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The article discusses the political situation in Queensland during the first half of 2020. Topics covered include the measures taken by the government of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Crime and Corruption Commission inquiry into scandals involving Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad, and the results of the Bundamba and Currumbin by-elections held on March 28, 2020.

From 1890 to 1892, Sir Samuel Griffith, as Premier of Queensland, promoted a scheme under which Queensland would itself have been divided into a federation of initially three provinces -- North, Central and South Queensland -- and then two provinces, North and South Queensland. This startling idea would certainly have changed the map of Australia, probably permanently. At least at some points, the idea was expressed that each province would enter the Australian federation as a separate State and the Queensland federal government would simply be dissolved upon federation. The Bill to divide Queensland into a federation of two provinces passed the lower House of State Parliament but was defeated in the nominee Legislative Council. It then fell victim to the change of government consequent upon Griffith's appointment as Chief Justice of Queensland, to the urgent problems presented by the economic depression, and even, from the conservative point of view, to the rise of labour in politics. Little has been known about this nearly successful plan until now. This article attempts to close that gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses economic and political issues in Queensland in the second half of 2019. The economy was affected by lukewarm business confidence, employment factors, drought and bushfire. The government and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk suffered significant declines in public approval. It was revealed that the Liberal National Party kept secret almost 3 million dollars in donations made before the 2019 federal elections.

The concept of 'normal' climatic conditions reflects the complexities of human understandings of the environment. Scholarship on settler societies has explored how culture, science and state imperatives combine to construct a notion of 'normal' climate. This study of the Callide Valley settlement (1924–34) in northern Australia, draws on government propaganda, farmers' submissions to a 1934 government inquiry and meteorological data to reveal the discrepancy between rainfall reality and expectations. Promised fertile soil, plentiful water and an ideal climate by the government, new settlers flocked to the Callide Valley, many without farming experience or knowledge of the region's subtropical climate. Drought and flood soon challenged the promises of a bountiful climate. These confused understandings of a normal climate continue today to shape agriculture in central Queensland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Australia, two‐and‐a‐half party systems are common with the Liberal and National parties, usually needing to collaborate to form governments. In Queensland, the 2008 merger of two of these state parties to create the Liberal National Party (LNP) created instead a two‐party system. This review examines the forces for the merger and prospects for the continuation of the LNP, the likelihood of change as a result of the Queensland merger in the remaining two‐and‐a‐half party systems, and how the drivers of this merger compare with those observed in studies of other non‐Australian party and electoral systems. Pressures and conditions for a merger similar to those in other, mostly European systems, were evident in the case of the LNP. The particular structure of the pre‐merger party competition and relationships was, however, a likely factor in the merger in that two collaborating parties could avoid a contested switch in party seniority. This aspect, unlikely to occur in other Australian party systems, combined with the very limited success of the LNP in gaining and holding government since the merger, does not suggest an imperative for further mergers in other Australian systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses political and economic issues concerning Queensland from July to December 2018. Topics explored include the economic outlook for the region with regard to government spending, credit rating, and unemployment, the business performance of government-owned energy and water companies, and the disaster recovery funding allotted by state and federal governments to address damages brought by natural disasters.

Sport played an important role in Aboriginal reserves that were established throughout Queensland, Australia, in the colonial era and continued into the 1980s. Despite the historical prominence of sport in these government-run settlements and church-based missions, little is known about either the role of sport as a mechanism of official control or its meanings to Aboriginal inmates of the reserves. The general administration of the reserves has been well explored, but sport has appeared mainly as a footnote in this broader narrative. Likewise, the meanings of sporting practices at a community level have been neglected. In this paper, the aim is to help rectify this situation by investigating both perspectives over the period 1897–1967. Official rationales for sport – the view from the office – are charted against the contours of Aboriginal policy to reach a better understanding of sport as a mechanism of control within the broader apparatus of government power. Aboriginal voices are sought in order to bring new perspectives – the view from the field – to understanding sport within and among communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The descendants of Aboriginal people in Queensland during the colonisation process have access to an enormous store of documents regarding their ancestors. This store is accessible through application to the state and is often used in the procurement of land rights, state recognition and personal history narratives. The process of receiving mass information about the past is fraught with power dynamics and emotional distress. This paper explores how this process can be understood critically and how Aboriginal people are manipulating the system to reassert narratives of healing from a traumatic past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers update on politics and economy in Queensland from January to June 2018. It reports decline in unemployment rate as a result of the government's Advance Queensland Program, and discusses the challenge to the mining industry following government refusal of proposed expansion of the New Acland Coal mine. It informs about the improved after-preference votes for political parties including the Greens and Katter's Australian Party (KAP) in an election poll.

The First World War precipitated an upsurge in temperance campaigning. Inspired by a dominant discourse of sacrifice and self‐denial, most state legislatures introduced reduced trading hours for hotels. Queensland was the exception. Six o’clock closing was resisted in the northern state despite a vigorous and rancorous campaign for its introduction. This paper maps the contours of the debates around early closing and temperance in Queensland. Like so many other tensions induced by the war, the campaign both generated and was evidence for deep divisions in Queensland society around class, politics and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the economic and political situation in Queensland from July to December 2017. Topics explored include the recorded unemployment and job vacancy rates in the region, factors which contributed to the high energy prices in Queensland, and the election campaign against Liberal National Party (LNP) leader Tim Nicholls launched by the Labor Party.

The article provides a brief overview of the politics of Queensland's provincial government from January to June 2017. Topics include the province's high level of unemployment, wide-scale layoffs from mineral companies such as Gladstone and Glencore, the cost of energy, renewable energy, and a proposal for a new coal-powered electric plant.

Scholars have acknowledged that terms such as ‘margin’ or ‘fringe’ do not encapsulate the spatial experience of excluded communities living in post-settlement Australia, yet there is only a small body of work on the detail and implications of these experiences. This article uses the riverside garden of Chinese-born Willie Sang, near Mackay, Queensland, as a fine-grained example of a ‘subversive space’, drawing on a previously unanalysed archive of Queensland government-issued ‘Informal Leases’. It demonstrates the complexity of Sang's space and others like it through the detail of his experience and by embedding it in a wider history than that of Chinese market gardeners in Queensland. It argues that understanding Sang's garden in this way shifts any narrative which characterises white settlement as comprehensive, and provides detail on how, in contrast to the way such spaces have been understood, they encapsulated persistence, adaptation and longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing failings of child welfare systems highlighted by media scandals causes deep concern. A proliferation of responses such as Inquiries, investigations, recommendations and apologies fails to restructure a flawed child welfare model. Upon analysis, a continuing pattern or theory underpins these failures revealing four dimensions of crisis continuum theory. Increasing demand, expectations and complexities causes child welfare systems to become crisis driven and distressed. There is incapacity to stop significant harm, which continues in 'silence'. A cultural shift in breaking the silence attracts media 'scandal'. The 'response', although comprehensive, sustains a flawed model. The integrity of responses is eroded because of an imperative for budget 'maintenance' or savings. With growing demand, these systems remain distressed and the circuity of this theory continues. Failings attract media condemnation and resurgent neoliberal criticism that state assistance be abolished and traditional welfare, like that provided by the family, ensures care for the common good. These protective systems are vital and need defending and restructuring away from a punitive, controlling child welfare model, which is at odds with real assistance. Unless the model shifts to proper support, the pattern of silence, scandal, response and maintenance will endure as continuing evidence of a distressed, flawed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several developments involving politics in the Australian state of Queensland between July 2016 and December 2016, and it mentions a budget surplus as a result of increasing coal prices and economic activity in Queensland's tourism sector. Business confidence and employment growth are addressed, along with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, public opinion polls in Australia, and Queensland's economic recovery effort.

The article highlights political and economic issues in Queensland from January-June 2016. Topics discussed include the unemployment rate in the state in May, additional funding for road and rail projects announced by Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad, and criticism of the budget proposal of Treasurer Curtis Pitt.

This article applies Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) to analyse critical factors of four influential South East Queensland City visioning and foresight initiatives conducted by the Cities of Maroochy, Logan, Gold Coast and Brisbane. Previous articles in the March 2015 issue and the September 2016 of Journal of Futures Studies gave a prima facie litany of the phases of the initiatives (including the Visions and Governance phases) - and mapped their processes respectively. Conclusions drawn from the analysis in this article are unique as they apply futures methods and specifically CLA as a multi-methodology to create, unpack and explore phases of futures initiatives and the context they operate within. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several political developments in the Australian state of Queensland between July 2015 and December 2015. Voters' attitudes are addressed in relation to scandals, conflicts, and the Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk. The unemployment rate in Queensland is examined, as well as the Australian Labor Party and a controversy involving the Indian-based Adani coal mine in Central Queensland's Galilee Basin region. Queensland's budget is assessed.

This article uses a case study from Queensland to demonstrate the court politics approach's potential to reinvigorate executive studies. Court politics focuses on webs of interdependence within the core executive. It examines the beliefs and practices of elite actors and their fluid and contingent relationships. This article examines the patterns of executive politics that prevailed under Premier Anna Bligh. It seeks to answer three key questions. First, why is court politics a useful approach to studying the Australian core executive? Second, what is the nature and extent of court politics in Australian state governments? Finally, recognising that local traditions shape the beliefs and practices of political elites, how does the court politics approach need to be modified for application in Australia? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments across the globe use public–private partnerships to foster entrepreneurship while limiting their risk. The Prickly Pear Destruction Act 1912 enabled the Queensland government to enter contracts with private entities for land heavily covered with prickly pear (Opuntia and Nopalea species). The story of Cactus Estates Ltd, the first negotiation under the Act, provides an opportunity to analyse this response to local ecologies changed by nineteenth-century plant transfers. Most scholarship on the invasion of prickly pear focuses on the science of entomology due to the spectacular success of the introduction of Cactoblastis cactorum in 1926. This article examines an earlier period in the history of applied science in Queensland. The Queensland government, along with scientific and business communities, pursued poisons for controlling the density of plant growth as the preferred mechanism for eliminating plants. Cactus Estates Ltd experimented with arsenic-based poisons for this purpose. An examination of Cactus Estates Ltd provides evidence of the state's willingness to produce a multifaceted approach to dealing with invasive species in Australia in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2007, the Queensland Government imposed forced amalgamation with the number of local authorities falling from 157 to just 73 councils. Amalgamation was based inter alia on the assumption that increased economies of scale would generate savings. This paper empirically examines pre- and post-amalgamation (2006/07 and 2009/10) for scale economies. For the 2006/07 data, evidence of economies of scale was found for councils with populations up to 98,000, and thereafter diseconomies of scale. Eight percent of councils in 2006/07 (ten councils) – representing 64% of the state’s population – exhibited diseconomies of scale. For the 2009/10 data, the average cost curve remained almost stationary at 99,000 residents per council, but almost 25% of all councils (thirteen councils) were now found to exhibit diseconomies of scale. The compulsory merger program thus increased the proportion of Queensland residents in councils operating with diseconomies of scale to 84%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rehabilitation of mined and drilled land in Australia is a state responsibility. Consequently, each state and territory has its own legislative, tenure allocation, oversight and management regime. This structure of disparate regimes poses problems for companies operating across jurisdictions, but it does have the advantage that if a state is serious about improving its site rehabilitation regime, it has the opportunity to 'cherry-pick' from the best of that of the other states, as well as from overseas. Operators would coincidentally benefi t from a greater commonality of legislation. The Queensland government could signifi cantly improve its approach to site rehabilitation by the following: analyse past relevant government reports to see if unadopted recommendations should regain current attention, mandate progressive rehabilitation as standard practice, mandate a requirement for a mine closure plan prior to approval of a resource lease, establish a single team to regulate rehabilitation on all sites, treat all abandoned sites in the same way, close legal loopholes for evading site rehabilitation and implement legislative changes to increase funding for site rehabilitation. The word "mine" in this paper includes oil, natural gas and CSG (coal seam gas) wells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers news briefs related to political and economic conditions in Queensland from January-June 2015. Acting Governor Tim Carmody has received an advice from Premier Campbell Newman to issue writs for an election on January 31, 2015. Member of Parliament Annastacia Palaszczuk was commissioned as the 39th state premier on February 14, 2015. Accusations of domestic violence, unpaid labor support and a criminal background were made against Member of Parliament Bill Gordon.

A 'semi-executive' model for Australian mayors, inclusive of direct election, is presently being explored in the Australian local sector (see, in particular, Sansom, 2012). This paper takes advantage of the differences across Australia' s federation to examine the recent experience of directly elected mayors in Queensland, especially the results of local government elections held in 2012. It is argued that several factors contributed to the high turnover rates of both mayors and councillors, including the 2012 Queensland state election and the 2008 amalgamation process. However, the requirement for directly elected mayors was an important factor contributing to what the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ, 2012, 12) described as a 'significantly high' proportion of 'corporate knowledge' being lost. Moreover, the direct election of mayors, in particular those charged with 'semi-executive' authority, is fraught with problems and thus should not to be implemented in all Australian local government systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a substantial theoretical and empirical literature has examined compulsory local government consolidation, little is known about de-amalgamation after forced mergers. Following the controversial 2008 Queensland local government amalgamation programme, which saw a radical reduction in the number of local councils, four forcibly merged councils have finally begun to de-amalgamate following successful plebiscites. This paper traces the extraordinary Queensland de-amalgamation process from its inception and attempts to place it in a broader conceptual framework. The paper provides a critical assessment of Queensland de-amalgamation policy development and implementation and seeks to draw broader public policy lessons for structural reform in local government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In delivering public policy, governments worldwide increasingly partner with diverse sets of stakeholders. This spreads commercial risk, but particularly where agendas diverge, introduces new risks related to trust in relationships. The 'risk hypothesis' distinguishes between networks for 'cooperation' problems, where partners have high individual payoffs for uncooperative behaviors, and 'coordination' problems, where partners subscribe to a common goal and uncooperative behaviors are less rewarding. We used mixed-methods to study networks of local and state government, developers, and consultants that center on joint-venture partnerships for developing new urban, residential projects. Statistical network methods showed that within the mix of partners involved in development projects, only state governments displayed structural patterns associated with solving 'cooperation' problems (rather than coordination). In other words, the patterns of state government interactions showed they are most exposed to risky relationships. In contrast to the state governments' apparent exposure to risk, qualitative data showed they are not only well trusted but also overall the partnership networks reported very low levels of conflict. By exploring the distribution of 'cooperation' and 'coordination,' we identified which stakeholders perceived most risk. In our case, how the state governments' structure interactions in response to risky relationships leads to an overall network characterized by trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the significant reversal of fortune for the Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) during its last term in government (2012-2015) was largely due to the political leadership of the Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman, whose leadership style exemplifies the theories of 'Strong Leadership'. It argues that this leadership style led to the defeat of his government. Throughout his term as leader, the LNP government focused on a single message, elevating the Premier's leadership style to the cornerstone of the LNP Government. His hard-working, decisive persona was emphasised to portray him and his party as 'strong'. However this message failed to resonate with Queensland voters. The outcome of the Newman Government's short term in office indicates that Strong Leadership does not necessarily translate into effective political leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014 the Queensland LNP government introduced a new requirement, that voters must produce identification on polling day. Voter identification was required for two elections: a by-election in 2014, and a state election in 2015. Empirical evidence indicates that voter ID had a negative impact on voter turnout -- particularly among indigenous and rural electorates. While the impact of voter ID needs further analysis, the initial research echoes international findings that voter ID is a method used by governments to suppress certain voter demographics from casting a ballot. This article argues that voter ID has serious implications for democratic principles, is at odds with Australia's compulsory voting system, and does not adequately address instances of voter fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the policies of the Australian government during the period from July to December 2014. The author comments on the leadership style of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and describes the negative public opinion surrounding his administration. The current political and economic conditions of several Australian regions, including New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland, are also examined.

In the months leading up to November's G20 summit in 2014, Brisbane's residents would have been forgiven for anticipating the outbreak of a local civil war. Media outlets were leading with headlines stating, among other sensational claims, that ‘G20 anarchists vow chaos and mayhem for Brisbane's streets’, ‘Black Bloc tactics aim for Brisbane G20 shock and awe’ and ‘Destructive protest plan for G20’. Meanwhile, some of the most severe restrictions on civil liberties seen in Australia in recent years were legislated by the Queensland parliament. The G20 Safety and Security Act 2013 (Qld) (the G20 Act) was passed with little demur by a chamber that was only divided over the question of whether the laws were severe enough, with Queensland opposition police spokesman Bill Byrne MP declaring himself ‘surprised’ at the leniency of some of the sentencing provisions and the ‘minimalist’ approach to restricted areas. Of course, in the event the much-anticipated violence did not occur, and the media's pre-summit hyperbole was exposed as just that. Rather more prosaically — and accurately — the post-event headlines dutifully reported ‘Passionate, but mostly peaceful protests’ and ‘G20 protest day wraps up peacefully’. Given that previous G20 summits in London and Toronto saw outbreaks of considerable disorder, we might succumb to the temptation of declaring the peaceful protests in Brisbane to be a vindication of the heavy powers granted by the Queensland parliament. But we believe that to do so would be egregious. Here we reflect on the historical and political motivations underpinning the G20 Act, and draw attention to the rather more measured policing strategy employed by the Queensland Police Service (QPS). We argue that the safety and security of G20 participants and protesters owed little to the restrictive powers granted by the G20 Act, but resulted from a policing strategy that successfully married traditional and modern precepts of policing large events. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Liberal National Party ('LNP') won 78 out of a possible 89 seats in Queensland's 2012 state election. Facing a budget blowout, the new Government soon used its control of the state's unicameral parliament to implement a contentious public sector reform agenda. The LNP's amendments to Queensland's employment laws struck at the very heart of many of the accepted 'ground rules' of industrial relations. Perhaps most significantly, the Government used its parliamentary majority to remove job security commitments given to public servants, paving the way for the loss of thousands of jobs. This paper sets out the key industrial relations reforms adopted by the LNP. The authors discuss the Government's rationale for the changes, and the reaction from Queensland's trade union movement. The article concludes with some general observations about the changes adopted during the LNP's term of Government; a period which will undoubtedly be remembered as a controversial part of Queensland's industrial relations history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Queensland Pacific Islanders' Fund operated between 1885 and the 1900s but is largely unknown today. It was established in the Treasury to facilitate the operation of the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1880 Amendment Act 1885 to safeguard return fares and to ensure that the money due to deceased Islanders was returned to their families. However, over time, because of the high death rates, the wages of deceased Islanders became so substantial that they were able to be used to supplement the administration of the whole labour trade. Money was drawn off to subsidize Islander hospitals and Christian missions, to an extent that in the final 1900s deportation years there was no longer enough money available to pay full fares. The Queensland government seldom returned the full wages to the families of the deceased Islanders and profited largely from their deaths. In today's money, millions of dollars were misappropriated, in similar fashion to wages misappropriated by the same government from Aborigines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than a century after the birth of the Commonwealth of Australia, the office of prime minister is the apex of the nation's political life. Yet little has been written about the antecedence and evolution of the office of prime minister. This article takes a step towards redressing this neglect by considering how the Westminster-derived model of the prime ministership was conditioned by the nature and form of executive office in the Australian colonies in the second half of the nineteenth century. The experience of the colonial legislatures predisposed against fears of an overweening executive. The constitutional Conventions of the 1890s were dominated by seasoned colonial politicians with benign attitudes towards executive authority. Yet as delegates grappled with the challenge of marrying responsible government to a federal system, the form of executive was debated rather than treated as fait accompli. These deliberations hinted at their expectations for the prime ministership in a federated Australia: the office would be the most powerful and greatest political prize in the new nation. The article concludes by suggesting that the first Commonwealth decade was a transitional period for the prime ministership (with pre-Federation patterns still evident) and identifying the Fisher Government of 1910-13 as heralding a shift to a more modern form of (party-based) executive governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the tramway and general strike of 1912 held in Australia and discusses the 19th and 20th century history of various strikes in Australia. Other topics mentioned in this article include the role of unions in the state of Queensland, Australia, the working conditions of the tramway workers, and civil violence.

An essay is presented on colonial violence in Queensland. It outlines the evolutionary anatomists and anthropologists active in Queensland between 1860-1900. It refers to the controversial aspects of Queensland history and politics. It notes the connections of scientific collecting of Aboriginal skeletal remains and fronties violence.

An essay is presented on colonial-era skeletal collecting in Queensland. It outlines the two basic charges of skeletal collecting in Australia wherein the Australian collectors of Indigenous remains had moral doubts on securing the remains of Aboriginal people who were victims of colonial violence. It notes that the Indigenous remains collected by colonial anthropologists in Queensland were used to buttress such as the long discredited theories of human racial diversity.

The article reflects on the attack against eight Native Police troopers on April 15, 1858 while patrolling the Whiteside station on the Pine River in southern Queensland. According to the "Moreton Bay Courier" newspaper that three hundred men attacked the Native Police patrol. It notes that Sir George Gipps, governor of New South Wales and the repeal of his Squatting Regulations, the Border Police was disbanded at the end of 1846.

Events of 2014, particularly in New South Wales and Queensland, have sharpened focus on the relation between money and politics, with calls for increased regulation of donations to, and expenditure by, political parties. This is despite the existence of other features of our political system seeking to limit corruption, like disclosure laws, anti-corruption bodies, independent media, and Australia's standing as one of the least corrupt countries. This paper considers whether caps on political donations and limits on election spending are consistent with the Australian Constitution. The High Court has found that document requires freedom of political communication. This is subject to laws passed to further a legitimate objective, where their impact on the freedom is proportionate to a legitimate objective. Here, likely justifications for such restrictions are the need to reduce corruption and to create a level playing field. This article challenges both arguments, suggesting such restrictions are constitutionally invalid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments since the 1980s have reshaped the public sector by selling public businesses and other assets, and by introducing competition in the supply of taxpayer-funded services. Explanations for these new directions have focused on political ideologies about the proper role of government, and economic arguments about business efficiency, while noting an international trend towards diffusion of these policy ideas. However, the methods for achieving significant policy shifts have often been overlooked. This study examines the case of Queensland, highlighting a wider range of reform factors, including bureaucratic advice and commission of audit recommendations. 1980年代以来各国政府通过出售公共产业和其他资产，通过在纳税人出资的服务业引入竞争而改造了公共部门。对这类新方向的解释都集中在政府职能以及企业效率的政治意识形态一面，以及造成这类政策思想扩散的国际潮流。不过，他们都忽视了造成如此重大政策转变的方法。本文考察了昆士兰的案例，讨论了更广泛的改革因素，包括官僚咨询以及审计委员建议等等。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Queensland's Health Legislation Amendment Act 2013 and a dispute involving the privatisation of health assets and services in the region, focusing on the attitudes of various physicians in Queensland regarding employment contracts. The 2001 British court case R (Heather) v. Leonard Cheshire Foundation, which deals with the obligations of private entities towards publically funded clients in Great Britain, is examined. Queensland's Health Ombudsman Act 2013 is assessed.

This article presents two arguments. The first relates to the relevance of citizen participation vis-à-vis the design and implementation of public policy. More specifically, the article empirically demonstrates how a model of community decentralisation can have a number of practical benefits for crisis-management policy. The second argument relates to a question that has come to characterise studies of citizen participation in public policy. Why is it that there is so much rhetoric in support of participation but so little action in terms of the day-to-day realities of policy implementation? We place this question in a crisis-management context so that we might ask: why is it that crisis-management systems built around the principles of community resilience continue to fail on these very grounds? We find our answer to this question in state-centric governance settings which devolve authority, but do not relinquish it. 本文提出两个观点。第一个观点涉及公民参与对于公共政策设计和实施的意义。具体地说，本文用实证的方法说明社区分权模式如何对危机管理政策产生一系列实际效益。第二个观点涉及公民参与公共政策的问题：为什么对公民参与口头上不吝支持，而日常政策的实施上却不见动静？这个问题可以放在危机管理的语境中重新提问：为什么围绕着社区弹性原则的危机管理体系仍以这样的理由失效？我们的答案是：以政府为中心的治理环境虽然转移但并未放弃权威。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]