Library guides: Social Science: Politics & government

Try these databases

Australian Public Affairs Full text (APA-FT) (InfoRMIT) This link opens in a new window
Wiley Online Library This link opens in a new window
ProQuest This link opens in a new window
For help searching - Proquest databases

Ebsco (Humanities International Complete and Academic Search Premier)

Factiva This link opens in a new window
3 simultaneous users.
Please use FireFox or Microsoft Edge to access Factiva.
There is a useful online Help Guide available from ProQuest. It includes help pages on Simple Search, Search Builder, Results pages, Companies/Markets, and Sample Searches.
Cambridge University Press Journals Collection This link opens in a new window
Collection of journals for the CUP Read & Publish agreement

Other Politics & Government journals that may be of interest but are not found in the above databases:

Assessment - Search tips for hot topics

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

Federalism OR "federal parliament" OR "federal government system" OR "national government" OR "commonwealth government"
benefits OR pros OR strengths
Australia*

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (Australia*) we could have written (Australia OR Australian OR Australians)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms (broadens your search)

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms (narrows your search)

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

democra* AND liberal AND Australia* AND senate

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (democra*) we could have written (democracy OR democratic OR democracies)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

democra* OR "liberal democracy" OR "liberal democratic" OR "parliamentary democracy"
constitution* OR "constitutional monarchy"
Australia*
accountab* OR transparenc* OR responsib*

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (democra*) we could have written (democracy OR democratic OR democracies)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

democra* AND liberal AND Australia* AND ("prime minister" OR "political executive" )

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (democra*) we could have written (democracy OR democratic OR democracies)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

"bill of rights" OR "citizens rights" OR "constitutional change"
Australia*

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (democra*) we could have written (democracy OR democratic OR democracies)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

"Electoral system" OR "two-party system" OR "two-party preferred" OR bipartisan
democra* OR "liberal democracy" OR "liberal democratic" OR "parliamentary democracy"
Australia*

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (democra*) we could have written (democracy OR democratic OR democracies)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

"transparent government" OR "accountable government" OR "government accountability" OR "government transparency" OR "responsible government" OR "government responsibility"
Parliament OR senate OR government
Australia*
accountab* OR transparenc* OR responsib*
liberal AND democra*

* is used to truncate a term, e.g. instead of (democra*) we could have written (democracy OR democratic OR democracies)

" " are used to search for an exact phrase

OR is used between similar concepts, so the search will return results with one of the terms

AND is used between different concepts, so the search will return results with both terms

Possible terms and alternate keywords

You will want to combine some of these depending on the specific topic you are interested in:

Federalism OR "federal parliament" OR "federal political system" OR "national government" OR commonwealth
Democracy OR "elective government" OR "constitutional government" or "representative government"
"State governments" OR "state parliament" OR statism
"Balance of power" OR equilibrium OR "power relations"
Crossbenchers OR minorities OR independents
"Electoral system" OR "two-party system" OR "two-party prefferred"
Australia
"Compulsory voting" OR "compulsory vote"

Try these web resources

Australian Commonwealth Government
Parliamentary Education Office
The Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) educates Australians about Australia's parliamentary democracy.
Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
Hansard is the name given to transcripts of parliamentary proceedings. The Senate and House of Representatives Hansards are available on the Internet each morning following a sitting day.
Australian PolicyOnline
Provides access to a wide range of research reports, working papers, discussion papers and statistics essential for effective public policy debate, decision making and implementation in Australia and New Zealand.
National Library of Australia: Australian Government
Government Online Directory - GOLD

European Court of Human Rights
An international court established in 1959. It rules on individual or state applications alleging violations of the civil and political rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Human Rights Watch
International Labour Organization
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
United Nations
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Rulers
World wide heads of state and heads of government

National Library of Australia
Organised by subject area, registered users of the National Library of Australia can access relevant databases and websites. View the links under Law & Politics (Politics & Government) and Social Sciences.
The World Bank - Data Resource
The World Bank is providing free and open access to a comprehensive set of data about development in countries around the globe.
Political Data Yearbook Interactive
The European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook (EJPR PDY), published by Wiley collects election results, national referenda, changes in government, and institutional reforms in 36 countries including all of the EU member states. Also has data for Australia, Canada and the USA.