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
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All Civil Liberties Publications
FEATURE: The Battlelines of Interpretation in Racial Vilification Laws
Racial vilification law ensnares courts in political disputes.
Alcohol Policy and the Politics of Moral Panic
New Zealand’s proposed liquor legislation marks a return to old attitudes towards alcohol regulation that perversely believe,...
Behind the Moral Curtain: The Politics of a Charter of Rights
Elise Parham argues that a federal charter of rights would be used by special interest groups as a powerful political tool....
BOOK REVIEW:The Henson Case
The Henson Case by David Marr (Text Publishing, 2008).
BOOK REVIEW: What Price Security? Taking Stock of Australia's Anti-Terror Laws
What Price Security? Taking Stock of Australia's Anti-Terror Laws by Andrew Lynch and George Williams (UNSW Press, 2006).
The Long Eye of the Law Closed Circuit Television, Crime Prevention and Civil Liberties
The NSW Law Reform Commission is considering a proposal that all CCTV surveillance camera footage older than 21 days should...
COMMENT: Can We Preserve Liberty in an Age of Terrorism? Two Perspectives
Security is essential for the enjoyment of freedom in a liberal society, but this does not mean that we should accept security...
COMMENT: Can a Liberal Society Tolerate Illiberal Elements?
Interpretation of the libertarian first principle- a belief in individual freedom- presents a difficult philosophical choice...
BOOK REVIEW: The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory
The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory by Richard Posner (Belknap Press, 1999.)
COMMENT: Polycentric Law in a New Century
The feasibility of privately produced law.
FEATURE: Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value?
Moving toward, or away from, wage justice for women?
BOOKNOTES: On the Relevance of Metaethics
On the Origin of MetaEthics edited by Jocelyne Couture and Kai Nielsen (University of Calgary Press, 1997.)
FEATURE: The Moral Habit
An interview with James Q. Wilson.
BOOK NOTES: When Strangers Cooperate: Using Social Conventions to Govern Ourselves
When Strangers Cooperate: Using Social Conventions to Govern Ourselves by David W. Brown (The Free Press, 1996.)
FEATURE: The Gestative Propensity of Constitutional Implications
"Was there something wrong with the implication of reedom of political communication in the first place? In my respectful...
FEATURE: Politically Impossible?
How ideas, not interests and circumstances, determine public policy.
FEATURE: Threats to Freedom: Then and Now
The Mont Pelerin Society after 50 years.
BOOK REVIEW: Civilizing Cyberspace: Policy Power, and the Information Superhighway
Civilizing Cyberspace: Policy Power, and the Information Superhighway by Steven E. Miller (Addison-Wesley/ACM Publishing,...
FEATURE: Racist Speech and Freedom of Speech
The illiberal effects of racial vilification laws.
FEATURE: The New World Order and the 'Right to Intervene'
The establishment by the UN of a safe haven for the Kurds in Northern Iraq illustrates the emergence of a new doctrine in...