Graham Maddox
Graham Maddox is Emeritus Professor of Politics, University of New England. He is author of five editions of Australian Democracy in Theory and Practice, and more recently Stepping Up to the Plate. America, and Australian Politics.
Recent articles by Graham Maddox
5 May 2025
Andrew Bolt's cynical attack on faith
On Sky News (22 April), Andrew Bolt credited Anthony Albanese with a brilliant, if devious, election ploy.
29 March 2025
Narcissism in politics to the fore
Following World War II, a branch of American intellectuals became preoccupied with the notion of totalitarianism.
23 December 2024
Israel's contradictory statecraft
When Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed his disdain for international law and his contempt for the leadership of the United Nations, he implicitly recalled an ancient tradition of the origins of Israel. He asserted that Modern Israel was not formed in 1948 by the United Nations, but by the Israeli war against the Arabs, in the settled region of Palestine, the Nakba (disaster). The very mention of the word Palestine had become an ideological affront to Israel.
9 October 2024
Universities under attack
What are we to make of Peter Dutton’s outrageous demand that Mark Scott, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, should resign? It surely represents an assault on all universities, and on the very idea of a university education as a standard bearer for Australian culture.
15 September 2023
With Universities in crisis, democracy is under threat
Gratifying it may be to see three of our top performing universities outranking Columbia and Johns Hopkins (with Melbourne even outranking Caltech and Yale (QS World University Rankings)), but as a sector our universities are in crisis. And such a crisis has dangerous implications for our democracy.
16 April 2023
The lessons from America are stark
From his stronghold at Princeton University, Sheldon Wolin watched his political system collapse. In the latter days of his life, Wolin erupted into utter despair. His final testimony was heartbreaking: America had become the showcase of how democracy can be managed without appearing to be suppressed. No opinion critical of the set-up is in any way acceptable, and no change will be tolerated. The lessons from America are stark.
14 January 2023
Why I am still a 'Methodist'
John Menadues dignified and powerful defence of his adopted Catholic faith (Why I am Still a Catholic reissued 24 December 2022) is made at the expense of his (very respectful) renunciation of the Methodism in which he was brought up.