Political Science

Political Science has many different sub-fields that can be located under set Library of Congress Subject Headings in our collection. You can also use these sub-fields as topics for subject searches in our on-line catalog.

Political Science Print Resources

Almanacs

Congressional Quarterly Almanac. - Overview of major political issues in the U.S. Volumes from 1970 to present. [REF JK1.C66]

Directories

Political Parties of the World. - Covers more than 230 nation states, with descriptions of more than 2,550 political parties. Contact information, including Web sites, are also presented. [REF JF2051.D39 2002 ]

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of Democracy. - Along with a precise discussion of the meaning of democracy, there are over 400 articles, including biographies, country studies, regional studies, and topical studies. Also included are 20 primary documents, such as the Magna Carta and the United States Constitution. [REF JC423.E53 1995]

Encyclopedia of Human Rights. - Defines the concept of human rights, analyzes legal decisions and international accords, and reproduces primary documents which have affirmed or violated human rights. There is also a section on human rights organizations. [REF JC571.E67 1991]

Encyclopedia of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. - A look at how intelligence and counterintelligence activities have shaped our world, not only historically, but also in the present. [REF JF1525.I6 E64 2005]

Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy. - Focuses on events, topics, and personalities in public administration. Describes the functions, background, and importance of federal programs and agencies. [REF JK9.E526 2003]

Encyclopedia of the United States Congress. - Details history, members, and structure of both the House and Senate. Includes numerous photos, maps, charts, and illustrations. [REF JK1067.E63 1995]

The Oxford companion to politics of the world. - Provides a thorough guide to international relations and national domestic politics throughout the world. Contains 672 articles from over 500 contributors from 40 countries. Includes topics on political science, economics, women's studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, law, history, international studies, and business. [REF JA61.O95 2001]

World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. - Discusses in detail over 1,200 world governments, including political parties and responsibilities of government branches. [REF JF2011.W67 1999]

Yearbooks

Europa World Year Book. - Facts and statistics regarding world governments, updated annually. [REF JN1.E85 2007]

Statesman's Yearbook. - This classic reference works contains a vast range of facts and analysis on every country of the world. [REF JA51.S7 2008]

Journals

American Journal of Political Science. - This periodical was founded in 1956 and is the official pulication of the Midwest Political Science Association. It seeks to make an outstanding contribution to scholarly knowledge about notable theoretical concerns, puzzles, or controversies in any subfield of political science. [PER JA1.M5]

Comparative Political Studies. - an interdisciplinary journal, publishing throretical and empirical research articles by scholars engaged in cross-national comparative study of politics and international relations. [PER JA3.C65]

International Affairs. - A periodical dedicated to discussing international political issues. It is Europe's leading journal of international relations covering topics in trade, military and economics. [PER JX1.I53]

New Political Science. - "is the journal of the Caucus for the a New Political Science. The focus of New Political Science is on developing analyses which reflect a commitment to progressive social change as well as those which are within exploratory phases of development in political science." [PER JA1.N46]

Political Theory: An International Journal of Political Philosophy. - "is an international journal of political philosophy open to contributions from every methodological, philosophical, and ideological perspective. Essays in historical political thought and modern political theory, normative and analytic philosophy, history of ideas, and assessment of current work are also presented by this periodical." [PER JA1.A1 P64]

Politics & Society. - This journal publishes original analyses of politics, including its social roots and its consequences. It discusses this topic from an international perspective not just concentrating on one particular country. [PER H1.P83]

Political Science Electronic Resources

Databases

Academic Search Complete - Provides full text for over 2,000 journals covering the social sciences, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, education and more.

CIS Congressional Universe - has comprehensive information about members of Congress, legislation, laws, bills, and Congressional testimony, public policy issues, the U.S. Code, CFR, and Congressional Record, etc.

CQ Researcher - "offers in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy."

Digital National Security Archive - has "the most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945."

ICPSR (The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research - "established in 1962, is an integral part of the infrastructure of social science research. [It] maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction...ICPSR does not provide publications, reports, or ready-made statistics,... [but instead supplies] the numeric raw data used to create publications, reports, and figures."

JSTOR - is a full image database of back issues of scholarly journals in African American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, botany, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, and statistics.

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe - is an on-line database system containing business, legal, medical, and current events information. It contains the full text of the articles and is very current. New articles are loaded daily between 11:00 and 11:15 PM EST; wire services are updated every 20 minutes.

Praeger Security International Online (PSIO) - "offers varied international perspectives and reflections from psychologists, diplomats, first responders, economists, journalists, civil servants, warfighters, legal experts, and more on global security issues. Includes all books released under the Praeger Security International imprint, as well as weekly commentaries, regional analysis, primary documents, and a terrorism chronology."

Social Sciences Full Text - covers "a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of social sciences journals." It also includes full text/full image articles."

Websites

American Political Science Association - A good overall site with links to professional information such as political science departments, political science organizations, scholarly journals, conferences, scholarships, grants, directories, and interest area mailing lists. Includes Association information such as membership, personnel service, organized sections of APSA, national office, Association governance, APSA publications grants and fellowships.

CIA World Factbook - Contains history of the world, maps, flags, country profiles, country rank orders, along with other valuable information regarding members of the US Presidents' cabinets.

Federal Election Committee - Provides access to various FEC services, campaign finance reports and data, reporting forms and filing information, campaign finance law resources, elections and voting, and FEC news releases.

Government Resources on the Web - One of the most comprehensive lists of government resources available on the Web.

Political Database of the Americas - "contains hard copy information on the institutional, constitutional and political structures of the region."

Political Science Resources on the Web - One of the most comprehensive lists of political science resources available on the Web. One of the most attractively arranged and highly rated Political Science sites, by Grace York, Political Science Librarian at the University of Michigan. Includes sections for major subfields such as US politics, foreign politics, international relations, political theory, as well as links for methodology, statistics, reference tools, periodicals, professional organizations, area studies, news, and government resources.

Project Vote Smart's Political Information on the Web - Project Vote Smart's interns and researchers find, review, index, and provide direct link access to political sites on the Internet.

THOMAS Legislative Information on the Internet - In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, a service of the US Congress through its Library, this site provides information on Congress this week, Bills, Congressional Record, Committee Information, Historical Documents, the Legislative Process, and US Government Internet Resources.