Who Rules?

For the past 20 years, the Australian government has been washing its hands of direct responsibility for the provision of services. There has been incessant "privatisation," "deregulation," and "contracting out." Has the government lost control of social policy? The author shows that there has been no decline in the power of government to decide what it wants to do nor in its ability to achieve its traditional objectives. To the contrary, government is now more effective in pursuing its policies than it used to be. Keating argues that what really limits the capacity of modern Australian government is the conflict resulting from the differential impact of policy changes on electorally-potent interest groups. This incapacity is compounded by a more individualistic, less trusting society, which leaves governments struggling politically to present unifying, national policy acceptable to the wide variety of interests and opinions. This book is absorbing, clear, and carefully argued.