Aaron Rowe of the Architect of the Capitol’s office, which is not affected by the partial government shutdown, shovels snow left by a winter storm on the U.S. Capitol’s plaza.
REUTERS/Mike Theiler
Morten Wendelbo, American University School of Public Affairs
The shutdown poses a very real threat to preparedness for future emergencies, such as natural disasters and disease outbreaks.
U.S. federal government employees, contract workers and other demonstrators march during a ‘Rally to End the Shutdown’ in D.C. on Jan. 10.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Bryan Keogh, The Conversation and Nicole Zelniker, The Conversation
In the last year, workplace culture faced major upheaval for working women. We at The Conversation put together our reporting on that very topic from 2018.
State government remains an important part of the Australian political landscape.
Wes Mountain/The Conversation
Despite intermittent calls to remove them, state governments provide important checks on federal power, and a number of difficult, vital services for the communities they serve.
A pot of flowers adorned with a cross hangs from the picket fence where University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was tied, beaten and left for dead in October 1998.
Gary Caskey/Reuters
Lara Schwartz, American University School of Public Affairs
Twenty years ago, Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered for being gay. A lawyer who helped implement hate crime legislation in Shepard’s name reflects on its strengths and limitations.
Nigeria needs to review existing structures to drive growth.
xtock/Shutterstock
Housing affordability has declined significantly over the past few decades. Slowly reducing negative gearing and capital gains, and switching to property taxes, could reverse this trend.
A meeting of the Council of Australian Governments.
AAP
The Productivity Commission has recommended reform to the relationship between the federal and state governments. Here are three areas that demand it.
FEMA’s handling of Hurricane Katrina inspired resentment in the affected communities – but did it bring about real change in the organization?
Dental Ben
Is the Federal Emergency Management Agency ready for the new era of disasters?
The federal government has long shown a hiring preference for veterans to help them find jobs following their service.
Sara D. Davis/AP Images for U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
The US government has long shown a hiring preference for veterans. But because of the demographics of the US military, this has limited the federal workforce’s diversity.
James Comey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
David Campbell, Binghamton University, State University of New York and Kristina Marty, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Trump’s budget director singled out Meals on Wheels as a waste of federal dollars. But identifying bad ways to spend taxpayer money is harder than it sounds.
Residential electricity prices in Canada and the United States are typically less a half those in Australia.
Tony Phillips/AAP
The insistence by the Fair Work Commission that the government make a submission on penalty rates was not about their position, but a call on the government to take some of the responsibility itself.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order implementing a federal government hiring freeze.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
The president manages more than 200 organizations that make up the federal government. A survey of 3,500 federal managers shows they struggle with recruiting and retaining skilled workers.
Many seniors pay less than younger workers on the same income as a result of special tax breaks for seniors.
www.shutterstock.com
The government’s message to asylum seekers is already clear: you are not welcome, and you will not be resettled in Australia. Surely that message does not need to be any harsher.
A relative of asylum seekers being held on Nauru cries at a press conference to launch an Amnesty International report.
Reuters/David Gray