Enhancing Local Government Democracy: City of Melbourne Project

Project Report

The final report for this project is available here.

Project Team

  • Ken Coghill, Monash University
  • Yee-Fui Ng, Monash University
  • Paul Thornton-Smith, Victorian Electoral Commission

Research Assistant

  • Valarie Sands

Project Overview

This project will focus on the nature of local government democracy in the City of Melbourne. It aims to investigate the relationships that operate between the City of Melbourne and the wide range of people and organisations that use its facilities and services – residents, businesses, worker, commuters, shoppers ad others. It will examine how these relationships affect policy-making and the provision of facilities and services within the City of Melbourne. The project also aims to ascertain if policy-making and the provision of facilities and services are affected by the City of Melbourne's multiple franchise which includes a property-based franchise with deeming provisions (to a greater extent than other Victorian local governments) and voting by citizen and non-citizen resident tenants and owner-occupiers.

This will be the first known empirical study of the nature of the operation of local government in the City of Melbourne. The empirical aspect of the project will investigate the interactions between interest groups and formal democratic institutions.

As the project conceives of local government democracy as a complex evolving system, it goes beyond the boundaries of legislation and conventional political science perspectives and provides an innovative insight into the operation of local government in the City of Melbourne.

The project is expected to be completed by June 2014.

Announcement

A random draw for the winners of the Survey about Local Government Democracy and the City of Melbourne was conducted at the Victorian Electoral Commission on Friday 16th May 2014.

The winners have been contacted and vouchers distributed to the three winners:

1. Mr Tony Merrett, Golden Square Vic 3555

2. Ms Tayla Austen, Ballina NSW 2478

3. Ms Samantha *****, Melbourne Vic 3004

Thank you to all other respondents who participated in the survey, which was conducted under the auspices of the Melbourne Law School, Victorian Electoral Commission and Monash University. Much useful data has been gathered to inform our research. Please check this site in July 2014 for publications on the Local Government Democracy and the City of Melbourne.