Harvard's Baker Library provides an excellent guide to government for researchers with a business focus.
Eigen's Political & Historical Quotations. Well organized and easily searched. Not limited to political figures.
The Political Sciences Resources Web Page is comprehensive and appropriately global.
Several university libraries provide guides to political science resources. The University of Michigan's is one of the best: Political Science Resourcs on the Web is comprehensive and current.
While somewhat specialized, Working Paper Sites in Political Science is helpful for access to the grey/gray literature.
Guide to
Political Research On-line is well organized and has considerable
content.
The Capitol
Spotlight,, a joint
service of C-Span and CQ, is an on-line current awareness newsletter.
Excellent and must reading for anyone interested in what is happening
today in Washington.
The *National Journal* offers access to excellent current information on what government is up to. Their web site provides access to useful breaking news. The Early Bird feature is especially useful and the free version gives you a quick overview of important political news. National Journal's Policy Central [via the UT Libraries Databases] provides full-text access to the most important NJ publications. Essential for news and legislative tracking. The NJ's Almanac of American Politics is an especially well regarded reference source.
ABC New: the Note
does quite a good job with political news and events each day.
The American Government and Politics Portal
This Nation, is probably the
most comprehensive site on
the WWW.
OMB Watch tracks the activities of the White House Office of Management and Budget which is at the heart of executive branch initiatives. An excellent current awareness tool for the serious student.
Political Graveyard is a reasonably comprehensive site for U.S. political biography "or The Web Site That Tells Where the Dead Politicians are Buried." Surprising amount of information is available.There are several good web sites for current information on U.S. politics. Political Information is a search engine for political news and opinion.
Politics 1 is an objective guide to U.S. politics. Good for current information on political figures in the news. Quite comprehensive. Note the Directory of U.S. Political Parties too.
Washington Post's Votes Database [from 1991] includes every Congressional vote. Well organized.
The U.S. the Federal Election Commission
The Institute
for Research in Social Science at UNC Chapel Hill
provides the
Public Opinion Poll Question Database. Although oriented more to those
designing reliable questions, response data is sometimes included.
Funding political campaigns remains a controversial topic. The Open Secrets site of the Center for Responsive Politics provides useful information.
Common Cause offers the Soft Money Laundromat.CQ Politics.com includes objective, clearly presented information on the 2008 elections.
Internet Public Library Election & Voting Resources pages provides a clear, helpful guide but for the 2006 November election.
National Election Studies contains extensive time-series data.Opensecrets.org is a good place to look for information on the major political parties, has quite a good search engine.
Project Vote Smart provides accurate, current information on voting records, issue positions, campaign finances and interest group ratings as well as biographical content.
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School includes a variety of useful items including an excellent collection on the Federalist Papers.
Foreign Relations of the United States, the offical documentary record.
Images of American Political History. Browse by era, keyword or topic. More than 500 images.
Findlaw provides
access to authoritative content on current legal issues. Also
includes columns and book reviews.
The Law Scout provides
access to
pathfinders and guides created by more than 130 law schools.
A good beginning spot is the Guide to Public Opinion Web Sites by Thompson and Conley.
Associated Press/IPSOS Polling
Harris Interactive includes Harris polls from 1998.
National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Polls since 1941. General Social Survey since 1972.
Opinion-Pages provides links to editorial and op-ed pages to about 600 world English language newspapers, most in the U.S.
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press does an excellent job of tracking attitudes and perceptions, including political opinions. Access to data sets provided six months after reports are issued. Well organized, easily used website.
The Polling Report presents relatively current polling results and data with politics and policy one category. Independent, objective resource on trends. Much of the content relates to government and politics.
Pollster.com provides access to a variety of polls about politcal candidates and political issues. Featured charts interest and provide another perspective.
Public Agenda Online provides issue guides on major topics that include relevant public opinion data.
Public Opinion Polls. A research guide from the University of Pennsylvania Library.
The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research houses the largest library of public opinion data in the world and much of it is available via this WWW site.
Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan.
ClassBrain State Reports is informative and well organized with much useful material for K12 students and teachers. Not as much on government as I would like, but....
The University of Michigan Documents Center has done another
wonderful
job with their
Statistical Resources on the Web: Political Science
. This
is a comprehensive site that is well organized and easy to use.
Harvard's Kennedy
School of Government Library provides a lengthy list of "centers
for research and policy development" and their web links.
The University
of Michigan Documents Center has an excellent list of political
science resources on think tanks.
Harvard's Baker
Library issues a substantial guide to country research as well as
separate guides to specific countries.
The Census Bureau's International Programs Center provides this International Data Base. Includes a computerized data bank with statistical tables of demographic and socio-economic data for all countries.
The Constitution Finder includes constitutions, charters, and related documents for a number of countries.
Country Indicators for
Foreign Policy at Carleton University gathers statistical
information on
economic, political, social, and cultural environments as an aid to
strategic decision-making.
CrisisWatch is a monthly
bulletin providing brief summaries of conflicts throughout the world.
Analytical and objective.
CyberSchoolBus is aimed at a school aged audience. This easily used UN database contains statistical data from all UN member countries.
Europa World Online is a fee based service via the UTK database portal. It includes detailed country survey with considerable political information on more than 250 countries. Fairly expensive, but an excellent source.
Flags of the World is
colorful, informative
and fascinating. Flags may be reached via country name or by clicking
on
maps. Great for students needing accurate flag images for country
reports.
Global Statistics include a wide array of statistics, including longest, largest, biggest.
Historical Country Names provides a handy list of formerly used names with the current ones.
Infoplease has a well organized series of reasonably comprehensive country profiles. Good for quick answer questions.
The Information
Gateway: Europe/NIS provides access to selected country specific
documents for a variety of countries in various stages of economic
development, with a focus on newer states or those with a less
developed economy.
The Library of Congress Country Studies are good for more in depth information, but are not always current.
The Library of Congress Global Gateway: World Culture & Resources provides access to a considerable variety of material. Note especially the link to research guides and databases.
The Lijphart Elections Archive contains data or links to voting data for over 60 countries.
Nationmaster.com provides quick and well organized access to 646 statistical indicators based on information from the CIA World Handbook. The graphs/images are produced quickly and are easily used. A high impact site.
Political Database of the Americas by Georgetown University and the OAS is an authoritative source for all 35 countries in the hemisphere.
SIPRI
provides reasonably objective and current information on military
expenditures throughout the world.
The International Relations and Security Network in Zurich offers this full-text search service for more than 200 sites focused on international relations and security.
The Stockholm International
Peace Institute
[SIPRI] has an excellent database on international relations and
security trends.
Those interested in international relations and organizations should visit the WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources .
Constitutions
of the World is another service by Findlaw.
Policy
Research Watch provides intellectual access to articles in English
language periodicals and working papers published by public policy
research organizations.
Vital Statistics on Congress: [yrs] by Ornstein, Mann, and Malbin is a thorough and comprehensive collection that will answer many reference queries. Contains both authoritative data and analysis. A CD-ROM edition is also available, allowing users to download data into their own spreadsheet or statistical software.
Facts & Figures on Government Finance by the Tax Foundation examines taxing and spending of governments at all levels. State Statistical Trends is a monthly periodical with twelve topical issues in a format that is relatively easy to understand.
The International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who is a standard ready reference item. It covers the major international organizations, about 400 countries, dependencies, and territories, and biographies of about 7,000 prominent people. The Europa yearbooks
1. A student has found a reference to the Social Democratic Party of Germany and wants to find current information about it. What sources would be useful for this query?
2. A curious adult at the public library wants to know how many gypsies live in Europe and where. Are gypsies a racial or ethnic minority? Why do they often suffer attacks by political parties?
3. You have been besieged by high school debaters who need information on the 2005/2006 high school debate topic: "Resolved: That "the United States federal government should substantially decrease its authority either to detain without charge or to search without probable cause." Which sources would be most useful in compiling pro and con positions on this topic?
4. There are many "think tanks" in the United States devoted to government and politics. The Cato Institute is one well-known example. What is a "think tank"? What do they do? How would you identify and locate information about others?
5. An interested adult is interested in learning where congressional candidates get funding. Select a local candidate and see what you can discover. Which sources are most useful in finding sources on candidate funding?
6. A student has come to the library looking for information on the British Constitution. She is familiar with the Magna Carta and assumes that the British Constitution might be like ours. What can you find out?
7. A patron is interested in current military spending in Africa, especially in the larger countries. You might begin with The Military Balance [Ref UA 15 .L562 yr]. Other sources for this information?
8. The Europa World Yearbook and its regional surveys of the world--for example,South America, Central America, and the Caribbean [yr] , The Far East and Australasia [yr], and Africa South of the Sahara [yr] are good examples]--have long had an excellent reputation. You are asked to help a patron find both background and "Recent History" on the political situation in {select one} Norway, Algeria, or Singapore. Compare treatment in the appropriate Europa yearbooks with Statesman's Year-Book and/or Political Handbook of the World [Ref JF 37 .P6].
9. A patron has encountered these terms in her reading and wants to know what they stand for: "ANG," "free rider," and "libertarian." Most useful sources? {Please do only ONE of the dictionary exercises.}
10. A student needs to know more about "cultural imperialism" for a short paper she is writing. Useful sources?
11. A student needs to know more about the "dictatorship of the proletariat." Useful sources?
12. A high school student taking a course in U.S. government and politics needs help in defining these terms: "gypsy moths" and "cemetery vote." Which source is best for these terms?
13. A patron wants to know more about the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). What can you discover? Where would you begin?
14. A patron wants to know how much Russia spends on weapons each year compared to the United States. You might begin with Brassey's Defense Yearbook by the Centre for Defense Studies. What other sources might be useful?
15. A school teacher, hoping for freebies, wants a list of foreign embassies and consulates in the United States so that her third grade students can each collect literature on a different foreign county. Where would you begin? Would you suggest alternative sources of information for these third graders? Which ones?
16. How many people in your state voted in the last presidential election? Which sources were most useful?
17. A user has read somewhere that Nigeria is the most corrupt nation in the world, and wishes to verify this statement. Useful sources?
18. An undergraduate student wants a list of hate groups in the U.S. Where would you begin? Best sources?
19. A public library patron who is a member of a local hobby organization needs help on how to run a proper meeting. In particular, she needs to know how many members must be present for there to be a quorum. You might begin with *Robert's Rules of Order*. Which edition seems best?
20. Congressional Quarterly is a major publisher of reference sources on U.S. Government and politics. Characterize this publisher and its most important works.
21. A public library patron wants to know how the salary of your state legislators compares with salaries for legislators in comparable states. He suspects that the your state legislators are grossly overpaid.
*22. A public library patron wants to know which Congressional committees your House member serves on. The patron would also like to know more about his or her voting record.
23. A school child needs to know the number of members of the United Nations. She also needs to know which nations are not members and which is the smallest member.
24. A student needs to know which U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals covers your state region, where that court meets, and who the judges are. You might begin with the Judicial Staff Directory [Ref KF 8700 .A19J83], but consider other sources.
25. A patron wants to compare the state prison population for your state for the last three years, particularly the rate of increase. You might begin with the Book of the States [Ref JK 2403 .B62]. Other useful sources on this topic?
26. A student has decided to write a report on eco-terrorists. Useful sources for this topic?
27. A public library patron wishes to browse in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Useful approaches? Best source?
28. A student of political history wants to know how many popular votes Harry Truman received in his presidential campaign. You might begin with CQ's Guide to U.S. Elections [Ref JK 1967 .C662 1994]. What other sources are useful for political history involving election statistics?
29. A patron wants to know how many federal dollars are received by your local County and how that has changed over time. You might begin with the County and City Data Book [Ref HA 203 .C68 yr and also on WWW].