Patrick Weller: 6 books

Now a century old, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet is at the heart of government in Australia. From Postbox to Powerhouse tracks its history, from its very humble beginnings as a department that did little more than circulate papers between other government departments. Since the...

This book explores how the governmental elites in Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa understand their Westminster system. It examines in detail four interrelated features of Westminster systems. Firstly, the increasing centralisation in collective, responsible cabinet government....

Prime ministers are presented as ever-more powerful figures; at the same time they seem to fail more regularly. How can the public image be so different from the apparent experience? This book seeks to answer this conundrum. It examines the myth that prime ministers are growing more powerful or that...

International organizations (IOs) matter. This book uncovers the regular working world of IOs, examining whether, to what extent, and how these 'global governing bodies' can act independently of the will of states. This book explores this issue by asking who or what shapes their decisions; how and...

Australia faces major challenges to its forms of governance. Changing expectations from its citizens, global pressures on the economy and technological innovation are impacting on government operations. Yet most of its institutions were designed a hundred years ago. Cabinet government was inherited....

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