英语国家社会与文化入门上册教学课件 U18.pptx（纯ppt,无音视频）

1、英语国家社会与文化入门英语国家社会与文化入门(上册）上册）The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking CountriesAn Introduction(Book One)AustraliaUnit 18 Australia as a Liberal Democratic SocietyQuiz Give the English and a brief explanation for the following:1 联合政府 2 英美政治体制结合的制度 3 澳大利亚工党 4 基础建设 5 澳大利亚广播公司Focal Pointsdiffer

2、ence as the central value of the Australian societythe Washminster form of politythree-tier system of governmenttwo houses of parliamentthe Governor-Generalpolitical parties advantages of the pluralist form of government Australian governments role in the national economyinterventionist governmentec

3、onomic rationalismThis Unit Is Divided into Five SectionsI.Introduction:Different PerspectivesII.The Formation of the Australian Political SystemIII.The Relationship between the Political and Economic SpheresIV.The Australian Political Economy in the 21st CenturyV.Conclusion:Current Differences of P

4、erspectivesI.Introduction:Different Perspectives Australians understand and conduct life upon a basic commitment to difference:There are many different religions.Politics is based upon conflictsand their resolutionbetween major political parties.Newspapers are identified with different political bia

5、ses.So too,are various television and radio programmes.Students are expected to interpret their subjects from different perspectives and are encouraged to use considered arguments to contest other students and even their lecturers interpretation of the subject.I.Introduction:Different PerspectivesTh

6、e emphasis is upon the principle that there are different ways of thinking and knowing about the world:there is neither absolute truth nor one single way to run the country.Instead,there has to be debate about how we know the world and how we should behave in the world.Even core valueswhich tend to

7、be long lastingcan be changed over time,not by a violent overthrow of the cultural system but through discussion,education and gradual cultural change.The major differences in the perspectives of Australians are,to some extent,represented by the major political parties.Over the past 100 years govern

8、ment in Australia,in the main,has been represented by either the Labour Party or the Coalition.The Coalition represents the combined perspectives and interests of both the Liberal and the National parties.Australian major political partiesII.The Formation of the Australian Political System Australia

9、 has what has been called a Washminster form of polity.It is a mixture of the US,Washington system of government and the British,Westminster system:the political structure is based on a Federation of States and has a three-tier system of government but the chief executive is a Prime Minister not a P

10、resident.Australia has a three-tier system of governmentthe Australian Parliament at Federal level,six State governments and about 900 Local Government bodies.II.The Formation of the Australian Political System The Parliament of Australia,or the Federal Parliament,is the legislative branch of the go

11、vernment of Australia.It consists of three elements:the Queen,the Senate(the Upper House)and the House of Representatives(the Lower House).The Queen is represented by the Governor-General.The combination of two elected houses,in which the members of the Senate represent the six States and the two ma

12、jor self-governing Territories while the members of the House represent electoral divisions according to population.Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Peter John Cosgrove,the 26th and current Governor-General of AustraliaII.The Formation of the Australian Political SystemParliament House is the meeting plac

13、e of the Parliament of Australia,located in Canberra,the capital of Australia.Parliament House contains 4,700 rooms,and many areas are open to the public.The House of Representatives chamber is decorated green,while the Senate chamber has a red colour scheme.II.The Formation of the Australian Politi

14、cal SystemCitizens vote for members of parliament.The members of parliament generally belong to one of the two major political parties,the Australian Labor Party(ALP)or the Coalition.The Coalition comprises a combination of two partiesthe Liberals and the Nationals.Each party sets out a party progra

15、mmea set of basic principles and policies that align with those principles.II.The Formation of the Australian Political System This system has the following advantages:The difference between the two party programmes means that citizens can choose,at each election,which set of policies they would pre

16、fer to be enacted over the following three years of government.This system secures transparency and thus accountability.Even when the major party is in power their policies should be subject to the continuous scrutiny of the opposing party,both on the floor of the house,in the Senate committee syste

17、m and through political debates in the media.Pluralism provides for a ready made alternative government as the major Opposition party comprises not only back-benchers,but also shadow ministers and a shadow cabinet,who are sufficiently informed about current aspects of their shadow portfolios for the

18、 opposition to be competent to take over should any government collapse.II.The Formation of the Australian Political SystemCitizens can exert their power between elections through their membership of major interest groups.These include,not only the political parties,but also other associations such

19、as unions,employers groups,and environmental groups.II.The Formation of the Australian Political SystemThe Prime Minister of Australia is the head of government in Australia.The individual who holds the office is the leader of the Cabinet and the chairperson of the National Security Committee.The of

20、fice is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia and exists only through an unwritten political convention and tradition.In practice it is the most powerful political position in Australia.The individual who holds the office is commissioned by the Governor-General of Australia.Current Prime Mi

21、nister Malcolm TurnbullIII.The Relationship between the Political and Economic Spheres The principles of liberal theory argue that governments should play only a minor part in the nations economy.The major principle is that the economy should be run as a“free market”system with as little interferenc

22、e from the government as possible.However,the actual history of the Australian political economy demonstrates a very uneven application of this principle.Even at the establishment of the Australian“free market”system,there was a need for major political intervention to help provide a supply of cheap

23、 labour through the assisted migration scheme.III.The Relationship between the Political and Economic Spheres The economic growth in AustraliaDuring the 1850s gold rushes there was a flood of self-funded immigrants.The population of Australia doubled in that decade.It opened up the land as mineral w

24、ealth:gold,silver,iron ore,nickel and alumina.Temporary accommodations for immigrants purring into Melbourne during gold rushIII.The Relationship between the Political and Economic Spheres However,it was agriculture,especially the wool trade that formed the basis of the Australian economy for over 1

25、30 years when Australia was described as“riding on the sheeps back”.From the 1840s to the 1970s agriculture regularly accounted for over 75%of Australias export trade.III.The Relationship between the Political and Economic Spheres The governments role in Economy By the last few decades of the 19th c

26、entury the government was playing a very large part in the economy.It was a major employer.It invested in massive capital works programmes in the provision of railways,urban infrastructures of water,sewerage works and communications.III.The Relationship between the Political and Economic SpheresThe

27、Government continued to play a large part in theeconomy in the post-WWII period.By the 1970s theGovernment was responsible for 30%of the GDP(GrossDomestic Product).It was involved in:labour migration programmes wage setting through the Arbitration system controls of industry through occupational saf

28、ety legislation control of foreign exchange dealings tariff protection,especially in the manufacturing industries controls of industry through occupational safety legislationIII.The Relationship between the Political and Economic Spheres By 1970,the secondary or manufacturing sector reached its high

29、est level.However,major changes occurred in the 1970s/1980s.Increased overseas competition together with the lowering of the tariff system wiped out some major manufacturing industries.Unemployment levels rose considerably.This led to a significant dismantling of the governments involvement in,and r

30、egulation of,the Australian economy:Tariff rates were been lowered.The centralised wage system was replaced by a focus on individual work place bargaining with the Coalitions“Work Choices Act”.The foreign exchange markets were deregulated.The chart shows that the unemployment levels rose considerabl

31、y from 1973 to 1983.III.The Relationship between the Political and Economic SpheresIII.The Relationship between the Political and Economic Spheres Economic rationalism has been the major policy orientation.There have been significant shifts away from government involvement in communication,banking,a

32、nd in the provision of water and sewerage services.Even in those spheres which are more usually associated with the government,the provision of social welfare and social security services and the administration of the punishment system,the government has contracted out some of its responsibilities t

33、o the private sector,sometimes even to overseas corporations.The Australian Political Economy in the 21st Century As citizens,Australians today are debating whether the the cut-backs of public spending on education,health and the public broadcaster are necessary in maintaining Australias position as

34、 one of the strong economies in the world.Both the Labor and the Coalition parties have been doing a lot to deregulate the economy.However,the Coalition is associated with the most strict forms of economic rationalism especially with making a balanced budget the keystone of its policies.The Labour P

35、arty is aligned with a political programme focusing more on the balance between social and economic aspects of Australian life.The Australian Political Economy in the 21st Century By 2007,after twelve years of Coalition Government the Labour Party was returned to power.These major factors have affec

36、ted Australian politics since then:The government was returned on its promises to revoke some of the transfers of power away from the workers.Economies around the world experienced the global financial crisis.Governments around the world have had to consider the consequences of climate change.A cont

37、inued military and diplomatic commitment to the USA but also an extension of commitments to other political economies,especially those in the Asian Pacific Region.The Australian Political Economy in the 21st Century The Asian-Pacific Region is the part of the world in or near the Western Pacific Oce

38、an.The region varies in size depending on context,but it typically includes much of East Asia,South Saia,Southeast Asia,and Oceania.The Australian Political Economy in the 21st CenturySome key changes have been introduced since 2007.The government has withdrawn its troops from Iraq.On the industrial

39、 front,it has re-established some of the rights,and negotiating power,of workers,by abolishing“Work Choices Act”and replacing it with the“Fair Work Act”(2009).The Labour Party tends no longer to talk of“workers”but of“working families”:a change that indicates its acknowledgement of the key cultural

40、shift outlined in the unit on“Work and Family Life.”Today,both men and women share the responsibilities of paid and unpaid work in the market and in the home.The Australian Political Economy in the 21st CenturyIn the 21st century there has been an increased popular support for the Green Party.This r

41、eflects a rising concern that neither of the two major parties is being sufficiently effective in addressing the environmental problems of Climate Change.So a new political perspective is developing in Australia,which believes that the relationship between the people and the environment should becom

42、e the central political issue.V.Conclusion:Current Differences of Perspectives For most of its history the Australian political economy has been characterised by a relatively interventionist government.Australia has attempted to balance three contradictory political economic programmes:to ensure the

43、 country runs a profitable economy with little interference by the State in the market economy;to invest in the kind of human capital necessary for each era of the political economy;to prevent the accomponying inequalities of a free market economy becoming too socially divisive.V.Conclusion:Current

44、Differences of Perspectives Both political parties in Australia have pursued a more liberal form of a deregulated political economy,the Liberal Party has been its keenest proponent.Meanwhile,a third political perspective is fast developing:one which wants to make a concern for the environment its ce

45、ntral political economic focus.In summary difference in Australia is now represented by three political parties whose basic conflicts now centre around both class and environmental issues.Questions for DiscussionA.Why do you think Australia adopted the Washminster form of polity?Do you think it refl

46、ects the advantages of both systems?B.Do you think the pluralist form of government is ideal?What are its advantages and drawbacks?C.Do you think the government can improve the efficiency of the social welfare and social security services by contracting them out to private sector?Why?D.What are some of the key changes that have taken place in the Australian governments since 2007?The End高等教育出版社高等教育出版社20152015