Responding to economic globalisation: Strengthening and centralising state capacity

Abstract

Governance in Australia was transformed after 1983. In the face of a perceived economic crisis and weakened state capacity, major changes were progressively introduced which were designed to buttress governmental authority and rework the role of the state (e.g. Kelly, 1992; Pusey, 1991). The most fundamental change concerned the ends and means that framed conceptions of the state. A new narrative concerning the policy challenges presented by an open and globalised economic context was adopted by both major parties. In a decade, developmental and social policy frameworks that had been in place since Federation were overturned. Bipartisan endorsement was critical in the rapid implementation of this agenda.