Iva Ellen Deutchman

A star is born: the roller coaster ride of Pauline Hanson in the news

Australias most recent controversial political figure is Independent MP Pauline Hanson. As the media event of the year, her press coverage has eclipsed that even of Prime Minister John Howard. She founded her own party, One Nation, amid speculation that she intends running for Senate. This article analyses the role of the media in her dramatic escalation as a political figure, arguing that the controversial nature of her politics helps give the story legs. We focus on how her media coverage is shaped by the contradiction which she embodies as a woman politician whose message is at variance with conventional gender stereotypes about what political women should advocate.

When Feminists Don't Fit The Case of Pauline Hanson

The rise of the Far Right is a global phenomenon traditionally viewed as antithetical to feminism. However, in Australia from 1996–2001 Far Right politics was dominated by a woman, Pauline Hanson, thus calling into question the dynamics between organized feminism and the Far Right. A significant problem for Australian feminists trying to understand Hanson is that her ideology, activities and life-style are internally contradictory. This article draws on American analyses of similar women and examines the contradictions in Hansons political philosophy and activism with a view to challenging current Australian feminist analysis of this controversial political woman.

The Ideology of Moderate Republicans in the House

This paper examines the Republican Main Street Partnership, a moderate faction in an increasingly conservative Republican Party. Using party and interest group measures, we examine to what extent RMSP members differ from their fellow Republicans in their unity around partisan and ideological issues. We find that Partnership members differ from other Republicans in their partisan and ideological behavior, but share similarities with the Party on specific policy areas. Understanding these factional differences may shed further light on the political battles before the modern Republican Party.

Five Factions, Two Parties: Caucus Membership in the House of Representatives, 1994–2002

This paper examines the extent of ideological cohesion and distinction of two Republican congressional factions (the conservative Republican Study Committee and the moderate Republican Main Street Partnership) and three Democratic congressional caucuses (the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, the liberal Congressional Black Caucus, and the liberal Congressional Progressive Caucus) in the House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002. Whereas much of the literature on congressional caucuses has focused on the reasons members join such groups and the policy and political orientations of those groups, this paper examines how much unity exists in the voting behavior of the members of Congress who join caucuses in comparison to their fellow partisans not in a faction. Although political parties are still a major unifying force for their respective party members, we do find that factional members are more ideologically cohesive than are nonfactional members. Joining a faction is not an insignificant activity for members. Factions allow like-minded colleagues to come together and vote on common issues, at times against direction of their party.