Parliament in the Twenty-first Century

In the first half of the twentieth century the power of parliaments around the world declined. More recently a revival has occurred, and parliaments have responded to the challenge with new institutions that strengthen their powers.
Parliament in the Twenty-first Century is an authoritative account of the development of the parliamentary committee system in Australia from 1970 to 2006. Drawing on detailed analysis of hundreds of committee reports, and interviews with members of parliament, the authors explore the implications the system has for both governance and careers of parliamentarians. The authors particularly examine the different roles of House of Representative and Senate committees, and consider the impact of the Howard Government's control of the Senate since mid 2005.
Parliament in the Twenty-first Century is an invaluable resource for students of Australian parliament and for all those interested in how parliamentary institutions adapt to change.

John Halligan is Professor of Public Administration, University of Canberra and in the School of Business and Government. His publications and research interests are in the fields of government institutions and comparative public management and governance. He is currently completing books on corporate governance in the public sector and comparative performance management.

Robin Miller was a senior executive in the Australian public service, as head of the research division of the former Industries Assistance Commission (forerunner of the present Productivity Commission) and later a First Assistant Secretary in the Department of Defence. More recently he has undertaken research into parliamentary committees at the Centre for Research into Public Sector Management at the University of Canberra.

John Power is Professor Emeritus of Political Science in the University of Melbourne. He has a long-standing interest in the theory and practice of democracy. He is currently working on a monograph dealing with the protection of institutional integrity in the coming Australian republic.