The nomination of Peter Cosgrove as Australia's next governor-general raises interesting questions about what sort of job it is – and what sort of country we are.
Category: Australia
Constitutional change is harder than it looks
Media reports on Tony Abbott's push for constitutional recognition of indigenous Australians convey an impression of novelty. Yet nothing has really changed.
A Czech lesson for direct-election republicans
The Czech Republic has moved closer to getting its new government, but the directly-elected president will remain a thorn in its side. Maybe Malcolm Turnbull was right.
The electoral top ten for 2013
A review of the year's most interesting elections and whether they show us any general trends.
High Court just doing its job
The Australian High Court strikes a blow for federalism, but same-sex marriage in the ACT is a casualty.
Liberals, Greens and a two-party system
Liberal voters tend to treat Labor rather than the Greens as the main enemy. That's different to what their leaders think – or is it?
Uneasy times in Thailand
Anti-government protests continue in Thailand, where an elected government faces an opposition that seems to be giving up on parliamentary democracy.
Australia and the history wars, Armenian edition
Turkey, as always, resents any official reference to the Armenian genocide. This time it's Australia in the firing line.
One cheer for the ACT
Supporters of marriage equality can celebrate progress in New Jersey, but they should be more sceptical about yesterday's vote in the ACT.
Germany coalition update
European coalitions work quite differently from Australian ones.
