R.J. May

Dr R.J. May is an emeritus fellow of The Australian National University, attached to the Department of Pacific Affairs. He was formerly a senior economist with the Reserve Bank of Australia, foundation director of the National Research Institute of Papua New Guinea and head of the Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at The Australian National University. In 1976 he was awarded the Independence Medal for his service to banking and research in Papua New Guinea.

State and Society in Papua New Guinea, 2001–2021 »

Authored by: R.J. May
Publication date: August 2022
In a previous volume, State and Society in Papua New Guinea: The First Twenty-Five Years (2001, reprinted by ANU E Press in 2004), a collection of papers by the author published between 1971 and 2001 was put together to mark Papua New Guinea’s first 25 years as an independent state. This volume presents a collection of papers written between 2001 and 2021, which update the story of political and social development in Papua New Guinea in the first two…

Election 2007 »

The Shift to Limited Preferential Voting in Papua New Guinea

Edited by: R.J. May, Ray Anere, Nicole Haley, Katherine Wheen
Publication date: September 2013
Papua New Guinea’s general election in 2007 attracted particular interest for several reasons. Not only did it follow what was widely acknowledged as the country’s worst election ever, in 2002 (in which elections in six of the country’s 109 electorates were declared to be ‘failed elections’), it was the first general election to be held under a new limited preferential voting system. It also followed the first full parliamentary term under the Organic Law on the Integrity…

Policy Making and Implementation »

Studies from Papua New Guinea

Edited by: R.J. May
Publication date: September 2009
There is a vast literature on the principles of public administration and good governance, and no shortage of theoreticians, practitioners and donors eager to push for public sector reform, especially in less-developed countries. Papua New Guinea has had its share of public sector reforms, frequently under the influence of multinational agencies and aid donors. Yet there seems to be a general consensus, both within and outside Papua New Guinea, that policy…

Conflict and Resource Development in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea »

Edited by: Nicole Haley, R.J. May
Publication date: November 2007
The Southern Highlands is one of Papua New Guinea’s most resource-rich provinces, but for a number of years the province has been riven by conflict. Longstanding inter-group rivalries, briefly set aside during the colonial period, have been compounded by competition for the benefits provided by the modern state and by fighting over the distribution of returns from the several big mining and petroleum projects located within the province or impinging…

State and Society in Papua New Guinea »

The First Twenty-Five Years

Authored by: R.J. May
Publication date: May 2004
On the eve of Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975 there were many – both within the country and outside – who predicted political anarchy, with the possibility of an army coup or authoritarian single-party dominance, and economic collapse. Such fears appeared to have been justified when in 1975 both the North Solomons (Bougainville) and Papua unilaterally declared their independence. In fact, however, PNG achieved a smooth transition, and in its first…

The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific »

Edited by: R.J. May, Viberto Selochan
Publication date: March 2004
In The Military and Democracy in Asia and the Pacific, a number of prominent regional specialists take a fresh look at the military’s changing role in selected countries of Asia and the Pacific, particularly with regard to the countries’ performance against criteria of democratic government. Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Burma, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Korea, Fiji and Papua New Guinea all fall under the spotlight as the authors examine the role which the…