Political science

CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online.

New York: Columbia University Press, 1997–. A digital library of working papers, journals, books, course materials, and case studies on world affairs.

LexisNexis: Congressional.

Bethesda: LexisNexis, 1970–. The most comprehensive database of information on the U.S. Congress. This database provides bibliographic citations, descriptive abstracts, and the full texts of many documents including bills, laws (with legislative histories), committee reports, the Congressional Record, and more.

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications.

Washington: Government Printing Office, 1895–. An index to publications from federal agencies and Congress, arranged by issuing body and indexed by author, title, subject, and series or report number. Current years are available online, with free access to the index from 1995 to the present, at http://catalog.gpo.gov.

PAIS International.

New York: Public Affairs Information Service, 1972–. An index to books, articles, and government documents on public affairs, including politics, social issues, and economics. International in scope, this work combines the Public Affairs Information Service (1915–90), a long-running publication that is a good resource for historical analysis of politics, and PAIS Foreign Language Index (1972–90).

Country Studies

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html. Online editions of book-length country profiles produced for U.S. diplomats by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. The site includes substantial information on each nation’s culture, history, economy, and political system and is searchable by topic and country. Be sure to note publication dates; some country studies are more than ten years old and may include outdated information. Some libraries may have print versions.

LSU Libraries Federal Agencies Directory

http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/index.html. Offers links to searchable federal agency Web sites, arranged hierarchically and alphabetically.

National Security Archive

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv. The Web site of a project based at George Washington University that has collected the world’s largest nongovernmental archive of declassified documents that were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, many of them covering controversial issues. Though some of the documents are not accessible through the Web site, large collections of papers called briefing books are available on a variety of foreign affairs topics. This site offers a rich set of primary source documents on key international issues.

THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet

http://thomas.loc.gov. Provides the text of bills introduced in Congress along with committee action from the 104th Congress (1995) to the present. Users can search the site by bill number or keyword to learn about the legislative process, find a state’s members of Congress, or access a comprehensive database on current and past legislation. A service of the Library of Congress, the site also provides a full-text search of the Congressional Record, a daily record of activity in Congress, and committee information. Most official state Web sites provide similar bill-tracking information for state legislatures.

United Nations

http://www.un.org. Offers news releases, virtual tours, documents, and basic information about the United Nations and its bodies. Three different search engines explore a large database and list of links. The site includes a wealth of reports, statistical data, and other information on human rights, international law, peacekeeping missions, and other topics.

University of Michigan Documents Center

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs. Offers a well-organized and current list of links to local, state, federal, foreign, and international Web sites, with official information as well as links to statistical information sources and a guide to political science material on the Web.

Almanac of American Politics.

Ed. Michael Barone and Richard E. Cohen. Washington: National Journal, 1972–. Provides an overview of American politics at both national and state levels, giving voting results on key issues and state-by-state analyses of political concerns. Updated every two years.

America Votes.

Ed. Richard M. Scammon. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1956–. A biennial summary of state and national election returns; useful for historical as well as current information.

Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to Congress.

6th ed. 2 vols. Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 2007. Provides detailed histories and discussions of congressional processes and issues. Similar guides put out by the same publisher cover the presidency, the Supreme Court, and U.S. elections.

CQ Almanac Plus.

Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 2001–. An annual summation of U.S. politics that analyzes key issues, important legislation, voting records of congressional representatives, and major Supreme Court decisions. Continues Congressional Quarterly Almanac (1945–2000). Some libraries may provide access to this series through CQ Almanac Online.

CQ Weekly Report.

Washington: Congressional Quarterly, 1967–. A weekly publication covering events in Washington. Includes a detailed index every six months. Another weekly that provides similar coverage is the National Journal.

Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy.

2nd ed. 3 vols. New York: Scribner, 2002. Offers essays on topics related to foreign-policy issues and doctrines, such as terrorism, environmental diplomacy, and refugee policies. This work is more theoretical than the Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations (see next entry).

Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations.

Ed. Bruce W. Jentleson and Thomas G. Paterson. 4 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Includes more than 1,000 articles covering historical events, relations with other countries, biographical sketches of leaders associated with foreign policy, treaties, doctrines, and key concepts. Published under the auspices of the Council on Foreign Relations, the work also provides chronologies and comparative country data.

International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration.

Ed. Jay M. Shafrirz. 4 vols. Boulder: Westview, 1998. Covers topics in public administration such as regional development, emergency management, budget reform, cost of living adjustments, and more. This work includes coverage of principles, theories, legal concepts, and management topics as well as definitions of terms used in the field of public policy.

Political Handbook of the World.

Ed. Arthur S. Banks and Thomas C. Muller. Binghamton: CSA Publications, 1927–. Covers countries of the world, giving basic background information, discussions of political parties and structures, and analyses of current political trends. Updated annually.

United States Government Manual.

Washington: Government Printing Office, 1973–. Outlines the organization of federal government agencies, providing organizational charts, contact names and addresses, and descriptions of agencies’ missions. Also available online at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual.