Research Guide: U. S. Politics
This is a guide to the major print and online bibliographic resources in U.S. politics. While basic resources are included, there are many others that cannot be covered here because of length. For assistance in using these resources, or to find additional information, contact a Reference Librarian.
Reference Sources | Books | Journal Articles | Dissertations | Documents | Selected Internet Sites
1.1 General
- Almanac of American Politics -- JK271.B343 2002
- Provides a political overview of each state, including information on governors, senators and representatives. Includes brief biographies, office addresses and telephone numbers, election results, Congressional committee memberships, interest group ratings and key votes. The latest edition is in Reference.
- Presents a composite profile of the U.S. government through a history of its various departments and agencies. Includes many bibliographic references to additional sources of information.
- Provides articles that summarize Congress members' performance, issues, legislative influence, political alliances, elections and voting records. Includes statistics on elections, campaign finances, interest group ratings, and committee memberships. The latest edition is in Reference.
- Oxford Reference Online includes full-text of more than 125 titles from Oxford University Press. The collection includes authoritative dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reference works in more than 20 subject areas in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
- Official listings of U.S. government agencies. Provides contact information as well as descriptions of agency responsibilities and statutory authorities. Latest edition is in Reference. Also available online (1995-present) via GPO Access.
1.2 Campaigns and Elections
- America at the Polls, 1960-2000 -- REFERENCE JK524.M33 2001
- Provides a wealth of election statistics.
- America Votes -- REFEREBCE JK1967.A8
- This is the generally recognized standard source for compiled election statistics covering presidential, gubernatorial, and congressional elections. Data for the major parties and third party with the largest vote are provided for each state at the county level.
- Congressional Districts in the ... -- REFERENCE JK1341.C65
- Election results tabulated by Congressional district. The library has the volumes for the 1980's, the 1990's, and the 2000's.
- Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections -- REFERENCE JK1971.C6
- Comprehensive and authoritative source on the history of US elections. Includes all national, state and congressional district voting returns plus explains and analyzes all aspects of US elections.
- Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S . Presidential Elections
- Includes U.S. and state results with maps. A javascript section has an intriguing feature where you can slide your cursor over the election year buttons and see how the results varied from election to election, showing which counties or states went democratic or republican (or other) for the different years.
- Election Statistics
- Since 1920, the Clerk of the House of Representatives has collected and published the official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories. These documents have been collected and scanned to make them available online to researchers and students.
- Statistical History of the U.S. Electorate -- REFERENCE JK1967.R87 2001
- Historical view of American elections and the American electorate from 1789 to the present.
1.3 Political Parties
- Encyclopedia of the Democratic Party/Encyclopedia of the Republican Party -- REFERENCE JK2352.E56 1997
- Volumes 1-2 cover the Democratic Party, while volumes 3-4 cover the Republican Party. The encyclopedia chronicles the evolution of both parties providing history, issues and ideology, as well as conventions, platforms and elections. Includes biographies that cover presidents, vice-presidents, losing presidential candidates, speakers, and other notable party members. Also provides lists of members of Congress and governors.
- Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America -- REFERENCE JK2261.E474 2000
- Similar to the work above, this presents the history of third parties from the Early Republic to the present. Provides extensive details of more than 115 parties (from the well-known to the obscure) and brief, informative biographies of the major players and candidates. Covers national, regional, and state parties, as well as major political parties that predate the Democrats and Republicans.
- Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989 -- REFERENCE G1201.F9M26 1989
- National Party Conventions, 1831-1992 -- REFERENCE JK2255.C66 1995
- Provides a brief summary of each party convention, results of convention ballots, historical profiles of American political parties, lists of nominees, and biographical directory of candidates.
- National Party Platforms, 1840-1968 -- REFERENCE JK2255.P6 1972
- For each campaign, gives a brief history, lists of party candidates, voting totals, and the texts of platforms for all major and principal minor parties.
1.4 Congress
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Searchable database of biographies of members of Congress from 1774 to the present.
- Congressional Quarterly's Guide to Congress -- REFERENCE JK1021.C56 2000
- Follows the historical development of the Congress over 200 years. The chapters provide an overview of the institution's origins, powers, procedures, qualifications to serve, and interaction with the public.
- Encyclopedia of the United States Congress -- REFERENCE JK1067.E63 1995
- Long essays on major historical issues, terms, acts, cases and individuals.
- Women in Congress, 1917-1990 -- REFERENCE JK1013.W65 1991
1.5 President
- Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Presidency -- REFERENCE JK516.C57 1996
- Provides an overview of the American Presidency from George Washington to Bill Clinton. Topics include: development of the institution, the electoral process, presidential powers, and interaction of the executive with the legislative and judicial branches of government.
- Encyclopedia of the American Presidency -- REFERENCE JK511.E53 1993
- Long articles with bibliographies on United States presidents and other officials, issues and court cases, with statistical tables on personal information, cabinets, other officials and elections.
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
- Published every Monday, this resource contains statements, messages, and other Presidential materials released by the White House during the preceding week. Coverage is from 1993 to the present.
1.6 STATE AND LOCAL
- Biographical Directory of the Governors of the U.S., 1789-1988 -- REFERENCE JK2447,B5733 1994
- Centre Library Online Catalog
- Find books, e-books, journal titles, electronic resources, and more in the Centre College library.
- Kentucky Virtual Library
- Find material in other Kentucky libraries, including the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville.
- Worldcat
- WorldCat contains records for the holdings of several thousand libraries. This is an excellent starting point for finding material beyond the Centre College library.
- Interlibrary Loan
- Use the Interlibrary Loan service to borrow books and journal articles from other libraries.
3.1 Core Resources For Finding Articles
- Academic Search Premier
- A multi-disciplinary index to periodicals that covers over 8,000 scholarly and popular periodicals, and includes full-text for more than 4,500 of these. Designed specifically for academic institutions, ASP spans most areas of study. Coverage varies, but most titles begin in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
- CQ Weekly
- CQ Weekly is known as the pre-eminent resource for non-partisan legislative news and analysis, including feature-length articles on a full array of policy topics, updates on committee activity, side-by-side comparisons of competing versions of bills, and coverage of appropriations. Coverage is from 1983 to the present.
- JSTOR
- Full-text back files of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. JSTOR includes many journals in the area of political science. Note: coverage varies by title, but the most recent 2-5 years is not available.
- Lexis-Nexis Academic
- A collection of databases with information on a wide range of topics, including news, business, politics and government, law, state and country information, biography, references works and dictionaries, health and medicine, and taxes and accounting. Most articles are in full-text. Covers 1980's to the present.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega
- Collection of Wilson full-text databases, including Social Sciences Full Text, a good resource for finding scholarly undergraduate-level journal articles. Indexing begins in 1983 and full-text of selected articles in 1995.
- ScienceDirect
- Elsevier is the world's leading publisher of social, physical, and health science information, producing 25% of the world's scientific journal information. Elsevier delivers this content through the ScienceDirect platform, which offers tremendous search capability and convenient personalization features that save time and increase productivity. The ScienceDirect College Edition collection provides access to more than 1,900 multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal titles, including leading titles like Government Information Quarterly.
3.2 Additional Resources For Finding Articles
- Annual Review of Political Science
- Contains critical reviews of significant primary literature. Coverage is from 1998 to the present.
- Project Muse
- Full-text from nearly 250 academic journals in the humanities and social sciences. Includes several journals in the area of politics and policy studies. Coverage varies by title.
- World News Digest
- Facts On File World News Digest@FACTS.com presents the full-text of Facts On File World News Digest since 1940, plus a live newsfeed from Reuters and thousands of in-depth features, images, charts, and primary documents.
- Dissertation Abstracts
- The primary source for over 1.4 million doctoral dissertations (and selected master's theses) from over 1000 North American and European universities. Coverage is from 1851 to the present. Abstracts are available for dissertations since 1980, abstracts for theses since 1988.
- WorldCat Dissertations and Theses
- A subset of the WorldCat database, allows user to locate some 5 million items cataloged as dissertations, theses or published materials based on theses or dissertations including those published prior to 1861.
- 100 Milestone Documents
- From Richard Henry Lee's Resolution of 1776 to the Voting Rights Act Act of 1965, this site includes images, text, and additional information for 100 milestone documents drawn from the National Archives and Records Administration.
- Avalon Project at Yale University
- An extensive collection of digital documents relevant to the fields of law, history, economics, politics, diplomacy and government covering time periods from pre-18th Century to the 20th Century. Links to supporting documents are also provided. Documents include charters, constitutions, declarations, diplomatic documents, papers, speeches and treaties.
- A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation
- A variety of primary source documents from the Continental Congress, the Constitutional Convention, and the first forty-three Congresses. consists of a linked set of published congressional records of the United States of America from the Continental Congress through the 43rd Congress (1774-1875). All these materials may be viewed online as digital page images, some with searchable transcribed text.
6.1 General
- Political Science Resources (University of Michigan)
- Comprehensive site with annotated links for all areas of US politics.
6.2 Presidency
- AmericanPresident.org
- A comprehensive resource on the history of the presidency and the nature of policy making. Provides biographical information on all of the presidents, First Ladies, and cabinet and staff advisors. Also offers an inside look at the key areas of presidential responsibility: domestic policy, legislative affairs, national security policy, political affairs, administration of the white house, and administration of the government.
- American Presidency Project
- Includes over 67,000 public papers, executive orders, proclamations, addresses, and press conferences covering all the Presidents.
- WhiteHouseTapes.org
- "Between 1940 and 1973, six American presidents from both political parties secretly recorded just under 5,000 hours of conversations. This site is designed as a service to the research community by making freely available all of the presidential recordings, along with relevant research materials, so that scholars, teachers, students, and the public can hear and use these remarkable tapes for themselves."
Last updated September 2, 2008