Political Science 101
by Ken Furuta (kfuruta@ucr.edu)
Library resources for this class are distributed between the Government Publications and the General Reference areas in the Rivera Library. Both areas are on the 1st floor (map - http://library.ucr.edu/content/libraries/rivera/floormaps/rivera_1st_floor_09.pdf).
Scholarly Articles
- JSTOR - Note, in general the most recent 3-5 years worth of articles are not included.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
- Limit to scholarly articles by clicking the number next the "Peer-Reviewed Journals" tab on the results page.
- Click the "UC eLinks" (
) icon to retrieve the article.
To access the library databases from off campus, see http://library.ucr.edu/?view=help/remoteaccess/index.html. I recommend installing the "AnyConnect Client VPN" software.
Library Resources on the District/State
Almanac of American Politics (On Reserve - JK1012, A44)
Profiles of US Senators and Representative, as well as the people and politics of every state and congressional district. Also included are interest group ratings, Census data, key votes, campaign expenditures, and election results (see page 13 for a brief description of the interest groups).
CQ's Politics in America (On Reserve - JK1010, P642, 2010)
Profiles of each member include biographical data, personal style, legislative priorities, committee assignments, interest group ratings and CQ vote studies. Also included are descriptions of each member's congressional district based upon the 2000 census, including updated maps, voting trends, and business and industry information.
Census Bureau Data
Detailed demographics from the US Census by Congressional District. Data includes race, sex, and income.
| American Community Survey (2005-09) • Path: American FactFinder (http://factfinder.census.gov) => Data Sets => American Community Survey => 2005-2009 ... 5-Year Estimates |
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| 109th Congressional District Summary (2005-06) • Path: American FactFinder (http://factfinder.census.gov) => Data Sets => 109th Congressional District Summary File |
Congressional Districts in the 2000s (Gov Pub Ref JK1341, C65, 2003)
America Votes (Rivera Reference JK1967, A5)
Provides state voting statistics, including primaries, for presidential, gubernatorial, and Congressional elections.
For recent results, search Google for the state and "secretary of state" in quotes.
Statements & News
Congressional Record (online - http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/advanced/advsearchpage.action)
The Congressional record is an edited transcript of statements made on the floor of the US House & Senate. Limit your search by date, the "Congressional Record," and "Congress Member Speaking."
CQ Weekly (Gov Pubs Ref - JK1, C66)
National Journal (Gov Pub Ref - JK1, N37)
Both titles cover politics in a nonpartisan manner. The database, Academic Search Complete contains selected articles from both. Add the magazine's title (National Journal or CQ Weekly) in the "Publication" box in the lower part of the screen to focus the results.
Academic via LexisNexis
Academic contains full text articles from newspapers, broadcast transcripts, and more. To search newspapers from your state, select, "News" on the left navigation bar, then "All News." On the next page, enter your search, select "Newspapers" in the "By Type" menu, & select your state.
Congressional via LexisNexis
The Political News section of the Congressional database contains full text articles from newspapers that cover the national political arena (the "A" section of the Washington Post, The Hill, and Roll Call).
Access World News
Access World News is full text and covers a different collection of newspapers than Academic. Once you load the database, work down through the "North America" and "United States" labels to limit the search to just your state.
Other Resources
Project Vote Smart (Internet - http://www.vote-smart.org/)
Information on candidates and elected officials.
Opensecrets.org (Internet - http://www.opensecrets.org/)
Data on campaign contributors.
Public Interest Group Profiles (Gov Pub Ref JK1118, P78, 2004)
Encyclopedia of Interest Groups and Lobbyists in the United States (Rivera Ref JK1118, N47, 2000)
Description and analyses of public interest groups.
