Political Science — U.S. Government Resources

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Full-Text Availability: Note that databases with "Index" or "Abstracts" in the title often have links to the full-text articles.

The following are electronic resources only, relevant to the study of politics, and produced by the U.S. government.

American Diplomacy Concerned with the Foreign Service and diplomacy, but also includes dispatches and reports; maintained by U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
CenStats Statistics, demographic information and other data from several Census Bureau databases.
Congress and the Nation A component of the CQ Press Political Reference Suite . Contains coverage of events in the U.S. Congress and Presidency from the time of the Truman administration to recent. Analysis of legislation, organized by policy area, from each Congressional term.
Congressional Hearings Digital Collection, 1824-1979 LexisNexis "provides digital access to a retrospective collection of hearings as a module available through LexisNexis Congressional.... includes abstracting, indexing, bibliographic information, and searchable PDFs for Congressional hearings from 1824-1979."
County & City Data Book (1988 and 1994 editions) Downloadable census figures for U.S. counties and major cities.
County & City Data Book (2000 edition) Census figures for U.S. counties and major cities. PDF version of the 2000 printed edition.
CQ Congress Collection An "analytical survey of the history and development, powers, personalities, current developments, and legislation considered and passed by the United States Congress." Organized into sections on public policy legislation, members of Congress, key votes, and the legislative branch.
Declassified Documents Reference System - U.S. Provides access to the texts and images of select declassfied U.S. documents from diverse sources such as the CIA, Department of State, National Security Council, Department of Defense, and the FBI. Subject areas covered include international politics, international relations, U.S. foreign and domestic policy, strategy, diplomacy, and the military.
Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Provider of DoD scientific and technical information, reports, and summaries of ongoing research, host of 100 defense program web sites, and manager of 11 information analysis centers.
Digital National Security Archive Contains over 35,000 declassified national security documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. Comprised of twelve collections -- Afghanistan, Berlin Crisis 1958-1962, Cuban Missile Crisis, El Salvador, Iran-Contra Affair, Intelligence Community, Iran Revolution, Military Uses of Space, Nicaragua, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Philippines, and South Africa.
Economic Report of the U.S. President " . . . overviews the nation's economic progress using text and extensive data appendices. The Economic Report of the President is transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the Budget."
Federal Government Information
FBI Files Online Thousands of Federal Bureau of Investigation files, released through the Freedom of Information Act (content continues to be added). Includes historical events (16,277 pages on Watergate), political movements (2,895 pages on the Black Panther Party of North Carolina), as well as files on individuals (activists, artists, entertainers, politicians, etc.) such as Groucho Marx and Joseph McCarthy.
Fed in Print: An Index to Federal Reserve Economic Research Databases of the U.S. Federal Reserve Banks.
Federal Register Online "... the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents." Documents of Federal administrative agencies.
Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department in the NU Library Includes U.S. government, State of Illinois, and international documents, maps and geographical information as well as data services and more.
GPO Access Provides access to U.S. Government legislative, executive, judicial, regulatory and other publications.
Historical Statistics of the United States: Earliest Times to the Present Historical data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Illinois Blue Books-1900-2000 Online historical articles, biographies of legislators, extensive indexes, a chronological outline of Illinois history and information on legislative apportionments, etc.
Illinois State Archives Depository of Public Records This link goes to databases of public records.
Index to Current Urban Documents A "regularly published guide to the reports and research that are generated by local government agencies, civic organizations . . . metropolitan and regional planning agencies in approximately 500 selected cities in the United States and Canada."
Legislative Information on the Internet
LexisNexis Congressional (formerly Congressional Universe) Congressional publications on key American public policy issues. Full text of proposed legislation and its status in the legislative process and the full text of recently signed law. Also contains full-text of U.S. Congressional Serial Set and American State Papers of 1789-1969 (to be completed by Dec. 2005).
LexisNexis Government Periodicals Index (formerly Government Periodicals Universe) Index of periodicals published by the U.S. Government.
National Archives & Records Administration See also, the special Press/Journalists page.
National Security Archive
New Electronic Titles (NET) from GPO Access Lists new additions to the Federal Depository Library Program Electronic Collection. Can also access NET archives from this site.
OriginalSources In Their Own Words Significant publications of the U.S. government and its history including the Papers of the Presidents, the Federalist Papers, National Party Platforms, 1840-1996, 100 Key Documents of American History, quotes and speeches.
Oxford Guide to the United States Government
Politics in America A component of the CQ Press Political Reference Suite . "... source for information on members of the U.S. Congress and their districts... contains in-depth profiles of every member as well as data on their constituencies, apportionment, and redistricting."
STAT-USA/Internet Commerce Department Internet service on a broad range of subjects in trade, business, and economics. The NU Library has access to this service through the Federal Depository Library Program.
State and Local Government Websites
State and Local Governments in the U.S.
Statistical Abstract of the United States
THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet Access bill summaries and statues, the Congressional Record, and information about House and Senate committees.
United States Congress
United States Senate
U.S. Federal Government Statistics- Fedstats Gateway to statistics of over 100 federal agencies. Search by topic or agency (e.g., abortion or the Center for Disease Control; air pollution or the Environmental Protection Agency).
U.S. Federal Resource Online A good index to online Government Printing Office publications (GPO Access) and other resources by topic.
U.S. Government Information--Northwestern University Library.
U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia Database See OYEZ Project. OYEZ Project Multimedia database of information about the United States Supreme Court providing abstracts of all recent cases and selective abstracts for older cases, digital audio of the Oral Arguments in all recent cases either streamed or as MP3 downloads, several recordings of the announcement of the Court's opinion, and links to the written opinions of the court in all cases since 1791, through Justia. Contains access to more than 3000 hours of Supreme Court audio. Objective is to make accessible all audio from 1955 to the present. Before 1980, the audio collection is selective. The project will ultimately be a complete audio archive of the Court spanning from October 1995 to the present. (Principal Investigator: NU Professor Jerry Goldman)
U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, 1832-1978 "This database contains nearly 11 million pages of records and briefs brought before the U.S. Supreme Court in the period 1832-1978. The collection is derived from two essential reference sources. For the period 1832 (when printed Court records began) through 1915, the documents are based primarily on the holdings of the Jenkins Memorial Law Library, America’s first law library, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For 1915-1978 the source is the Library of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, a nationally recognized research facility and the single largest member supported law library in the United States." (Publisher’s web site)
Vital Statistics on American Politics A component of the CQ Press Political Reference Suite . Over 200 data tables and statistics on politics dating back to 1788. Organized by topics such as elections, campaign finance, parties, the military, the media, and foreign policy.
Voting Records in Congress Available through LexisNexis Congressional (1988 - current).
Washington Information Directory A component of the CQ Press Political Reference Suite . Contact information—email, addresses, faxes—on over 10,000 federal government offices, congressional committees, NGOs, IOs, regulatory agencies, etc., searchable and browsable.

For further information, contact:

Lucy E. Lyons
Collection Analysis, Journalism, and Political Science
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-2229, fax 467-7899
l-lyons@northwestern.edu
Office Location: Room 2623, 2nd Floor, East Tower, Main Library

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Last updated: 06/16/08