Centre for Tax System Integrity
Trust and Hope in Democracy Project
Most regulation researchers would agree that it is unwise to
over-regulate human beings; their capacity for defiance knows no limits
and the possibilities for unexpected and unwanted consequences are
endless. The general philosophy, therefore, is generally one of harm
minimization. Regulation should only be introduced when harm is
occurring and there is evidence that the regulation will significantly
reduce the harm, without creating worse problems elsewhere. Needless to
say, given the complex nature of social functioning, regulation is
often poorly conceived and implemented, leaving people with dashed
hopes and brooding resentment.
The Trust and Hope in Democracy Project was initiated with RegNet researchers to look at the ways in which regulation constrains some hopes and enables others. The Project draws on the field experiences of staff and postgraduate students in Africa, Asia, South America, Australia, and Europe to tell the story of regulation that enables hope to flourish as well as regulation that takes away the capacity of people to choose their futures.
In 2003 and 2005, surveys were conducted within Australia to find out about how people were managing their hopes within the constraints imposed by their economic conditions, and the extent to which government policies were preventing or enabling them to realize their ambitions. An initial report on our findings is available as a pdf file.
Key publications
Braithwaite, V. (ed)
Hope, Power and Governance, Special Issue, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 592, 2004.
(pdf
version)
Job, J.
Building social and political trust: The role of civic engagement, The
International Scope Review 8(13) 2006:1-23.
(pdf
version)
Job, J.
How is trust in government created? It begins at home, but ends in the
parliament, Australian Review of Public Affairs 6(1) 2005: 1–23.
(pdf version)
Job, J. & Reinhart, M.
Trusting the Tax Office: Does Putnam's thesis relate to tax? Australian Journal of Social Issues 38(3) 2003: 307-334.
(pdf version)
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