New Politics Quarterly

If governments have the power to change things, why are we so often told that nothing can be done?
Housing remains unaffordable. Gambling reform has stalled. Corporate interests enjoy privileged access, while the public is asked to lower its expectations. Australia can commit vast sums to military projects, yet meeting essential social needs is treated as a Herculean task.
Who decides what is possible - and who benefits when change is ruled out?
In New Politics Quarterly: The Politics of Possibility, Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis examine the widening gap between the power that governments possess and their willingness to use it in the public interest.
The second volume in this independent series follows the connections between political complacency, economic insecurity, corporate influence and the growing appeal of right-wing populism. It asks how a democracy can retain its elections, Parliament and institutions while reducing the choices that become available to its citizens.
Across six incisive chapters, the authors explore:

• The arrogance of power: how electoral dominance can breed entitlement, privileged access and a diminishing willingness to listen.
• The populist vacuum: why political failure creates openings for One Nation and the politics of resentment.
• Government by vested interests: how powerful industries dictate the boundaries of reform.
• Democracy with conditions: the pressures on protest, political expression and public accountability.
• The quiet Americanisation of Australia: military integration, strategic dependence and the choices being made about sovereignty.
• Israel and Palestine: the relationship between state power, legitimacy and the abandonment of accountability.