Public Policy

Databases | Books | Catalogue searches | Journals

Databases

• ABI/INFORM
  Use search terms "public policy" or "policy making" in the Subject heading field.
• AGIS Plus Text
  Australian and New Zealand law journals. Use search term "social policy".
• APA-FT (Australian Public Affairs Full Text)
  Covers some New Zealand content.
• EconLit
  An index of international economics literature, providing access to journal artices, dissertations, and working papers.
• International Country Risk Guide
  Annual ratings for political, financial and economic risk for over 140 countries. Produced by the PRS Group.
• MEDLINE
  Journal articles in all areas of medicine, including public policy related content.
• nzresearch.org.nz
  New Zealand research, including theses.
• OECD iLibrary
  The annual Economic Policy Reforms publication includes a section on New Zealand.
• PAIS
  Covers political, social, and public policy issues.
• ProQuest Research Library
  Use search terms "public policy" or "policy making" in the Subject heading field.
• ProQuest Social Science Journals
  Use search terms "public policy" or "policy making" in the Subject heading field.
• RePEc (Research Papers in Economics)
  The world's largest online collection of economics research, including working papers and articles, covering many subject areas including public policy.
• SAGE Journals
  Includes political science and business / economics.
• Scopus
  Includes key public policy journals.
• UN iLibrary
  Publications from the United Nations Secretariat, and its funds and programmes.

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Books

A selection of key books include:

• Araral, E. (2013). Routledge handbook of public policy. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.
• Cook. L.W. (2001). Looking past the 20th century: A selection of long-term statistical trends that influence and shape public policy in New Zealand. Wellington: Statistics New Zealand.
• McGee, D.G. (2017). Parliamentary practice in New Zealand (4th ed.). Auckland: Oratia Books. This is also available online.
• Moran, M., Rein, M. & Goodin, R. E. (2010). The Oxford handbook of public policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Rowley, C.K. & Schneider, F. (2004). The encyclopedia of public choice. Boston: Kluwer Academic.
• Shaw, R. & Eichbaum, C. (2011). Public policy in New Zealand: Institutions, processes and outcomes (3rd ed.). Auckland: Pearson Education.

Catalogue searches

Use the Catalogue to find additional material, including print and online books, theses, and journals, held in the Library.

Subject headings

Subject headings can be a good way of locating highly relevant content. Copy and paste any of these headings into a Catalogue Advanced Search choosing 'in subject' and 'exact phrase' from the drop down menus.

You can also combine a subject heading search with additional keywords, such as New Zealand.

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Journals

To find a list of journals available through the Library, use the subject headings above and combine with the keyword periodicals.

A selection of public policy journals:

• The Cato Journal
• Health Policy
• Health Policy and Planning
• Inside Wellington - a weekly report on NZ parliament, policy, and legislation.
• Journal of European Public Policy
• Journal of Health Services Research & Policy
• Journal of Public Economics
• Journal of Public Policy
• Journal of Social Policy
• New Zealand Population Review
• Policy
• Policy Quarterly - from the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington
• Policy Studies: The Journal of the Policy Studies Institute
• Policy Studies Journal
• The Review of Policy Research
• Social Indicators Research
• Social Philosophy & Policy
• Social Policy and Society
• Social Policy Journal of New Zealand: Te Puna Whakaaro

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Official publications | Government business | Ministries and government departments | Advisory committees | Policy units | Local government

Official publications

• Journals of the House of Representatives
  The Journals are the official record of the proceedings of the House of Representatives, including papers presented to the House, Bills and their progress, members of select committees, and petitions presented.
• Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives
  Includes annual reports and other reports documenting the work of government departments and public organisations as well as reports of select committees and commissions of inquiry. AtoJs Online contains digitised volumes of the Appendices to the Journals from 1858 onwards. New volumes are added periodically as the digitisation project progresses.
• Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)
  Hansard is the official report of parliamentary debates. Includes all speeches. Access to Historical Hansard, 1854-1985, digitized by the Hathi Trust.
• Parliamentary Bulletin
  Published at the end of each sitting week, the Bulletin contains information about the business of the House and its committees from that week and any prior non-sitting weeks.
• Parliamentary Order Paper and questions
• New Zealand Gazette
  The official Government newspaper.

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Government business

• Cabinet Committees
  • Guide to Cabinet and Cabinet Committee Processes
  • Advice for Writing Cabinet Papers
  • Use Google to search for specific Cabinet policy papers.
• Royal Commissions and Commissions of Inquiry
  For matters of very significant public interest. See the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, shoulder number H for Royal Commissions content.
  • Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy
  • Royal Commission on Auckland Governance
• Search the archives of the New Zealand Government
• Registered political parties of New Zealand

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Ministries and government departments

Ministry websites are an excellent place to find reports and documents on policy and legislation related matters. Identify the organisation relevant to your research topic.

• The Hub
  Social science research undertaken or commissioned by central government in New Zealand, including Ministries and Crown Entities. Topics cover education, health and wellbeing, crime and justice, economy, families, children and young people.
• Consumer Affairs legislation and policy
• The Department of Internal Affairs
  Including censorship, community development, fire, gaming, identity, local government, and racing.
• Ministry for Primary Industries law and policy
• Ministry for the Environment
  • Climate change and Climate change information, New Zealand
  • Marine environment
• Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
  • Labour market strategy - workplace and workforce policies
• Ministry of Education strategies and policies
• Ministry of Health
  • Cancer programme
  • Drug policy
  • Māori health
  • New Zealand Health Strategy
• Ministry of Social Development
  • Publications and resources
  • Social policy
• Ministry of Youth Development resources and reports
• State Services Commission
  Statutory authority appointed to manage the public service and wider state sector organisations. Includes publications on policy advice.
• Treasury
  • Statement of Intent
  • Policy perspective papers
  • Working papers
  • Costing of political party policies

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Advisory committees

• Ministerial health committees
• National Health Committee
• Office of Ethnic Communities
• Social Policy Evaluation and Research Committee (SPEaR)

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Policy units

• Environmental Protection Authority
• Health Research Council of New Zealand
• Inland Revenue Tax Policy
• Policy Project, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (Superu)
  Formerly known as the Families Commission. Includes research reports.
• NZ On Air strategy and policy publications
• Radio Spectrum policy
• Reserve Bank of New Zealand Monetary policy

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Local government

• Auckland Council policies
• Auckland Governance, from the Department of Internal Affairs

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Legislation | Select Committees | Committee progress reports | News from Select Committees

Legislation

• The legislative process
• How a bill becomes law
• All speeches and debates in the Chamber, as well as the daily questions, are recorded in Hansard (see also the Library subscription database Hansard and Historical Hansard dating from 1854). This is a useful source for discussion on legislation and is the official report of parliamentary debates.

See also the detailed New Zealand Legal Resources guide for links to finding bills and acts.

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Select Committees

• The select committee forms an integral part of the New Zealand legislative process and is the forum for public input into the parliamentary process.
• About Select Committees, including the schedule of meetings. The Schedule of Meetings record when a Select Committee is open to the public. When committees are not hearing evidence, proceedings are not open to the public.
• Weekly select committee summaries
• Make a submission, plus guidelines for making a submission.

Committee progress reports

• Parliamentary Bulletin / Journals of the House of Representatives (and online)
  These publications track the progress of Select Committee reports, including when they are presented to the House. Information on the shoulder number is included.
• Progress of Legislation
  This includes the date Select Committee reports are tabled in Parliament.
• Select Committee Reports
  Online from 2002. For earlier reports see I papers in the Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand.
• Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand include government responses to Select Committees (shoulder no. A5).

News from Select Committees

• Committee media statements
• Latest Releases, from the NZ Government.
• Parliament Today
  Provides coverage of the House and select committees.
• Newztext Plus
  Search a range of news providers, including Scoop and Radio NZ.

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New Zealand | International

New Zealand

• Centre for Public Policy Evaluation, Massey University
• Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences, University of Auckland
• Housing New Zealand Research and Policy
• Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington
• Institute of Public Administration New Zealand (IPANZ)
• Institute of Public Policy, Auckland University of Technology
• Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
• The New Zealand Initiative

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International

• Australian Policy Online
• The Cato Institute
• The Center for American Politics and Public Policy, University of Washington.
• Center for Health Policy / Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford
• Economic and Social Research Council, UK
• European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
• Health Systems and Policy Monitor, Europe
• Institute for Public Policy Research, UK
• Internet Public Policy Society
• New Policy Institute, UK
• NIRA World Directory of Think Tanks
• Policy Library
• Policy Network
• Policy Studies Institute, UK
• RAND Corporation, USA
• School for Policy Studies research centres, UK

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Chicago 16th (footnotes)

• Chicago manual of style online

APA 6th

• Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.)
• APA style guide to electronic references (6th ed.)
• APA style blog
• APA Referencing: A guide for business students
  A wide range of examples of referencing and in-text citations, developed by the Business librarians.

Harvard

• Harvard referencing guide

Support

• Referencing
  Access a range of tools and support material to assist your referencing work.

Examples

• Quick©ite
  Use this interactive tool to view examples of references.
  Covers a range of styles used at the University of Auckland.