POLITICAL SCIENCE 498: PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS

Congress, Laws & Regulations

Congress

LexisNexis Congressional
Indexing begins 1970, earliest fulltext from mid-1980's. Provides access to U.S. legislative information including legislative histories, bills, laws, regulations, committee hearings, reports and documents, and current legislative news. Check out the list under Hot Topics/Topics.
Roll Call and The Hill via Congressional Universe
Published twice a week, Roll Call covers House and Senate activities, people, and issues. The Hill reports and analyzes the actions of Congress. Choose Inside Washington from the main menu and then select either Roll Call or The Hill .
Almanac of American Politics REF JK271.A5
Biennial biographical directory of Members of Congress. Also provides an overview of political leanings for each state as well as information on the political climate of congressional districts.
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report REF JK1.C15
Provides current non-partisan political analysis of Congress. Identifies major legislation, the issues and players, and roll call votes. See the index on the back page of recent issues for the latest information.
Congressional Quarterly Almanac REF JK1.C66
An annual yearbook that highlights key actions, compiles annual voting records, describes major legislation, and analyzes Supreme Court decisions.

Federal-Statutory & Administrative Law

Public Laws-LexisNexis Congressional
Select "Laws" and then search the fulltext of public laws from 1988 to the present or search public laws by number.
U.S. Code Congressional & Administrative News REF KF48.W45
Compilation of texts of public laws, Presidential messages, and executive orders. Indexed by subject, title, and popular name of act.
United States Code Annotated REF KF62.A3
U.S. Code-LexisNexis Academic
Select "Legal Research" from menu on left.
U.S. Code-Legal Information Institute, Cornell
Federal Register-LexisNexis Academic
Select "Legal Research" from menu on left. New and proposed regulations drafted by executive and administrative agencies are announced in the Federal Register.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)-LexisNexis Academic
Select "Legal Research" from menu on left. The Federal Register is codified as the CFR.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)-NARA
You can search or browse the CFR at this site provided by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Federal-Case Law

Federal Case Law-LexisNexis Academic
Select "Legal Research" from menu on left. Supreme Court decisions and briefs, case law from Court of Appeals and U.S. District Courts are searchable.
United States Reports REF KF8741.A5

State -Statutory, Administrative, & Case Law

State Case Law and Code-LexisNexis Academic
Select "Legal Research" from menu on the left. State high court and appellate decisions are searchable. Statutory laws, court rules, and Attorneys General opinions from all the states are also available.
Full-text State Statutes and Legislation on the Internet
Listed alphabetically, links to state constitutions, statutes, codes, laws, and legislative documents are provided.
State Legal Materials-Legal Information Institute, Cornell
Collection of state legal materials with links to constitutions, statutes, judicial opinions, and regulations-select "listing by jurisdiction." State statutes can also be accessed by topic.
Administrative Codes and Registers Links-National Association of Secretaries of State

Articles & More

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts - This database provides citations and abstracts to the literature of political science and related fields such as international relations, law, public administration, and public policy.

PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service - Indexes and provides citations and abstracts from policy oriented literature of the social sciences, including political science. Coverage is from 1972-.

LexisNexis Academic - This resource provides fulltext access to U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, newsletters and journals. For the most effective search, use Guided Search .

Social Sciences Abstracts (Wilson Web) - Provides indexing, abstracting, and selected full text to articles in over 350 leading English language periodicals covering anthropology, criminology, psychology, political science, women's studies, and sociology. Enter your search terms, and then in the Subject Area dialog box, select Social Sciences. Searches can be limited to peer reviewed, i.e., scholarly sources.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost) - Multidisciplinary database that provides citations and abstracts to over 4,000 periodicals. Approximately two-thirds of the articles are available fulltext. Searches can be limited to peer reviewed, i.e., scholarly sources.

Criminal Justice Abstracts - This resource indexes and provides citations and abstracts from international journals, books, reports, and dissertations in criminology and related disciplines. Coverage is from 1968-present and includes crime trends, crime prevention and deterrence, juvenile delinquency and justice, police, courts, punishment and sentencing. Available in print on the index tables in the Reference Room.

NCJRS Abstracts-National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts - A searchable database provided by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. It contains summaries of more than 150,000 criminal justice publications including government and research reports, books, and journal articles. Over 1,500 fulltext publications are also available online.

PsycINFO - This is the principle index to the international literature in psychology and related disciplines such as business, education, psychiatry, sociology, and social work. Coverage is from 1887-present. Provides citations to and abstracts from journals, books and book chapters, dissertations, and technical reports. Click here for some searching tips.

Sociological Abstracts - This is the principle index to the literature in sociology and related disciplines. It is an international database that provides citations to and abstracts from journals, books, dissertations, and conference papers.

Locating a Copy of the Article

The Library subscribes to numerous journal titles. Try the following to obtain the articles you want.
To determine if the Library has access electronically to a particular journal, browse this list of journal titles .
Search the TCNJ Library Catalog to determine if the Library owns a print copy of the journal.
If the journal title is not available in either print or electronic format, you can request a copy of the article through Interlibrary Loan

Books, Videos & More

Search the TCNJ Library Catalog to find books on your topic. Try Keyword-Boolean searches to begin. Pay attention to relevant Subject Headings you find on individual records.
Here are two reference sources that may be useful:
International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration REF H97.I574 1998
Public Interest Profiles REF JK1118.P79

Statistics & Data

FedStats - Listing of statistical programs of over 100 government agencies. Use the "topics links-a to z" or search across agency websites.
LexisNexis Statistical - This database provides access to statistics collected by the federal and state governments, private organizations, and international governmental organizations.
Statistical Resources on the Web - A tremendous gateway to statistical information provided by the Documents Center at the University of Michigan. Use the "main index."

Public Policy Web Resources

Federal
Agency Index
Table of cabinet departments and independent agencies. Includes links to homepages, online publications, opinions of the agency.
Budget and Appropriations Committees
Congressional Budget Office
GAO Reports
Office of Management & Budget (OMB)
OMB assists the President in overseeing the preparation of the Federal budget. It evaluates the effectiveness of agency programs, policies, and procedures, etc. Two sections under "Legislative Information" on this page are useful:

Statements of Administration Policy
Official White House policy on bills before Congress are linked here.

Agencies' Communications to Congress
Provides text of each agencies Congressional testimony.

State
Stateline.org
Summary of news articles and background information about state legislative issues for all 50 states. Includes reports on public policy developments on a number of issues.
Council of State Governments
State & Local Government on the Web

Policy Sites
Almanac of Policy Issues
Background information on a variety of issues, including links to news, articles, directories, and associations. Views from differing sides of the issue are included.
Moving Ideas-Electronic Policy Network
Online analysis of policy and trends presented by a consortium of public policy organizations and advocacy groups.
Nationalissues.com
Both sides of major national issues are presented.
Public Agenda Online-Public Opinion and Public Policy
This is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization devoted to public opinion, policy analysis, and education. Issue guides cover topics such as the environment, economy, etc.
SpeakOut.com
Non-partisan look at many issues. Site includes what used to be Policy.com and intellectualcapital.com
Think Tanks-Political Science Resources on the Web
Megalist of links from the Documents Center, University of Michigan.
Town Hall: Conservative News and Information
This site focuses on American conservative thinkers, foundations, and publications.

Special Topics
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
The NCJRS acts as a clearinghouse to support all bureaus of the U.S. Department of Justice. Topics covered include corrections, courts, crime prevention, victims, juvenile justice, and law enforcement.
Subject Guide to Criminal Justice Resources
Urban Institute
Nonprofit policy research organization on U.S. social and economic problems. Check link to "Assessing the New Federalism."
National Council for Science and the Environment
Great site that includes Congressional Research Service briefing books on environmental issues as well as other CRS environment-related reports. Also, news, access to free environmental online journals, and more.
EPA Publications Source
Provides access to EPA's technical and public information.
Pew Center On Global Climate Change
Reports and policy analyses on topics relevant to the climate change debate.

Writing Resources / Style Manuals

Citation & Style Guides (TCNJ)

Created and Maintained by:
Karen Hartman hartmank@tcnj.edu

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