Most other countries have laws that also prohibit the urging or incitement of violence. Such laws are designed to recognise that, in a liberal democracy, it is not permissible to use the cloak of freedom of expression to encourage crimes of violence, writes Edward Santow.

Presidential elections in the United States are decided not by the popular vote but by the election of state delegates to the Electoral College. In this APO Backgrounder, Rodney Tiffen describes how the system works and what it means for the result - and looks at the latest polling from the United States.

The Nationals and the Greens were the star performers last Saturday in Western Australia, writes Norm Kelly.

This report presents a summary of the findings of an exit poll commissioned by APO during the 2007 federal election campaign, and compares those findings with the results from the newly released Australian Election Study and the Auspoll exit poll.

There are only two ways a country can sustain increases in productivity over time: through enhancing its skill base or by innovating more successfully. New figures reveal a very patchy performance, write Paul Jenson and Elizabeth Webster.