Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Government and International Relations

Investigation of policymaking by the South Australia political executive 2002-2010, in three policy areas – bioscience industry, radioactive waste management, and urban water-supply – by applying Carol Weiss’ 4Is framework of policymaking. Primary sources include interviews with members of the political executive from the era and previously unavailable cabinet documents.

This research provides an in-depth overview of the effectiveness of evaluation practices in supporting regional development planning in Indonesia using two case studies at the provincial level. Realist methodology was selected to better understand the causal mechanisms and contexts which influence the effectiveness of evaluation practice in regional development planning.

This research investigates renewable energy governance in Indonesia with a focus on transparency and public participation. It aims to evaluate governance process and to investigate the extent to which transparency and public participation can improve renewable energy share in Indonesia.

This research explores the factors involved in the implementation gap of waste management policy in Sri Lanka. In addition, it examines the relationships among various actors in different levels of government and how these relationships affect effective policy implementation. A mixed method approach is utilised for the study.

This research examines the effectiveness of feminist non-governmental organisations in influencing and contributing to domestic and family violence public policies. More specifically, it examines whether having a relationship with the state (i.e., being an insider or an outsider) impacts this effectiveness.

This research explores the role of Indonesia in constructing regional international society in Southeast Asia. Drawing from International Society perspective of the English School of IR, this thesis focuses on Indonesia's foreign policy in three episodes of creation, consolidation and maintenance of regional primary and secondary institutions of the regional international society.

Business interests have appropriated sustainable development discourse, leading to negative environmental and economic impacts on communities. The prioritisation of corporate interests in policy has led to an increase in inequality both within and between countries. 

Alternative conceptions of `progress´, and `development´ must be considered as they better serve community rather than corporate interests. This project considers the implementation of biocentric alternatives to mainstream sustainable development, including the Latin American concept of buen vivir which translates to ‘living well in community’.

This research proposes an exploratory study on the geopolitics of outer space, particularly focusing on the following great powers: US, China and Russia. The topic of this research proposal is related to Space Politics and Space Policy, which are areas of strategic interest to many state actors. This is a growing field of research with extremely important implications for defence, public policy and international relations. Emerging powers such as Australia may also benefit from the results of this investigation by finding a clearer path to improve their space capacity and autonomy.

This research seeks to determine the effectiveness of international environmental law sustainable development principles in driving effective domestic climate change mitigation law and policy, in three case study countries; Australia, Brazil and India. It will explore how governments in case study countries have rationalised conflicts, contradictions, and tensions, between the each of the sustainable development principles, and how this rationalisation has influenced the effectiveness of these countries’ domestic climate change mitigation law and policy.

This project contributes to ongoing policy-orientated research into the lived experiences of young people here in Australia. In the context of increasing youth precarity both in metropolitan and rural settings, the project aims to understand how young people in South Australia frame their end-of-school aspirations in the context of crisis, change, and adversity.

As democracies find themselves facing increasingly powerful disinformation efforts, governments must ensure that they understand, recognise and respond to these threats. This thesis compares the United States and Australia and highlights how differences in understanding and recognition impact each country’s ability to respond to disinformation.