This collection includes political science, public administration, and military science. Government concerns the management of government bodies from a theoretical and historical perspective and should be distinguished from the documents produced by government.
For more detail on collecting of official government publications see Government Publications.
This covers the study of state, government and politics, including political theories, parties and systems, elections, legislation, the relationship between governments and the people, and international relations. Public administration and policy at a national, state and local government level are also covered.
Political science is generally collected at a basic information level, though Australian political debate is emphasised and Victoria is collected comprehensively, as are current issues such as human rights, ethnicity, civil rights, censorship and other major issues of public debate. Main political points of view are covered systematically, while a representative selection of material on minority viewpoints is collected.
The Library has developed broad coverage of political science and international relations for most countries and for all significant political movements. A balanced collection of reference material and a wide selection of current serials are held.
Collecting is augmented by extensive holdings of government publications, including comprehensive collections of state and federal parliamentary debates, papers, acts, bills and statutory rules, and British government publications.
For Pacific countries and trading partners, including the British Isles, the European Community, and South-East Asia, collecting is at an intermediate level.
The emphasis is on practice rather than theory. Government publications and secondary works are acquired comprehensively for Victoria, at a research level for Australia, and selectively for other countries. The Library's substantial collection of handbooks, directories, gazettes, reports and other government publications relating to public administration are collected at an intermediate level. Collecting for public policy is focused on Victoria, with a substantial reference collection, and is now predominantly digital.
This includes the nature, theory and conduct of land, sea and air warfare and includes regimental history. Military science is closely associated with the history collection and holdings overlap with material on both world wars.
Military science is one of the Library's strengths, and collecting is generally an intermediate level for warfare, armed forces, military equipment and strategy. Collecting of works on the armed forces of Australia and their involvement in conflict is carried out at a research level, and both world wars and the Vietnam War are emphasised. The collection’s strength lies in government publications concerned with military sciences, including handbooks, lists, manuals, technical works and related materials, particularly for the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia published in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Library holds a strong collection of historical works on military subjects, including regimental history and archival materials such as casualty lists and medal winners.
