General Political Science Resources


Almanac of Policy Issues
http://www.policyalmanac.org/
Background information, archived documents, and links on major U.S. public policy issues.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

American Presidency Project
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/
The American Presidency Project at UC Santa Barbara, Department of Political Science has provided the text of the Public Papers of the Presidents from 1929-1992/93 along with other interesting stuff like Inaugural Addresses and National Political Party Platforms (back to 1840).
(Last checked 09/03/08)

AmericanPresident.org
http://www.americanpresident.org
Targeting college undergraduates and high school students, American President.org is the Internet’s most comprehensive, non-partisan resource on the history and workings of the American presidency. The website includes extensive biographies of every president and first lady; richly detailed event timelines; biographies of cabinet officials, presidential staffers, and advisers; multimedia resource galleries for each of the 43 presidencies; essays on key areas of presidential responsibility; and articles about White House administrative units. An editorial board of renowned scholars oversees all site content.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

APSA PROceedings
http://convention2.allacademic.com/one/apsa/apsa08/index.php?cmd=apsa08
APSA allows the public to browse or search through conference proceedings from 2002 to date.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Documents and Debates, 1774-1873 via the Library of Congress
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
From the Library of Congress Law Library, full text of Constitutional Congress documents as well as the first hundred years of the U.S. Congress.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Congressional Report Cards
http://CongressionalReportCards.org
http://www.vis.org/crc/default.aspx
A non-partisan, on-line voter guide published since 1995 by Voter Information Services. The guide contains easy-to-use "report cards" that compare the position on legislation of members of the U.S. Congress with the position on legislation of more than 80 advocacy groups. The latest update is based on the data from the following advocacy groups:
(1) American Conservative Union (2008)
(2) Americans for Democratic Action (2008)
(3) Christian Coalition (2008, 2007)
(4) Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (2008)
(5) Eagle Forum (2008)
(6) Family Research Council (2008)
(7) Gunowners of America (2008, 2007)
(8) Information Technology Council (2008, 2007, 2006, 2005)
(9) NAACP (2008)
(10) Pro-Choice America (2008)
(11) PeacePAC (2008, 2007)
(12) Republican Liberty Caucus (Civil Liberty Index) (2007, 2006)
(13) Republican Liberty Caucus (Economic Liberty Index) (2007, 2006)
(14) The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (2008, 2006)
(15) The Center for Security Policy (2008, 2007)
(16) The Human Rights Campaign (2008, 2007)
(17) The John Birch Society (2008, 2007)
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Congresslink
http://www.congresslink.org/
CongressLink contains much original material not found on other Web sites. In order to take advantage of the power of the Internet as an information resource, CongressLink also relies on some of the best Web sites on government, and politics. This annotated list of sites, alphabetically arranged, provides links to accurate information about Congress and the workings of the federal government. Users will find that all of these sites will open useful doors of information to many online resources, providing an excellent spring board for further exploration of the Internet's resources. Sponsored by the Dirksen Congressional Center.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Congresspedia
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Congresspedia
Things are popping in Washington D.C. these days. Here's a website that will keep you up to date if you can't watch CSPAN all day everyday. It's a project of SourceWatch which describes itself this way:
Welcome to SourceWatch, a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. A primary purpose of SourceWatch is documenting the PR and propaganda activities of public relations firms and public relations professionals engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SourceWatch also includes profiles on think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests. Over time, SourceWatch has broadened to include others involved in public debates including media outlets, journalists and government agencies. Unlike some other wikis, SourceWatch has a policy of strict referencing, and is overseen by a paid editor.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Diary and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes
http://www.ohiohistory.org/onlinedoc/hayes/index.cfm
Full text of the diary and letters of President Rutherford B. Hayes.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Digital National Security Archive
http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com.proxy2.cl.msu.edu:2047/home.do
The Digital National Security Archive contains the most comprehensive collection of primary documents available. The database includes more than 63,000 of the most important declassified documents regarding critical U.S. policy decisions. There are 29 complete collections, each offering specialized insights. Integrated, they allow you to explore policy across several different areas at once. Access restricted to MSU faculty, staff, and subscribers.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Diplomacy Monitor
http://www.diplomacymonitor.com/stu/dm.nsf/opener?OpenForm
More and more countries around the world are releasing official policy documents, communiques, and other crucial communications via the Web, along with more traditional means. The Diplomacy Monitor at the St. Thomas University School of Law is a fine way to keep track of various communications, as it allows users to globally track diplomatic and international official statements, press briefings through their readily accessible monitoring system located at their site. Utilizing their own proprietary technology, the staff at the Diplomacy Monitor review annotate and categorize these documents several times throughout the United Nations business day. The site includes a brief introduction to using the Monitor, along with the option of full-text searching of every document archived within the database. For additional discussion of how the Internet affects global diplomacy, the site also contains some interesting working papers and reports, such as The Rise of Netpolitik-How the Internet is Changing International Politics and Diplomacy.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Documents from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/
From the American Memory project, includes full-text of many important documents surrounding the founding of the American republic.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

FactCheck.org
http://factcheck.org/
We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Fact Checker (Washington Post)
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/
Our goal is to shed as much light as possible on controversial claims and counter-claims involving important national issues and the records of the various presidential candidates.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Finding Precedent: Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/
From the leading weekly newspaper of its time, HarpWeek presents exclusive online access to Harper's Weekly coverage of the historic 1868 Johnson Impeachment — with over 200 excerpts from 1865-1869 — selected specifically for this site.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

First Federal Congress Project
http://www.gwu.edu/~ffcp/
On-line exhibit.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Digital Archives
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/
Site features over 10,000 digitized documents, photographs, sound and video recordings, finding aids, and other primary source materials found at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, New York.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Governing.Com GovLinks
http://www.governing.com/govlinks/glinks.htm
Check out the government web links provided by Governing: the Magazine of States and Localities.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Jefferson: Man of the Millennium
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/historiography/tj.html
Hypertext essay by a distinguished professor of history. Site features essay, interviews with historians on the topic, as well as useful links on Jefferson.
(Last checked 09/03/08)

Law and Policy Institutions Guide
http://www.lpig.org/
Designed for lay persons and legal scholars alike, the Law and Politics Internet Guide (compiled and maintained by Randy Roberts, University of Texas) is dedicated to providing legal information that is both interesting and informative. In addition, this site provides useful governmental and political resources, broken out into categories such as:

  • Legal Portals
  • Legal Resources
  • Legal Research
  • Law Study
  • Law Journals
  • Foreign and International Law
  • Treaties
  • Lawyers and Law Firms
  • Associations
  • Forms
  • Law Books & Book Reviews
  • Law Libraries
  • U.S. Judicial
  • Government Politics & Policy
  • Criminal Justice
  • Tax Information
    Last updated April 23, 2001.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Leon's Almanac of Political History
    http://perspicuity.net/cgi/hypercal.cgi
    A calendar of major events, day by day, with links to related resources, by Larry Felkins.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Librarian's Index to the Internet: Politics
    http://lii.org/search/file/politics
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Lincoln On-Line
    http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln.html
    Site devoted to Abraham Lincoln, president during the Civil War.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    National Security Archive
    http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
    An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The Archive also serves as a repository of government records on a wide range of topics pertaining to the national security, foreign, intelligence, and economic policies of the United States. The Archive won the 1999 George Polk Award, one of U.S. journalism's most prestigious prizes, for-in the words of the citation-"piercing the self-serving veils of government secrecy, guiding journalists in the search for the truth and informing us all."
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    On-Line Campaign Literature Archive
    http://digital.library.ucla.edu/campaign/
    Collection of campaign web sites and scanned images of printed campaign literature, emphasizing California and Los Angeles elections, 1924 to present. Courtesy of UCLA Library.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Photographing History: Fred J. Maroon and the Nixon Years, 1970-1974
    http://americanhistory.si.edu/maroon/index.htm
    Photographs by a White House photographer.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Policy.Ca
    http://www.policy.ca/
    A non-partisan resource for the public analysis of Canadian policy issues. It consists of a constantly growing database of online public policy resources in sixteen different issue areas. These resources are selected to provide users with a balanced review of both documents and organizations in the key Canadian public policy issue areas.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Policylibrary.com
    http://www.policylibrary.com/index.html
    Policy Library places public policy knowledge in the public domain. Its aim is to contribute to public understanding of social, economic and political questions through research, dissemination and publication. There are two main components of the Library. The first is the database of online policy and research papers - which aims to be progressively comprehensive in its coverage - from UK think tanks to think tanks in English speaking world, to policy papers from universities and government research, to foreign language research papers. The second is an attempt in some policy areas to place those papers in context - through subjective literature reviews. The aim of these reviews is to point people in the direction of the most important research and away from the insubstantial or self-serving government puff.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    PolicyPointers.com
    http://www.policypointers.org/
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Political Arithmetik - Where Numbers and Politics Meet
    http://politicalarithmetik.blogspot.com/
    Blog by Charles Franklin, a professor who teaches statistical analysis of polls, public opinion and election results. He helps people understand issues like political bias in poll samples and questions, and provides historical context for current data.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Political Base
    http://www.politicalbase.com/
    “A website launched October 9 plans to become a kind of Wikipedia-like destination specializing in elections, governments, and political candidates. The idea behind PoliticalBase.com is to provide a neutral, one-stop source of information about politics (and politicians) to which anyone can contribute. Changes must be approved by a staff editor before they take effect.” Separate databases include fundraising, people, issues, elections, and governments (state and county).
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Political Information.Com
    http://www.politicalinformation.com
    Looking for political information on the Web, but tired of getting hundreds of irrelevant hits when you run your search from one of those comprehensive search engines designed for searches by the general public? If so, politicalinformation.com is the site for you. From this site, you can not only search the entire Web for information on the political issue or candidate of interest to you, but you can also run a much more time-saving, profitable search of 5000 selected policy and political websites. You can also run a keyword search of the top political news of the day.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Political Research Online (PROL)
    http://www.politicalscience.org
    In cooperation with a consortium of political science and related associations, APSA is pleased to announce the launch of PROL: Political Science Research Online. The beta version of PROL is now available to users and provides an electronic archive of pre-published research in political science featuring over 10,000 conference papers. The site is also available for individual scholars to post early work as preprints for review and comment by colleagues. Users need only enter their email address to search the site. Partners include the Midwest, Southern, Western, Southwestern, Northeastern and New England Political Science Associations, along with the International Studies Association. Additional work is being added every week.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Political Review Net
    http://www.politicalreviewnet.com/polrev/default.asp
    Provides current politics and international relations book reviews from the following Blackwell Press journals :
    (1) Australian Journal of Politics and History
    (2) Australian Journal of Public Administration
    (3) Constellations
    (4) Diplomatic History
    (5) Governance
    (6) International Affairs
    (7) International Studies Review
    (8) Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management
    (9) Journal of Common Market Studies
    (10) Journal of Politics
    (11) Middle East Policy
    (12) Nations and Nationalism
    (13) Peace and Change
    (14) Political Studies
    (15) The Political Quarterly
    (16) Public Administration
    (17) Public Administration Review
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Political Science Books Online
    http://digital.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/subjectstart?J
    A collection of electronic online books classified under the Library of Congress classification number J. You may also wish to review the entire Books Online Project Home Page by John Mark Ockerbloom of the University of Pennsylvania.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Politics 1
    http://www.politics1.com/
    One of the most complete resources available on the web, Politics1.com provides information on state and national elections, issues and debates, parties and even a historical perspective. The state-by-state sections direct the reader to numerous relevant links, state histories and candidate profiles. The presidential election page will give you a guide to all the candidates running and their sites if available. Unbiased and uncluttered, We highly recommend Politics1 as an excellent political resource.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    PolitiFact.Com
    http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
    PolitiFact is a project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly to help you find the truth in the presidential campaign. Every day, reporters and researchers from the Times and CQ will analyze the candidates' speeches, TV ads and interviews and determine whether the claims are accurate.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    POLY-CY : Internet Resources for Political Science
    http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/PolyCy
    Good links to political science journals, syllabi for classes, links to political science departments, etc. Compiled by Bob Duval, Dept. of Political Science, West Virginia University; telephone: (304) 293-3811 x5299; e-mail: bduval@wvu.edu
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    President Thomas Jefferson Papers
    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/jefferson_papers/
    Digitized version of the papers of President Thomas Jefferson from the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    The Presidential Campaign, 1896: Cartoons & Commentary
    http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/1896home.html
    Web site devoted to the pivotal election of 1896, based primary on newspaper accounts and cartoons.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Presidential Elections from 1860 to 1912
    http://elections.harpweek.com/
    This HarpWeek website features political cartoons from Harper's Weekly, Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, Vanity Fair, Puck, Judge, and the Library of Congress Collection of American Political Prints, 1766-1866. It provides explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era's major issues, and other valuable information.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Presidential Timeline of the 20th Century
    http://www.presidentialtimeline.org/
    The Presidential Timeline provides a single point of access to an ever-growing selection of digitized assets from the collections of the twelve Presidential Libraries of the National Archives. Among these assets you’ll find documents, photographs, audio recordings, and video relating to the events of the presidents’ lives. The goal of the project is to make these resources readily and freely available to students, educators, and adult learners throughout the world.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Project Vote Smart
    http://www.vote-smart.org/
    The Project Vote Smart database contains the most current and comprehensive information on candidates running for the presidency. This site features candidate speeches, biographies and contact information — everything you need to know before the 2004 presidential primary election. Starting in January 2003, Project Vote Smart began collecting Governors' Public Statements. Included in the database are Speeches, Statements, Letters and Governors' Columns. The Statements are word searchable and the database is updated on a daily basis. So come check out what your Governor has been saying.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921-1929
    http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/coolhtml/coolhome.html
    Site assembles a wide array of Library of Congress source materials from the 1920s that document the widespread prosperity of the Coolidge years, the nation's transition to a mass consumer economy, and the role of government in this transition.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Public Agenda Issue Guides
    http://www.publicagenda.org/
    Check out the various issue guides.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources
    http://www.politicsresources.net/
    One of the better guides to political science resources worldwide. Categories include: Area Studies, British Politics, Elections, Constitutions, Political Parties, Manifestos, Political Theory, Political Thought, International Relations, Data Archives, Journals and Newspapers.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Teaching Politics
    http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/
    After many years of service, the Teaching Politics site has been reduced to just its most used component, Images of American Political History. Enjoy the images.
    Compiled and maintained by William J. Ball, Dept. of Political Science, The College of New Jersey (ball@tcnj.edu).
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    ThisNation.com
    http://www.thisnation.com/
    Includes an extensive library of major documents in American political history; an excellent primer on the American political process; learning tools designed separately for citizens, students, and teachers; a daily political briefing with hypertext links to major media outlets; contact information for congress people and senators; and a search engine for 5,000 political Websites. From Dr. Jonathan Mott, Brigham Young University.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Ulysses S. Grant Association
    http://twister.lib.siu.edu/projects/usgrant/
    Scholarly association assembling a comprehensive edition of works to this Civil War hero and U.S. president. Also provides information on the web site.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    University Channel
    http://uc.princeton.edu/main/
    A collection of public affairs lectures, panels and events from academic institutions all over the world -- for you to view, listen to, stream or download. Focuses on public affairs and international relations.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    University of Michigan Documents Center
    Political Science Resources on the Web
    http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/polisci.html
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    University of Michigan Documents Center
    Political Science Resources
    U.S. Politics
    http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/psusp.html
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    University of Southern California
    USC Center for Public Diplomacy
    http://uscpublicdiplomacy.com/index.php
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    University of Virginia
    Miller Center of Public Affairs
    Primary Sources Collection
    http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/gage/resources/primaryresources/index
    A collection of primary resources on political science / American history organized by topic. Topics include: The Progressive Era; World War I; The 1920s; The Great Depression, New Deal, and the Welfare State; World War II; the Cold War; Suburbia; Civil Rights; The Great Society; Vietnam; The Presidency; Congress; The Judiciary; Political Parties; Political Activism; Liberalism, Labor, and the Left; Toward the 21st Century; Watergate; The New Right; and Miscellaneous.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    University of Virginia
    Miller Center of Public Affairs
    Scripps Library and Multimedia Archive
    http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/
    In the digital library section of our site you will find hundreds of hours of secret White House recordings from Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson (with Truman, Eisenhower and Nixon recordings on the way); a growing collection of some of the most important presidential speeches of the past 70 years (in full audio); audio recordings and transcripts of the Jimmy Carter Oral History project conducted at the Miller Center; and recordings of public forums from numerous officials ranging from John Ehrlichman to William Fulbright. We currently have over 100 gigabytes of material available on our website. Our online collection will grow as we continue to transfer over 2 terabytes of material we have stored on our internal servers to the website. On our site you will also find a growing online reference section with extensive bibliographies on individual presidents and specific subjects closely associated with the presidency (e.g. the Vietnam Conflict).
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Virtual Library International Affairs Resources
    http://www.etown.edu/vl/
    This section of the WWW Virtual Library system is an Internet directory of over 2600 annotated links in a wide range of international affairs, international studies, and international relations topics. Most of the sites are in English and are carefully selected for their long-term value, favoring those with cost-free, high-quality information and analysis online.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Voices of the American Presidents
    http://www.lib.msu.edu/vincent/presidents/index.htm
    Digital recordings of American Presidents of the 20th Century via the MSU Vincent Voice Library.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    White House Tapes
    http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/presidentialrecordings/
    From 1940 to 1973, 6 presidents- Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon- privately recorded conversations in the oval office. This webpage makes these tapes available in a digital format, for free, accompanied with relevant research topics.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Yahoo's Government and Politics Links
    http://www.yahoo.com/government/politics/
    Categories include: indices, citizenship, elections, forums, humor, interest groups, magazines, news, newsletters, organizations, parties, political consulting, political issues, political opinion, political science, U.S. foreign policy, and usenet.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Yahoo's Political Science Links
    http://www.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Political_Science/
    Categories include: indices, books, church-state relations, conferences, education, electronic texts, institutes, international relations, journals, organizations, political theory, public policy, and socialism.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    Yahoo's Public Policy Links
    http://dir.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Political_Science/Public_Policy/
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

    YaleGlobal Online
    http://yaleglobal.yale.edu
    The YaleGlobal online magazine is designed to encourage exploration and debate on issues surrounding globalization. Devoted to reports and analysis of globalization-related topics, the magazine is the Center's flagship publication. In addition to publishing original articles on various aspects of globalization as well as republishing similar articles from other sites, YaleGlobal provides streaming audio and video of major speeches and presentations made at the Center and other venues. To facilitate the study of this vast and complex phenomenon it houses a searchable database of articles and reports relating to globalization issues. The site also offers Internet links to other relevant websites and a calendar detailing upcoming globalization-related events.
    (Last checked 09/03/08)

     

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