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Professor Bruce Stone
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Bruce
Stone studied at the University of Western Australia and the
Australian National University and worked at Murdoch University
prior to his appointment to the Department of Politics at UWA in
1988. In addition to his teaching and research, he has been
active in University administration in a range of roles. He
became Chair of the Department of Political Science in late 2000
and, aside from periods of leave, has filled that position
continuously to the present. Teaching POLS
2203 Australian Democracy
Research The overarching objective
of Bruce’s research is to understand, promote understanding
of, and contribute to the improvement of democratic governance in
Australia. His focus is Australian political institutions, as
illuminated by the experience of other liberal democratic
systems. Much of his research has grown out of a long term
interest in the problem of accountability in contemporary
government, and Australian government in particular. His work
related to this theme has included investigations of matters such
as the evolution of accountability regimes in Australia and other
‘Westminster democracies’, maladministration and its
consequences, public inquiries as instruments for the reform of
government, the size factor in the design of parliament and a
parliamentary executive, the roles of upper houses in Australian
state and federal parliaments, and the consequences for
parliament of Australian electoral system design. He has also
published on other subjects connected with the operation of
Australian political institutions. He aims to produce quality
research publications which also engage with issues in the design
and operation of political institutions of practical importance
to his fellow citizens. A large
part of Bruce’s research effort over the past half dozen
years has been devoted to upper houses, or second chambers, a
feature of a majority of Australian parliaments which he argues
contributes very significantly to their institutional strength.
He is also currently working on Australian political parties, in
particular the role they play in controlling the recruitment of
members of parliament and the means by which they select
candidates.
• ‘Australian
State Legislative Councils – Designing for
Accountability.’ In N Aroney and S Prasser (eds)
Improving Government Accountability: The Upper House
Solution, UWA Press, Crawley,
forthcoming. • ‘WA
Inc.’ and ‘Western Australia.’ In B Galligan
and W Roberts (eds) The Oxford Companion to Australian
Politics, OUP, Sth Melbourne, 2007, p. 626; pp.
630-634. • ‘The
Australian Senate.’ In J Luther, P Passaglia, R Tarchi
(eds) A World of Second Chambers, Giuffre Editore,
Milan, 2006, pp. 529-586. • ‘Changing
Roles, Changing Rules: Procedural Development and Difference in
Australian State Upper Houses.’ Australian Journal of
Political Science, 40, 1, March 2005, pp.
33-50. • (with A.
Blackburn) ‘The Environment and Minor-party
Insurgency in Australian Politics: The Case of Logging and the
“liberals for forests.”’ Australian Journal of Political
Science, 38, 3, November 2003, pp. 493-509.
• ‘Keeping
the Government Honest: Executive Accountability.’
InPower and Freedom in Modern
Politics. Eds Moon, J. and
Stone, B., Crawley: University of Western Australia
Press (2002), pp.105-116. •
‘Bicameralism and Democracy: The Transformation of
Australian State Upper Houses.’ Australian Journal of Political
Science, 37, 2, July 2002, pp. 267-281.
• ‘A Preamble to the
Australian Constitution: A Criticism of the Recent
Debate’, Australian Journal
of Political Science, 35, 2, July 2000, pp. 291-297.
• ‘Small
Parties and the Senate Revisited: the Consequences of the
Enlargement of the Senate in 1984’, Australian Journal
of Political Science, 33, 3, November 1998, pp.
211-218. • ‘Size and
Executive-Legislative Relations in Australian Parliaments’,
Australian Journal of Political Science, 33, 1, March
1998, pp. 37-56. • ‘Taking
“WA Inc” Seriously: An Analysis of the Idea and its
Application to Western Australian Politics’, Australian
Journal of Public Administration, 56, 1, March 1997, pp.
71-81. •
‘Administrative Accountability in the
‘Westminster’ Democracies: Towards a New Conceptual
Framework’, Governance, 8, 4, October 1995, pp.
505-526. • ‘Success in
Public Inquiries: An Analysis and a Case Study’ in P Weller
(ed) Royal Commissions and Public Policy, Macmillan, Sth
Melbourne, 1994a, pp. 244-258. Postgraduate
Supervision In recent
years, Bruce has supervised graduate students working in a wide
range of areas: public sector reform, comparative local
governance, public policy, upper houses, contemporary political
parties, constitutional courts and politics, political
settlements for divided societies, parliamentary committees,
federalism. He
welcomes research proposals from prospective graduate students
with interests in Australian politics, Western Australian
politics, parliament, public administration and public policy,
federalism, constitutional politics, electoral systems and
political parties. Bruce has supervised 9 graduate students to
successful completion since 2000. |
