ABSTRACT In recent white papers, Australia has identified rising authoritarianism in the region as a key challenge to its regional security interests. Foreign policy discourses highlight Australia’s normative commitment to global democracy, and Australia engages in a range of democratic promotion activities. Democracy promotion by Western states has come under scrutiny by analysts of different ideological persuasions. Critics have framed American ‘exceptionalism’ as really meaning ‘exemptionalism’, referring to its capacities to create exceptions for itself and its own conduct on the global stage, particularly regarding democracy and human rights. This paper argues that this exemptionalism is not limited to the United States: Australia also engages in practices that have undermined its democracy promotion principles. In some cases, Australia’s policies have enabled authoritarianism to flourish unchecked. This paper uses Australia’s refugee policy and its effect on the small Pacific Island state of Nauru as a case study. It highlights how the securitisation of asylum seekers for electoral purposes has contributed to Australia carving out an exception for itself in both adherence to international refugee law and the promotion of democracy. It finds that formal democratic processes within Australia have produced undemocratic outcomes in foreign policy.

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在印太地区启用威权主义：澳大利亚豁免主义

摘要 在最近的白皮书中，澳大利亚将本地区日益抬头的威权主义视为对其地区安全利益的主要挑战。外交政策话语强调澳大利亚对全球民主的规范承诺，澳大利亚参与了一系列民主促进活动。西方国家的民主促进受到不同意识形态说服的分析家的审查。批评者将美国的“例外主义”定义为真正意义上的“豁免主义”，指的是美国在全球舞台上为自己和自己的行为创造例外的能力，尤其是在民主和人权方面。本文认为，这种豁免主义不仅限于美国：澳大利亚也从事破坏其民主促进原则的做法。在某些情况下，澳大利亚的政策使威权主义得以肆无忌惮地蓬勃发展。本文以澳大利亚的难民政策及其对太平洋小岛瑙鲁的影响作为案例研究。它强调了为选举目的将寻求庇护者安全化如何有助于澳大利亚在遵守国际难民法和促进民主方面为自己创造一个例外。它发现澳大利亚国内的正式民主进程在外交政策中产生了不民主的结果。它强调了为选举目的将寻求庇护者安全化如何有助于澳大利亚在遵守国际难民法和促进民主方面为自己创造一个例外。它发现澳大利亚国内的正式民主进程在外交政策中产生了不民主的结果。它强调了为选举目的将寻求庇护者安全化如何有助于澳大利亚在遵守国际难民法和促进民主方面为自己创造一个例外。它发现澳大利亚国内的正式民主进程在外交政策中产生了不民主的结果。