Goodin
Looking at Welfare State Quality Through the Lens of Time
In assessing people's welfare time, matters as much as money, as is emphasized in recent discussions of 'work-life balance'. Goodin and his colleagues on a recent ARC project have attempted to recalibrate the contribution of different countries' public policies in temporal terms. In this paper Goodin will report how Australia compares to other countries in increasing people's 'discretionary time'.
Moderator:
Professor R.A.W. Rhodes, Director RSSS
Public & Private Reasoning Theme
Research School of Social Sciences
College of Arts & Social Sciences
Special Seminar
Friday 16 March 2007
3-5pm
Spark-Hellman Theatre 2, ANU College of Law
Fellows Road, ANU
"What Ifs" in Theory and Practice
Richard Ned Lebow
Ned Lebow is James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government at Dartmouth College. His book The Tragic Vision of Politics (CUP 2003) won the Alexander L. George Prize for the best book in political psychology of its year. His talk draws on his recently published book, coauthored with Phil Tetlock and Geoffrey Parker, Unmaking the West: "What-If" Scenarios that Rewrite World History (U of Michigan Press, 2007).
Response by Daniel Nolan
Daniel Nolan is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, having previously been Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at St. Andrews and Allen and Anita Sutton Distinguished Faculty Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Syracuse. His book Topics in the Philosophy of Possible Worlds was published by Routledge in 2002.
* * * Advance notice * * *
Mark your diaries: this year's major Theme Conference will be
12-14 Dec 2007
'Governing by Looking Back: How History Matters in Society, Politics and Government'
for further details, see the call for papers
contact Paul.Hart@anu.edu.au or Tim.Rowse@anu.edu.au
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