Publications

Our publications are the most important means of contact between the Centre's ideas and its general readership. Since 1976, The Centre for Independent Studies has produced some of the most authoritative publications in Australasian academia. From the influential Lands of Shame to the authoritative Will China Fail? CIS has published hundreds of publications covering topics from the social policy to legal affairs to religion and education.
In addition to books, the CIS publishes a range of shorter publications: Issue Analyses deal with controversial and current issues and Policy Mongraphs investigate and offer policy solutions. Since 1984, Policy magazine has published feature articles and reviews authored by some of the foremost national and international thinkers on public policy and ideas. The quality of writing and the diversity of topics in Policy ensure its status as a 'must read' by leading politicans, businesspeople and academics.
Hard copies of our publications are available for purchase through the bookstore. Many of the smaller publications are also available for download.
CONTRIBUTIONS
If you would like to write for The Centre for Independent Studies, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with 'writing for CIS' in the subject field. We ask that you contact us for approval before writing a piece for the Centre's publications. The Centre retains the right to edit any accepted article upon submission. The Centre would like to stress that the views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre's staff, advisers, directors or officers.
Please contact the Centre at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for permission to reprint our publications.
All Federalism Publications
TARGET30: Towards smaller government and future prosperity
TARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government, supported by a series of research reports providing policy solutions...
TARGET30 SNAPSHOT: Towards smaller government and future prosperity
TARGET30 is a campaign promoting smaller government, supported by a series of research reports providing policy solutions...
Submission to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government
Should local government be recognised in the Constitution? And would such recognition make a practical difference? International...
Australia’s Angry Mayors: How Population Growth Frustrates Local Councils
To understand the effects of a growing population on Australia’s councils, CIS surveyed local authorities from all over...
FEATURE: Democratic Accountability and the Australian Federal System of Government
With better design, federalism can still bring government closer to voters.
Beyond Symbolism: Finding a Place for Local Government in Australia's Constitution
Local governments could provide better services, like schools and fast development approvals if they received a higher proportion...
Where to for Australian Federalism?
Edited by Robert Carling with contributions from Cheryl Saunders, Jonathan Pincus, Wolfgang Kasper, Cliff Walsh and Ken Baxter. ...
FEATURE: Fixing Australian Federalism
For federalism to work, the states need clear roles and their own revenue.
Indigenous Governance At the Crossroads: The Way Forward
Under the current local government framework, there are too many layers of government in remote Indigenous communities, resulting...
Ten Advantages of a Federal Constitution: And How to Make the Most of Them
Australia’s federal system is being attacked and undermined with debate focussing solely on its disadvantages. Ten Advantages...
COMMENT: Ten Advantages of a Federal Constitution
The contitutional debate in Australia tends to concentrate on and exaggerate the minor inconveniences of federalism, making...
FEATURE: The New Politics- An Australian Story
How to address the malaise in Australian democracy.
BOOK REVIEW: On Voting: A Public Choice Approach
On Voting: A Public Choice Approach by Gordon Tullock (Edward Elgar for the John Locke Institute, Cheltenham, 1998.)
BOOK REVIEW: How to Win the Constitutional War and Give Both Sides What They Want
How to Win the Constitutional War and Give Both Sides What They Want by Tony Abbott (Australians for Constitutional Monarchy...
BOOK REVIEW: The Paradox of Parties: Australian Political Parties in the 1990s
The Paradox of Parties: Australian Political Parties in the 1990s edited by Marian Simms (Allen & Unwin, 1996.)
COMMENT: Direct Democracy: The Case Against
Politicians have an incentive to get it right- as do their advisers.
BOOK REVIEW: Developments in Australian Politics
Developments in Australian Politics edited by Judith Brett, James Gillespie and Murray Goot (Macmillan, 1994.)
REVIEW ARTICLE: Two Faces of Australian Republicanism
Monarchists and minimalists risk missing the important constitutional issues.
REVIEW ARTICLE: Civic Community and Modern Democracy
Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy by Robert D. Putnam, Robert Leonardi and Raffaella Y. Nanetti (Princeton...
Restoring The True Republic
In this Policy Forum, two lawyers and an economist document the drift in Australia's constitutional practices away from republicanism...
FEATURE: New Zealand's Electoral Reform
In November 1993 New Zealanders will vote not only in a general election but also in a binding referendum on electoral reform....
BOOK REVIEW: Redesigning Australian Federalism
Taxation and Fiscal Federalism: Essays in Honour of Russell Matthews, edited by G. Brennan, B. S. Grewal and P. Groenewegen...