Childcare quality improvement and assurance practices

This study set out to examine how quality assurance and quality improvement schemes are being used by Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships and childcare providers in England to improve the quality of services beyond minimum standards. Three types of early years providers took part: day nurseries, out-of-school clubs and childminding networks

Rescuing 'reasonable notice' in indefinite employment contracts

A number of cases has doubted the continued necessity of the implied term of reasonable notice in indefinite employment contracts, given the enactment of a national standard for minimum notice in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 117. This article explains the challenge to reasonable notice, and proposes an alternative doctrinal basis for preserving an entitlement to reasonable notice in those admittedly rare cases where an employee has been engaged indefinitely on a promise of long term job security

Les puissances secondaires et l’influence des attributs relationnels : le cas du Canada et de sa politique extérieure

Analyses et middle or « lesser » powers, unlike those of great and small powers, have not secured a distinctive place in the international politics literature and have generally not contributed to or borrowed from contemporary theoretical developments. The present study examines the foreign policy behavior of a lesser power (Canada) with an interrelated set of hypotheses drawn from theories explaining behavior as a function of the attributes of targets and actors. The four « relational » attributes employed here are status, salience, similarity, and proximity. Quantitative measures for these relational factors and for five categories of Canadian behavior across 51 (Canada to x) dyads are developed with particular attention being paid to questions of empirical-theoretical fit. Correlational analysis reveals many of the relational attributes and indicators explain a significant amount of variation in the behavior measures. Greater status, salience and proximity generally lead to more frequent Canadian activity. Status differences are particularly strongly related to all five types of dyadic behavior. Similarity appears a less influential factor. A further partial correlation analysis suggests that for Canada the relational attributes are interrelated with each other and with behavior in a patterned way. Greater proximity leads to increased salience, as do greater status and similarity. In turn, greater salience, status and similarity all lead to more frequent behavior of most types. These results tend to support some and refute other general hypotheses about target-actor attributes and behavior, and perhaps suggest some particular features of lesser power activity

A study of the offshore petroleum negotiations between Australia, the U.N. and East Timor

In this thesis I investigate the process of international negotiation to resolve a serious dispute between Australia and East Timor over offshore oil and gas, which arose after East Timor’s transition to independence in 1999. The central aim is to uncover and analyse the dynamics of the negotiations, and to explain how outcomes were determined. The question of negotiated outcomes is of special significance given the extent to which East Timor was able to move Australia beyond its preferred outcome. In this case, the seemingly weaker party was able to overcome a more powerful bargaining opponent. My aim in writing this thesis is to explain why that was possible and how it was achieved

Getting tough with the dragon? The comparative correlates of foreign policy attitudes toward China in the United States and UK

A large body of research suggests mass publics are capable of thinking coherently about international relations. We extend this body of research to show that domain relevant postures – in our case, more abstract beliefs about foreign policy – are related to how tough of a line representative samples of US and UK respondents want their governments to take toward China. More specifically, we utilize a unique comparative survey of American and British foreign policy attitudes to show broad support for toughness toward China. Beliefs about the use of the military and attitudes regarding globalization help explain preferences for tough economic and military policies toward China. In the two countries, the relationship between general foreign policy outlooks and the positions citizens take is robust to the addition of a general mediator that controls for the general affect those surveyed have toward China. Finally, the strength of the relationship between these abstract postures and specific preferences for a China policy are different across the countries