Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Corporatism

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Australian Political Economy of Violence and Non-Violence

  • 233 Accesses

Abstract

Privatization of public assets and deregulation of the economy constitute a major transfer of public power and wealth to corporate and wealthy private interests. These have succeeded in capturing mainstream politics, and hence the state, to protect and advance their vested interests. The scale of transfer of public power and assets to the private sector, both domestic and foreign, is a threat to democracy, characterized by growing inequality in the distribution of income and wealth. It results in negative impacts on society and damage to the social fabric, and scarcity in the provision of public services. Growing inequality and corruption undermine political stability and public trust.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    1. The Accord was signed in 1983 between the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Australian Confederation of Trade Unions (ACTU) (Stilwell, 1986). Bob Hawke was elected president of the ACTU in 1969 and eventually became the leader of the ALP, which won the Federal election in 1982.

  2. 2.

    2. A 2015 study by the Money, Politics and Transparency project ranks Australia behind Russia and Thailand but ahead of Indonesia in political campaign financing transparency (Medhora, 2015).

  3. 3.

    3. Neoliberal capitalism could be viewed as neo-feudalism. It suggests that the nature of liberal democracy is morphing into something post-democratic. Before the French Revolution, power and wealth in French society rested in an alliance between the Church and the Nobility. Corporations have become the new ‘church’ because of their wealth and power to control society’s behaviour and government. A new nobility has emerged with the concentration of wealth in the top 10 % of the population. In a review of Thomas Piketty’s political economy, Christopher Sheil writes about the emergence of a society ‘where the owners of inherited wealth will dominate the rest of us, who will be doomed to own no more that the relative pittance that we can garner from a lifetime’s labour’ (Sheil, 2014/15:24).

  4. 4.

    4. A major cause of inequality in the distribution of income and wealth is the unfairness of the income tax system, which is biased towards the rich and powerful. An example is the case of 55 Australians among the highest earners in the country ‘who paid no income tax at all during the 2012–2013, not even the Medicare Levy’ (Martin, 2015).

References

  • AFTINET. (2010). Trans-Pacific partnership agreement: Corporate power grab. Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network. Retrieved from http://www.AFTINET.org.au.

  • Allen, L. (2005, March 4). Expert warns: ‘Don’t touch PPPs with surgical gloves’. Australian Financial Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aston, H. (2014, October 1). Tax office no longer has team to deal with corporate tax dodgers. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aston, H. (2015, April 4). Energy company’s $11 billion transfer to Singapore rings tax avoidance alarm bells. The Age.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aston, H., & Wilkins, G. (2014, September 29). Big business ‘shirks’ fair share of tax load. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bean, C., & Denemark, D. (2007). Citizenship, participation, efficacy and trust in Australia. In D. Denemark et al. (Eds.), Australian social attitudes 2. Sydney, Australia: UNSW Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benevolent. (2014). Extent of income inequality in Australia. Paddington, Sydney: Benevolent Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cahill, D. (2008). Labo(u)r, the boom and the prospects for an alternative to neo-liberalism. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 61, 321–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chenoweth, N. (2014b, November 6). IKEA’s design for big profits and little tax. Australian Financial Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chenoweth, N. (2015, April 7). Tax office chases BHP, Rio and the Singapore sling. Australian Financial Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N. (2010). Hopes and prospects. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N. (2011). How the world works. London: Hamish Hamilton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N., & Foucault, M. (2006). The Chomsky-Foucault debate. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clow, R., & West, M. (2005, October 22). Road sage: It’s not just academic. The Australian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coghlan, A., & MacKenzie, D. (2011). Revealed: The capitalist network that runs the world. New Scientist Magazine, 2835.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colebatch, T. (2013, October 10). Country’s rich have lion’s share of income growth. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, R. (2014, November). Much obliged: The poor face onerous rules while the rich corporations avoid tax with impunity. The Monthly.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, R. (2015, January). The people versus the political class. The Monthly.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costar, B., & Browne, P. (2010, September 24). Missing votes: The 2010 tally. Inside Story.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denemark, D., Wilson, S., & Meagher, G. (2007). Introduction. In D. Denemark et al. (Eds.), Australian social attitudes 2. Sydney: UNSW Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denniss, R. (2014a, September 27). Coalmining industry misleads on jobs, tax, says Australia Institute. The Canberra Times.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denniss, R. (2014b, November 18). Queensland’s big free kick for coal. Australian Financial Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denniss, R. (2015, April 21). Subsidies ate the mining boom. Australian Financial Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, B. et al. (2014). Advance Australia fair? What to do about growing inequality in Australia. Report on a roundtable held at Parliament House Canberra, January. Canberra: Australia21 in collaboration with the Australia Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duménil, G., & Lévy, D. (2011). The crisis of neoliberalism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eberhardt, P., Redlin, B., & Toubeau, C. (2014). Trading away democracy. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Transnational Institute. Retrieved from http://www.tni.org.

  • Elliott, T. (2014, July 5). O’Farrell changed the rules after lobbying. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, T. (1995) Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankel, B. (2012). The neoliberal resurgence. Arena Magazine, 121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friel, S., & Denniss, R. (2014). Unfair economic arrangements make us sick. Joint report by Australia 21, the Australian National University, and the Australia Institute, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • George, S. (2013/14). The rise of illegitimate authority and the threat to democracy. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gittins, R. (2013, December 11). US trade treaties, a treat for the US. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greens. (2013). Who buys influence in Australia? Retrieved from http://www.democracy4sale.org.

  • Grey, S. (2015). A dirty international deal that could harm education. NTEU Advocate, 22(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, E. (2015, March 25). Taskforce hit by claims of conflict of interest. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodge, G. (2003). Thinking about privatisation. Blue Book Number Seven. Australian Fabian Society. Melbourne, Australia: Arena Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Humphrys, E. (2014). The primacy of politics: Stilwell, the accord and the critique of the state. In S. Schroeder & L. Chester (Eds.), Challenging the orthodoxy: Reflections on Frank Stilwell’s contribution to political economy. Sydney: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunter, M. (2013, January 14). Who owns corporate Australia? Asia Sentinel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jopson, D. (2015, January 24). US arms suppliers overrule courts in Australia. Saturday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Khadem, N. (2015, February 5). $115b sent to low-tax havens. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwek, G. (2013, May 24). Subsidies kept wobbling wheels rolling. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leys, C., & Harriss-White, B. (2012, April 2). Commodification: The essence of our time. OpenDemocracy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludlow, M. (2014, November 18). Bank throws Adani $US1b lifeline. Australian Financial Review.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison, B. (2006). Commodification and the construction of mainstream Australian economic historiography. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 58, 114–137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manne, R. (2010, October). The rise of the Greens. The Monthly.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, P. (2015, April 30). Meet 55 millionaires who paid no taxes. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClymont, K., & Whitbourn, M. (2014, March 18). Million-dollar minister. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medhora, S. (2015, July 28). Australia ranks behind Russia in campaign financing transparency. The Guardian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, G. and Peetz, D. (2014). Plutonomy and the one percent. In S. Schroeder & L. Chester (Eds.), Challenging the orthodoxy:Refl ections on Frank Stilwell’s contribution to political economy. Sydney: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, S. (2013, July 5). S1.3b gamble pays off. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, S. (2014, May 5). Treasurer for sale. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, G., & Costar, B. (2012, February 3). Old figures, new money. Inside Story.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paul, E. (2014). Australia as US client state. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Peatling, S., Hall, B., & Hurst, D. (2013, February 2). Gambling interests, miners big donors to political parties. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piketty, T. (2014a). Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramsay, T., & Lloyd, C. (2010). Infrastructure investment for full employment: A social democratic program of funds regulations. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 65, 59–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rancière, J. (1999). Dis-agreement. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rees, S. (2014, October). The violence of de-regulating Universities. PeaceWrites.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, D., Denniss, R., & Grudnoff, M. (2014). Auditing the auditors: The people’s commission of audit. Canberra, Australia: The Australia Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, P. (2015). TTIP: The corporate empowerment act. Retrieved June 1, from CounterPunch.org.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roosevelt, F. D. (1938). Message to Congress on curbing monopolies. 29 April, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saulwick, J. (2013, July 6). Packer mines a good thing: Roll your own tax rate. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheil, C. (2014/15). Piketty’s political economy. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 74, 19–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • SMH. (2014, November 10). Corporate criminals have escaped far too lightly. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. (2012). The price of inequality. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stilwell, F. (1986). The accord … and beyond. Sydney, Australia: Pluto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stilwell, F. (2002, July 15). Why bother about economic inequality? OnLine Opinion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweet, M. (2013, January 25). The Philip Morris case illustrates some wider dangers for public health from trade agreements. Crickey.

    Google Scholar 

  • TI. (2008, October 30). Financial crisis a betrayal of public trust. Transparency International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tienhaara, K. (2010). Investor-state dispute settlement in the trans-Pacific partnership agreement. Submission to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 21 May by Dr Kyle Tienhaara of the Regulatory Institutions Network, Australian National University, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • TJNA. (2014). Who pays for our common wealth? Tax practices of the ASX 200. Melbourne, Australia: Tax Justice Network Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, B., & Walker, B. (2008, May 14). Privatisations more about getting re-elected than good management. The Australian.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, M. (2006, October 27). Toll road financing flawed: Academic. The Australian.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, M. (2013a). Airport’s pot of gold. Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, M. (2013b). Transurban defends solitary tax payment in 10 years. Sydney Morning Herald, 24 August.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, M. (2014, November 24). ATO letting multinationals off the hook. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, M. (2015a, June 12). Credit card firm pays zero tax on $8b revenue. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, M. (2015b, April 6). How Murdoch’s US empire siphoned off $4.5b virtually tax free. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins, G. (2013, July 2). Tax office casts for biggest fish. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkins, G. (2015). Apple’s $80.3 million Australian tax bill revealed. Sydney Morning Herald, 29 January.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, R. (2009, March 16). What difference does inequality make? Mrzine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2010). The spirit level: Why equality is better for everyone. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, R., & Butler, B. (2012, February 4). The cost of filling political piggybanks. Sydney Morning Herald.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Erik Paul

Authors
  1. Erik Paul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2016 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Paul, E. (2016). Corporatism. In: Australian Political Economy of Violence and Non-Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60214-5_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation