Jon Fraenkel, BA, MA, D Phil (University of Sussex)
Fellow, State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Program (SSGM)

Email: jon.fraenkel@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

Jon Fraenkel is a multi-disciplinary social scientist, with a background in economic history and political science. He has lived in Fiji for 11 years where he was working at the University of the South Pacific. He specialises in contemporary politics in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, electoral systems, constitutional design and the political economy of the Pacific Islands.

Research Interests

Fiji, Solomon Islands, conflict, constitutional design, economic history of Oceania, electoral systems.

Key Publications

• The Manipulation of Custom; From Uprising to Intervention in the Solomon Islands, Victoria University Press & Pandanus Books, Wellington & Canberra, November 2004
• From Election to Coup in Fiji; The 2006 Campaign & its Aftermath, Institute of Pacific Studies, Suva, & Asia-Pacific Press, Canberra, 2007 (co-edited with Stewart Firth).
• 'Political Culture, Representation and Electoral Systems in the Pacific Islands', Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 43, (3), 2005, Special Issue on Pacific Electoral Systems (with Bernard Grofman, University of California).
• 'Does the Alternative Vote Foster Moderation in Ethnically Divided Societies? The Case of Fiji', Comparative Political Studies, 39 (5), 2006, pp623-651 (with Professor Bernard Grofman, University of California, Irvine).
• 'The Impact of Electoral Systems on Women's Representation in Pacific Parliaments', in A Woman's Place is in the House – the House of Parliament; Research to Advance Women's Political representation in Forum Island Countries, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Suva, 2006.
• 'Beyond MIRAB: Do Aid and Remittances Crowd Out Export Growth in Pacific Microeconomies?', Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 47, (1), 2006, special issue – MIRAB Twenty Years On, (ed) Geoff Bertram.
• 'The Coming Anarchy in Oceania? A Critique of the "Africanisation of the South Pacific" Thesis', Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 42, (1), 2004, pp1-34.

Career Highlights

Lecturer in Economic History, University of Essex (1994-95); Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Economic History, University of the South Pacific (1995-2004); Research Fellow (Associate Professor), Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Development & Governance (2004-2006); Adviser to Pacific Islands Forum on electoral system design to enhance the representation of women in the Pacific Islands.