Deck 4: The State

Question 1

Which of the following best describes the pattern of state intervention in employment relations in Australia during the Accord era?

A) Traditional
B) Neo-liberal
C) Corporatist
D) All of the options given here are correct

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is the judiciary, and what is it responsible for in Australia?

Answer 2

The judiciary is comprised of the court system, its judges and the supporting infrastructure. It is responsible for interpreting and enforcing the law in order to resolve disputes.

Question 3

What is the legislature, and what is its role in employment relations?

Answer 3

The legislature is the law-making body comprising representatives elected by people at periodic elections. It determines the statute law (legislation) that regulates employment relations in Australia at both the state and the federal level.

Question 4

The doctrine of the 'separation of powers' is a key constitutional principle in Western liberal democracies, but how is it applied in the Australian context?

Question 5

Did the Fair Work Commission always exist as a tribunal? Discuss how its role changed during the 1990s and 2000s in Australia.

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of a statutory agency in the area of employment relations?

A) Both the Fair Work Commission (FWC) and the Remuneration Tribunal
B) The Fair Work Commission (FWC)
C) The Remuneration Tribunal
D) Neither the Fair Work Commission (FWC) nor the Remuneration Tribunal

Question 7

The component parts of the state are often described as:

A) the executive, politicians and the judiciary.
B) the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.
C) the legislature, the judiciary and the Commonwealth.
D) None of the options given here is correct

Question 8

The executive arm of the state is comprised of the elected government and:

A) the public bureaucracy that advises, administers and implements policy.
B) the courts and associated infrastructure, which enforce the law.
C) executives from large and economically significant companies.
D) both the public bureaucracy and executives from economically significant companies.

Question 9

The state's role in employment relations includes performing which of the following functions?

A) Employer of labour and provider of collective goods
B) Conciliator, arbitrator and mediator
C) Legislator and labour-market regulator
D) All of the options given here are correct

Question 10

What employment relations responsibility does the Minister for Employment have in the Turnbull government, elected in 2015?

Question 11

Claus Offe (1975) argued that the state performs two general functions in capitalist societies. What are these?

Question 12

List four (4) reasons often given for the outsourcing of government services. Include two efficiency reasons and two political reasons.

Question 13

What is 'corporatism' in the Australian context? Give an example.

Question 14

What is marketisation? Give examples.

Question 15

'The state has historically played a much larger role in the regulation of employment and employment relations in Australia than it has in comparable industrialised countries.' Discuss, with reference to the changing patterns of state intervention in Australia.

Question 16

What is managerialism? Give examples.

Question 17

What was the core feature of the traditional form of state intervention in employment relations in Australia?

A) Voluntary conciliation and arbitration
B) Voluntary conciliation and compulsory arbitration
C) Compulsory conciliation and arbitration
D) All of the options given here are correct

Question 18

The legislature:

A) is a law-making body.
B) in Australia is in the form of a bicameral federal parliament.
C) in Australia is in the form of a unicameral federal parliament.
D) is a law-making body and, in Australia, is in the form of a bicameral federal parliament.

Question 19

Is the doctrine of the 'separation of powers' important in Australia? Discuss.

Question 20

List any four federal employment relations tribunals, courts or agencies

Question 21

Give four political reasons that governments outsource services.

Question 22

Compulsory conciliation and arbitration was a core of traditional forms of state intervention in Australia. What did conciliation and arbitration tribunals do?

Question 23

What were the two fundamental similarities across the colonies from the 1850s, which remain largely unchanged to the present day?

Question 24

List and briefly describe the key functions the state performs in employment relations.

Question 25

What is the key difference between traditional policy-making approaches and corporatism?

Question 26

List and briefly describe the features of the main forms of state intervention in Australian employment relations.

Question 27

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), what is the role of the Fair Work Ombudsman?