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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4446.2008.00190.x Byline: Ian Woodward (1), Zlatko Skrbis (2), Clive Bean (3) Keywords: Cosmopolitanism; globalization; globality; cultural openness; diversity; consumption Abstract: Abstract One of the widely accepted consequences of globalization is the development of individual outlooks, behaviours and feelings that transcend local and national boundaries. This has encouraged a re-assessment of important assumptions about the nature of community, personal attachment and belonging in the face of unprecedented opportunities for culture, identities and politics to shape, and be shaped by, global events and processes. Recently, the upsurge of interest in the concept of cosmopolitanism has provided a promising new framework for understanding the nexus between cosmopolitan dispositions and global interconnectedness across cultural, political and economic realms. Using data from a representative social survey of Australians this paper investigates the negotiation of belonging under the conditions of globalization. The data tap into attitudes and behaviours associated with a broad gamut of cosmopolitan traits in the domains of culture, consumption, human rights, citizenship, and international governance. They show how cosmopolitan outlooks are shaped by social structural factors, and how forms of identification with humanity and the globe are fractured by boundaries of self and others, threats and opportunities, and the value of things global and local. Author Affiliation: (1)School of Arts, Griffith University (2)School of Social Science, University of Queensland (3)Humanities Programme, Queensland University of Technology Article History: (Date accepted: February, 2008) Article note: email: i.woodward@griffith.edu.au

The patterns of television news coverage of the political parties, the issues they raised in the 2001 Australian federal election campaign and their leaders are presented.

Following the 2001 'border security' election, it was assumed that the 2004 federal election would revert to the traditional campaign battleground of socio-economic issues. This prediction proved to be only partly true, and while economic and social issues did figure in the election campaign, much more important were popular perceptions of the leaders. Indirectly, the Iraq War also had some impact, mediated through evaluations of John Howard. Analysis of leader effects suggests that Mark Latham was not the electoral liability for Labor that many have subsequently claimed. Ultimately, the Coalition won the election because they had a highly popular leader who had presided over a period of sustained economic growth. The election emphasizes the central role that the party leaders play in modern election campaigns.

The effects of economic voting, and the ideological salience of Left-Right issues, notably welfare and tax policy, and the extent to which opposition to aspects of globalisation might mobilize support for political parties is tested with data from Australian and New Zealand Electron Studies from 1996 onwards and using multivariate logit models. Results reveal that little support for the argument that New Zealand electoral politics should reflect globalisation influences more strongly than Australian electoral politics.

Divided party government, where one of two major political parties controls the office of the president and the other controls the House and, or, Senate, is more likely to occur in Australia than in the United States. Australians will intentionally vote a straight ticket in order to share representation within the two parties., Divided party government has become a frequent occurrence in both the United States and Australia in recent years. In the United States, Morris Fiorina has argued that this result is [...]

A study of the dimensionality of Ronald Inglehart's Postmaterialism scale reveals that measurement of the importance to people of Materialist and Postmaterialist values will be more accurate if a rating method is substituted for the ranking method. The rating method allows a two-dimensional representation of these values while the ranking method assumes a single dimension with conflicting values. Use of the rating method in an analysis of data from a national survey of Australians' attitudes to social welfare and related issues reveals that the same people hold both types of values and that there are no significant differences between Materialists and Postmaterialists.

Studies of the political attitudes of Australian married couples, and the degree of impact of married women's social background characteristics, on the political thinking of their husbands show that the characteristics of husbands and wives influence the political attitudes of their spouses. Husbands and wives feel that their political attitudes are determined by their own characteristics and also by the social characteristics of their spouse.

The influence of gender in overall levels of political participation in several nations was analyzed. It was shown that although gender barriers to politics have largely been eliminated in Western nations, there still remains a substantial gap in political interest. The results showed that most women are indifferent to political discussions and most of those who do participate in political activities are the exception.

Although the electoral influence of voter attitudes toward American presidential candidates has never seriously been questioned, only in relatively recent times has the existence of an equivalent effect for political party leaders in parliamentary systems become well-accepted. This analysis seeks to extend the understanding of the nature of parliamentary leadership effects to encompass the types of specific leadership qualities that influence electoral choice. Data from open-ended questions in surveys conducted in Australia in 1979 and New Zealand in 1981, taken together with earlier research, indicate a broad similarity of voter responses to different political leaders, in parliamentary as well as presidential systems. In particular, the criteria voters take into account most consistently when making leadership-based electoral decisions are positive perceptions of the 'performance relevant' qualities of competence and integrity. This is evidence against the argument that voting on the basis of leadership personality is in some sense 'irrational.'

A study aimed at determining the political culture of Australia is presented. Researchers examined previous data on Australians and conducted a second survey to test the consistency of the findings. Results show that Australians are state-reliant only to a lesser extent and this reliance is issue-dependent. The public is tends towards more participation in political matters and they see the state as unresponsive. Australians also exhibit a dominant authoritarian strain which underscores the nation's politically and socially conservative character.

Although there has been little reliable evidence to date, the 'personal vote' for local Members of Parliament in Australian elections is generally thought to be negligible by political scientists. This article analyses new data from the 1987 Australian National Social Science Survey which demonstrate that the personal vote is a significant factor in federal lower house elections even when numerous other variables known to influence voting behaviour are controlled for. The data allow a calculation of the potential electoral effect of the personal vote which shows that it could be worth at least 3 per cent in some circumstances. The analysis tests for varying levels of personal voting in safe and marginal seats, Labor and coalition seats, urban and rural seats and according to the length of time the incumbent has been in office. Lastly, the electoral effects of the social background of local members are examined.

The assumption of a two-dimensional Materialist and Postmaterialist value system is supported by many people becoming Postmaterialists after achieving the Materialist goals of physical and economic security. Moreover, political practice is an attempt to reach a consensus that satisfies both types of goals. Use of the rating method may therefore be appropriate, although this method requires further study as it may suffer from the 'response set' problem.

Jonathan Boston, Stephen Levine, Elizabeth McLeay and Nigel S. Roberts (eds), From Campaign to Coalition: New Zealand's First General Election Under Proportional Representation (Palmerston North: The Dunmore Press, 1997), 279pp., [...]