Political Science Research Guide

Decision 2008 Political Science/English/Speech course Resources Page

Library Catalogs

COD Library Catalog: the COD Library only
I-Share (formerly Illinet Online): A catalog of items in 65 Illinois libraries
WorldCat: this country and around the world
List of Politically Opposite Books on Various Topics
The Library of Economics and Liberty. This site has free online texts of hundreds of classic books and essays in the fields of economics and political science. From the Liberty Fund.

Outline of the Library of Congress Classification System (what COD uses to shelve its books).

Other Nearby Public and Academic Libraries

Ask a Librarian for Help

Reference Works

A - Z of Countries of the World (Oxford).
The ABC of Diplomacy (dictionary)
Abbreviations and Acronyms of the United States Government.
Almanac of Illinois Politics. Reference JK 5730 .A5
America Votes. Reference JK 1967 .A8
The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science: A User's Guide to its Terms. (1999)
The Borderlands: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Politics on the U.S. - Mexco Divide. (2008)
The Borderlands Encyclopedia: A Digital Educational Resource on Contemporary United States-Mexico Border Issues. (University of Texas at El Paso)
Checks and Balances: The Three Branches of the American Government.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics.
Congressional Quarterly Almanac & Weekly Report. Reference JK 1 .C66
Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia. (2003)
Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Reference KF 101 .D4x
A Dictionary of Diplomacy. (2003)
A Dictionary of Political Biography (Oxford).
Dictionary of Political Thought. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007)
Dictionary of Politics and Government. (2004)
A Dictionary of the Social Sciences (Oxford).
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. 2nd ed. (2002)
Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. Reference JC 599 .U 5 E 53 2005
Encyclopedia of Democracy. Reference JC 423 .E 53 1995
Encyclopedia of Marxism. Marxist Internet Archive.
Encyclopedia of Mass Violence.
Encyclopedia of Nationalism. Reference JC 311 .E 63 2001
Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion. Reference BL 65 .P 7 E 53 1998
Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right. Reference JA 61 .E 54 2005
Encyclopedia of the American Left. Reference HX 86 .E 58 1998 .
Encyclopedia of the European Union. (2001)
Encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet. 3 vols. Ref. E 176 .G 89 2000.
Encyclopedia of U.S. Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior. (2008)
Eurojargin: A Dictionary of European Union Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Terminology. (2004)
Federal Agency Profiles for Students. Reference JK 421 .F 42 1999
The Glossary of Globalization, Trade and Health Terms. (World Health Organization)
A Glossary of Political Theory.
A Glossary of Terms used in the Federal Budgetary Process. (2005)
A Glossary of U.K. Government and Politics.
"Guide to Classical Liberal Think Tanks." Joseph L. Bast. Heartland Policy Study February 10, 2005.
A Historical Guide to the U.S. Government [agencies and departments] . Reference JK 9 .H 57 1998
Illinois Revised Statutes. [Illinois laws] Reference KFI 1229 .I44
Key Concepts in Political Communication. (2006)
Legal Systems of the World. Reference K 48 .L 44 2002
Library Jargon: A Multilingual Glossary.
Major Acts of Congress. Reference KF 154 .M 35 2004
Map of Communist History (online).
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. (3rd ed., 2003) There are sections on American history and politics.
Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences.
The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World.
The Oxford Guide to the United States Government.
The Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Poltiical Thought. (2007)
A Political and Economic Dictionary of Eastern Europe.
A Political and Economic Dictionary of Latin America.
A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East.
A Political and Economic Dictionary of Western Europe.
Political Economy Terms online.
Political Handbook of the World. Reference JF 37 .P6
Poltiical Philosophy, A to Z. (2007)
Political Science Glossary.
Political Systems of the World. Reference JF 51 .D467
Political Theories for Students. Reference JA 81 .P 617 2002
Political Theory: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary and Classic Terms.
Politics in America. Reference JK 1010.C64
Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. Reference JK 511 .P 78 2000
Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia. General HM 1231 .C 85 2003
Reader's Companion to the American Presidency. (2000)
Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations Requested from the Congressional Research Service. A paper copy is available in the Library's Reference Collection at call number PN 6081 .R 435 1989.
Statistical Abstract of the United States. Reference HA 202 .U5 S93
United States Code Service. [U.S. laws] Reference KF 62.1972 .L38
United States Government Manual. Reference JK 421 .A3
Using Government Information Sources. Reference J 83 S 4 2001
Weasel Words: The Dictionary of American Doublespeak. Ref. PE 2839 .W 37 2006
World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures. Reference JF 511 .W67

Other Related C.O.D. Library Research Guides

Constitution of the U.S.,

Controversial Topics,

Declassified Government Documents,

Disasters,

Economics,

Elections,

Genocide and Human Rights,

Geography,

Global Studies Resources,

Government,

Immigration Debate Issue,

The Media and Politics,

The Military - Industrial Complex ,

Peace Studies

Social / Demographic / Economic Statistics Sources.

The Sudan / Lost Boys.

Article Indexes

You must have a valid College of DuPage library card to access the electronic indexes and databases from off-campus.

Academic OneFile (formerly Expanded Academic Index ASAP). An index to over 2500 magazines and journals covering a variety of topic areas including anthropology. This database provides references, abstracts, and many times the full-text of articles. A COD library card is required for off-campus use.
Academic Search Premier [EBSCOhost]1984 to present; 1990 to present- full text). Abstracts from nearly 3000 journals and full text for 1250 journals including general reference, education, social sciences, humanities, general science, multi-cultural studies, library and information science.
African Geopolitics. Free online journal.
Blackwell Synergy. This is an index of articles published in journals that are printed by the Blackwell company. A wide variety of topics and journals are covered, but you only get bibliographic citations, no full-text articles. You can select a particular subject area to search in, or you can select a specific journal to search in by clicking on the broad subject, then selecting a small subject area from that next page, then selecting the particular journal title on the third page. You can move through the categories by clicking on the plus sign [+] to the left of the category name.
Chicago Tribune(1985-present).Full-text.
CQ Researcher (Nov. 1991-present).Full-text articles covering topics of current interest and controversy.
Electronic Journals for Political Science list.
FindArticles.com. Citations to millions of journal articles.
Foreign Relations/Diplomatic History/International Relations index of recent articles, no full-text.
The Free Library. A database of free magazine and journal articles.
Google Scholar. This provides access to many free full-text articles, as well as citations to many other articles.
Handbook of Latin American Studies. Citations-only database from the U.S. Library of Congress.
H-NET Scholarly book reviews.
Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL). Access to citations and the full-text of thousandss of articles and official government reports. ON CAMPUS ACCESS ONLY. Click here for a description of the contents.
IngentaConnect. This is an index to millions of journal articles, book chapters, reports, and more. Most are NOT available as full-text online items.
The Journal of Haitian Studies . The COD Library started receiving this journal in the Summer of 2008 (click here for the COD holdings). It is not available full-text online. Click here for the Journal's Homepage, which has links to indexes and table of contents information. Copies of older articles can be obtained for you through the Library's Interlibrary Loan process.
JSTOR: Scholarly Journals Archive of Older Issues.
Latin American Periodicals Tables of Contents (LAPTOC). No full-text articles.
Military and Government Collection of articles.
Newspapers (ProQuest) (1980's-present).Full-text of four major national newspapers including the New York Times.
Open Access Journals Directory (free full-text journal articles)
Policybot. This is a database of over 17,600 public policy reports and documents, most of them full-text & free online.
Project MUSE. This database provides citations and abstracts only.
Sociological Abstracts (1974-present). References & abstracts for journals for political science and other related social science disciplines.
U.S. Military and Government Periodicals Index.
More COD Library journal and newspaper article databases.
Does the C.O.D. Library own the journal that I need?
Explanation of the Difference Between Magazines and Journals
Identifying Peer - Reviewed Scholarly Journals, Trade Publications, and Magazines (from ProQuest).
How to Read a Research Study Article.

Internet Sites

College of DuPage Political Science Program
The Anarchy Archives from Pitzer College
Campaign Contributions from Opensecrets.Org.
Center for Democracy and Technology.
Center for Public Integrity.
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Provides expert commentary about world events and issues.
Central Eurasian Interactive Atlas. This also includes statistical data and other types of information.
Change Congress.org. Publicizes where PAC money goes to members of Congress.
Chicago Area Congressional Districts. (map)
Chicago Council on Global Affairs (CCGA).
Congress.Org. Directories of members of Congress and congressional committees.Find your representatives by zip code and send them e-mail. Look up current legislation.
Congressional District Census/Population/Socio-Demographic Data.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports. (University of Texas).
Congressional Research Tutorials Online. (University of California at Berkeley)
Congresslink. More information about Congress and its members.
Congresspedia. Includes information about members of Congress under investigation, along with articles and blogs.
Constitution Finder for constitutions worldwide.
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Provides expert discussion of world events and issues.
Country Information and Statistics, from World Audit.org.
Country Reports.org. A collection of cultural, historical, statistical, and geographic information about countries.
East European Politics.
ECAI: The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative.
Economic Freedom of the World Report.
Elections information
FactCheck.org - The Annenberg Political Fact Check Site.
Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (FIRST).
The Federal Judiciary
FedWorld. Good source of U.S. government reports. Links to U.S. government web sites.
First Amendment Center for the Freedom of Speech.
Follow the Oil Money: Tracking Petroleum Industry Campaign Contributions.
Foreign Affairs Online.
Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Governing.com. This provides information and commentary about state governments.
Government Accountability Office. Official reports on U.S. government operations.
Government Performance Project (GPP). This provides statistics and commentary about states, and even compares them as well.
Government Statistics sites
GPO Monthly Catalog (FirstSearch) (1976-present) Catalog of federal government publications.
The Heritage Foundation. This is a noted conservative organization.
Has Polling Killed Democracy? Polling resources.
The History of Televised Debates.
How a Bill Becomes a Law in Congress (online tutorial)
How a Bill Becomes a Law in Illinois. (in chart form)

How a Bill Becomes a Law in Illinois. (in written form)
How Our Federal Laws are Enacted.
How Our Federal Laws are Made.
Illinois State Government Internet Homepage
Illinois State Government Publications Catalog
Illinois State Legislation - Status and Text. (Illinois Legislative Synopsis and Digest).
Information about Governors around the Country.
Inter - American Development Bank (IADB).
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Just War Theory.com. Links to other resources on this philosophical/political topic.
Latin American Political Database, from Georgetown University.
Liberal Think Tanks list.
The Library of Economics and Liberty. This site has free online texts of hundreds of classic books and essays in the fields of economics and political science. From the Liberty Fund.
MAPlight.org. Illuminating the connection between money and politics.
The National Journal Group's Policy Central. A collection of links to organizations and online publications.
National Security.org. Part of the Heritage Foundation.
Nationalism Studies Information Clearinghouse.
Nationmaster. You can use this site to find statistics and make charts.
National Constitutions
National Institute of Money in State Politics.
Non - Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Research Guide. University of California, Berkeley, Library.
Northeast Illinois Congressional Districts. (map)
Northeast Illinois State Legislative Districts. (map)
Official US Executive Branch Web Sites
OFFSTATS: Official Statistics on the Web. Links to statistics from foreign governments.
On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill. Free full-text version.
The Online Library of Liberty. This site has free online texts of hundreds of classic books and essays in the fields of government and political science. From the Liberty Fund.
PolicyLink.org. This organization provides links to various reports and analysis.
Political Database of the Americas, from Georgetown University.
Political Web (for election information)
Politics1.Resources on parties, candidates, ideological positions, issues, and general political news.Nonpartisan and covers a wide variety of organizations and viewpoints.
Presidential Speeches, audio versions.
Project Vote Smart. Free information about politicians including biographies, campaign finances, issue positions, performance evaluations, and voting records. http://www.vote-smart.org
Public Opinion and Policy Analysis from Public Agenda Online. http://publicagenda.org.
Public Opinion/World Values survey data.
The Rand Corporation. A highly-respected California think-tank that provides expert analysis of a variety of government problems and operations.
Rankings of Countries by democratic development, press freedoms, human rights, rule of law, corruption, civil liberties, economic freedom, from World Audit.org.
Real Clear Politics, a different slant on things.
The Smoking Gun. (texts of elusive government publications)
Social / Demographic / Economic Statistics Sources. Subdivided into local-, county-, and state-level electronic and printed COD resources. Although developed for marketing classes, it can certainly be utilized for other purposes as well.
Sourcewatch. A watchdog group that tracks public relations and propaganda efforts to sway public opinion.
State government associations topics search engine.
Statistics selected by your Geography from Fed Stats/Map Stats.
Think Tanks list.
Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet.Full-text of House and Senate bills, Congressional Record, and daily proceedings on the House and Senate floors.
The Ultimate Political Science Links Page! (humor section at the bottom)
United Nations Scholars Workstation. Collection of texts, finding aids, data sets, maps, and references to print and electronic information concerning the activities of the United Nations. http://www.library.yale.edu/un/.
U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports. (Indiana University)
United States Legislative Branch
United States Overseas Loans and Grants, a.k.a. "The Greenbook".
USA.GOV. The main gateway to U.S. government web sites and online information.
USA Spending.gov. Use this site to find out where the tax dollars are distributed.
Virtual Library of Eastern Europe.
World Audit.org. Provides rankings of countries by many different subjects.
World Bank.
Yahoo! Political Science. Keyword searching for political science topics.Good place to start your Web searching. http://www.yahoo.com/Social_Science/Political_Science

Checklists & Worksheets

Interlibrary Loan

The Library can obtain copies of articles or books from other libraries for you. Inquire at the Reference Desk. You may also consult journal title lists from other libraries in the area.
Click here to get to the online Interlibrary Loan form.

Click here for HELP with citing your sources

Political Science Faculty Internet Homepages

Christian Goergen

David M. Goldberg

Carol J. Riphenburg

Library Reference Desk: 630-942-3364

Dan Blewett, Reference Librarian
(630) 942-2279
Office: SRC 3033
blewett@cod.edu