Political Science Subject Guide

This subject guide covers political science resources available at the Johnston Memorial Library, including full-text journals, magazine, and newspaper articles,  political science websites, and printed materials in the Reference Collection. This is not a comprehensive subject guide, but rather a selective list of materials that are most useful for locating information in this field. Library location and call  number are provided for print publications. 
 

Full Text Databases Journal Indexes and Abstracts
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Internet Websites

Full-Text Databases

  • ABI-Inform. Features articles on business, finance, management, public administrations and political science.
  • Cambridge Journals Online.  CJO indexes includes over 125 specialized journals from renowned research societies and associations in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.  Several political science journals are included.  Each journal in CJO has its own home page with links to the current and back volumes, as well as brief description of the journal's purpose, format, and content.
  • CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online (1991 to the present).  Available VIVA. Comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs.  Includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. 

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  • Congressional Universe (1970 to the present).   Available VIVA-Universe.  U.S. legislative information, hearing transcripts, committee reports, bill tracking, Congressional Record, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Code, Public Laws, the National Journal, Congress Daily, and member information. 
  • CQ Researcher. Presents full-text articles on current social, political, economic, and international issues.
  • CQ Weekly Report. Offers in-depth full-text articles on U.S. Congressional legislation, actions, and developments.
  • Ethnic NewsWatch.   Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. A rich collection of articles,editorials, columns, reviews, etc. provide a broad diversity of perspectives and  viewpoints -- the other sides of the stories. Free text searching and complete indexing makes Ethnic NewsWatch easy to search. 
  • InfoTrac OneFile. A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles many with images. Updated daily.
  • Oxford University Press Online Journals.  The Oxford University Press is well-known for its excellence in research, scholarship, and education.  The publisher is widely recognized as a premier publisher of journals.  This database provides online access to 134 periodical titles in the fields of humanities, social sciences, and the sciences.  Several full-text political science journals are available. 

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  • Project Muse.  Full text of over 100 scholarly journals in the humanities, and social sciences. 


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Journal Indexes and Abstracts

  • Dissertation Abstracts.  Selectively covers masters theses and dissertations including dissertations from North American and Europe.  Covers all subject disciplines.  Covers 1861 to present and includes abstracts since 1988.  Thesis abstracts have been included since 1988.  Database is updated monthly
  • GPO Monthly Catalog. The catalog is a search and retrieval service that provides bibliographic records of U.S. Government information products. 
  • PAIS.  Covers a range of political, social, and public policy issues in scholarly journals and books.
  • Statistical Universe. Full-text database to U.S. statistical data and some international statistics. Features include searching the Power Tables for finding fast answers, searching summaries of statistical publications for comprehensive overview of documents or selecting links to other websites with information about statistics.


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Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

  • Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science: A User's Guide to Its Terms.  by Frank Bealey.  Blackwell, 1999.

    • A good up-to-date source for political science terms. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JA61.B43 1999. 
  • Congress and the Nation.  Congressional Quarterly, 1964-

    • Offers a survey of United States politics and government based on material from the CQ Almanac with the addition of information from other sources. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF KF 49.C65. 
     
  • Congressional Quarterly Almanac.   Congressional Quarterly, 1955-Congressional Quarterly almanac tells the story of Congress for the year.  It is a condensation of acts, amendments, committee activity, debates, hearings, investigations, vital statistics on lawmakers, party policies and votes.  Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JK 1.C66.
     
  • Dictionary of Politics: Selected American and Foreign Political and Legal Terms. by Walter J. Raymond. 7th ed. Brunswick, 1992 . 
    • Excellent source for explanations of political and legal terms. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JA61.R39. 
     
  • Encyclopedia of American Political History: Studies of the Principal Movements and Ideas.  Ed. by Jack P. Greene. Scribner, 1984. This reference work is intended to provide,  authoritative and up-to-date articles on political history of America.  Major issues, themes, institutions, processes, and developments as they have been manifest throughout the whole of United States history, from before the decision for independence to the present are discussed. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF E183.E5. 
  • Encyclopedia of American Public Policy.  by Byron M. Jackson.  ABC-CLIO, 1999. 

    • A highly competent and authoritative resource that will answer a wide variety of questions regularly asked by students studying history, government, economics, and other topics in the social sciences. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JK468.P64J33. 
  • Encyclopedia of Democracy.  by Seymour Martin Lipset. Congressional Quarterly, 1995.  This is a comprehensive reference on democracy that is intended to be understandable to general readers and students while at the same time providing useful information for scholars and other experts in various fields. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JC423.E5. 
  • Encyclopedia of Government and Politics. Ed. by Mary Hawkesworth. 2nd. ed. Routledge, 2 vols, 2004. This well executed work provides a sound introduction to all aspects of political study. Provides coverage of contemporary trends in world, regional, and national government and politics. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JA 61.C66. 
  • Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics.  Ed. by Jeffe Schultz, et al. Oryx Press, 2000. 
    This two-volume set, addresses the historical and contemporary impact of four of the largest minority groups in the United States. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF E184.A1E74. 
  • Encyclopedia of Political Thought. by Garrett Ward Sheldon. Facts on File, 2001. This work is intended to present, in clear and concise form, the many ideas, concepts, persons, and movements in the world's political history. It covers everything from abstract ideals to major thinkers and contemporary movements. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JA 61.E52.
  • Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right. Rodney P. Carisle, Ed. Sage, 2 vols., 2005. The encyclopedia contains over 450 articles on individuals, movements, political parties, and ideological principles, with those usually thought of as left in the left-hand volume (Volume 1) and those considered on the right, in the right-hand volume (Volume 2). Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JA 61 .E54.
  • Encyclopedia of the United States Congress.  Ed. by Donald Bacon et. al Simon & Schuster, 1995. 

    • This encyclopedia provides in one convenient place the best knowledge and insights available about Congress, its operations, and its history.  It is comprehensive, balanced, and  easy to use. Location: First Floor, Reference Area, Call number: REF JK1067.E63. 


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Internet Websites
  • Brookings Institution.  The full range of this think tank's resources are presented.  Some full-test reports.
  • Congressional Research Service.  The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is part of the legislative branch of the federal government.  CRS works exclusively as a nonpartisan analytical, research, and reference arm for congress.  The CRS mission is to support an informed national legislature. 
  • C-Span.  C-Span is a public service created by the American cable television industry.  Its purpose is to provide C-Span's audience access to the live gavel-to-gavel proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and to other forums where public policy is discussed, debated  and decided-all without editing, commentary or analysis and with a balanced presentation of points of view.
  • Embassy.org.  Excellent resource for information about the  Washington, D.C. foreign embassy community.  Most embassies provide in depth data about their countries.
  • Foreign Affairs Online.  An excellent, comprehensive, site with links to the categories of reference, U.S. government, Foreign States, International law and International Relations.
  • Gallop Poll. Latest poll results on politics and education and the economy: social issues and policy, and lifestyle.
  • Glossary of Political Economy Terms. This is the online edition of A Glossary of Political Economy Terms by Dr. Paul M. Johnson of Auburn University. This hypertexted dictionary contains extensive definitions of around 200 political economic terms.
  • Governments on the WWW.  This site offers links to official government information worldwide.  For most nations there are links to a variety of their national offices.
  • Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. The Web site for "one of the largest archives and most complete libraries in the world devoted to political, economic, and social change in the twentieth century." Includes research papers, newsletters, online books, weekly essays by Hoover Fellows, detailed descriptions of the physical library's collections, and more. Based at Stanford University.
  • POLY-CY.  This site is intended to provide a set of links useful for navigating the Web in the areas of Political Science, International Affairs, Public Affairs.  It is updated once a week.
  • Race and Ethnicity Online.  Sponsored by the American Political Science Association this site has links to a variety of minority groups. 
  • Rand Corporation. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. Many free documents are available. The site includes a search feature.
  • Resources for Political Science.  A site containing links to a variety of political science sources.  Categories include political thought, comparative politics, international relations and much more.
  • THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet.  Access to full text of bills from the current Congress back through 101st.  Search the daily Congressional Record for terms, then read the full text of relevant proceedings and proposed legislation.  Also has the roll call votes of the house and Senate from 101st Congress to date. 
  • Ultimate Political Science Links. Popular web resource used by institutions and political scientists world wide. Includes links to major political science websites.

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©VSU  Library and Media Services, Wednesday, 01-31-06.
Gloria Beck, Government Documents Librarian.