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Dr Michael Howard

Work Phone (02) 4349 4458
Fax (02) 4348 4075
Email
Position Lecturer
School of Humanities and Social Science
The University of Newcastle, Australia
Office HO1.69, Humanities Office

Biography

Michael Howard was awarded a PhD in History at the University of Sydney in 1979 for a thesis on the Curtin-Chifley governments in Australia in the 1940s. During the 1980s he produced ANU publications, plus other Conference papers, derived from further research on this period.

During 1976-78 he worked as a local Health Education Officer in the NSW Community Health Program; in 1980 he published a monograph on this Program as part of the build-up to the Australian Community Health Association. During 1980-89 he worked as a Research/Policy Analyst for the NSW Dept of Community Services, while from 1989 to 1997 he was a Research Fellow at the Public Sector Research Centre, UNSW. In this role he acted as Editor for over 60 PSRC publications and sole authored a wide range of publications focussed on public sector trends associated with neo-liberalism.

Prior to commencing at the University of Newcastle (Ourimbah campus) in mid 2000, his lecturing and tutoring experience was at Sydney University (Dept of Government in 1979-80; Dept of Social Work and Sociology 1998) and at UNSW (School of Social Science and Policy, 1990s). Since 2000, he has acted as sole lecturer and, with a few exceptions, sole tutor on 65 occasions of offer across 11 courses. His teaching and research interests centre on public and social policy.

Qualifications

  • PhD, University of Sydney
  • Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Sydney

Research

Research keywords

  • Commercialisation and the Public Sector
  • Political Economies
  • Public Policy
  • Studies of Human Society

Research expertise

Role of consultants in public sector commercialisation, Commercialisation of the public sector, Trends in public sector expenditure and revenue, Political economy of social conditions and public policy & Factors in the rise and fall of the Keynesian mixed economy and welfare state.

Fields of Research

Code Description Percentage
169900 Other Studies In Human Society 100

Teaching

Teaching keywords

  • Interaction of ideas and interests in policy making
  • Interaction of political economy and political sociology with political institutions

Teaching interests

 

Teaching interests

  • Interaction of political economy and political sociology with political institutions
  • Interaction of ideas and interests in policy making
  • Influence of economic policy on social policy
  • Variation in the relationship between capitalism and the state
  • The ‘policy process’ – politics, policy, management, implementation
  • Evaluating the economic and social impact of policy

Courses