Government 204: Congress and the Policy Process
 Photo Credit: U.S. Capitol, late afternoon. Horydczak, Theodor, photographer. American Memory |
Professor: Janet Martin
Librarian: Ginny Hopcroft
Spring 2009
Introduction
Secondary Sources
Primary Source Databases
Congressional Documents
Political Journals
Indexes/Databases
Citation Source
Introduction
Congress enacts the laws which govern the United States. The process of creating legislation is complex, and the documents generated - bills, resolutions, hearings, reports, committee prints and debates in the Congressional Record - reflect that complexity. Bowdoin College Library has a major collection of these congressional primary source documents in paper and electronic format.
The Library has also collected many secondary sources - indexes, journal article databases, almanacs, etc. - to provide identification and context for these congressional publications. The purpose of this guide is to help you, the researcher, to locate and use congressional publications effectively.
Secondary Sources for Background
Almanac of American Politics
Main Ref JK 1012 .A44
CQ's Politics in America
Main Ref JK 1010 .P64
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 1774-2005 (Online)
Govt Ref Y 1.1/2 Vol 14902 (Print)
CQ Weekly (Online)
Main Per (Print)
CQ Almanac (Online, 1945-present)
JK1 .C66 (Print volumes, 1945-present)
Congress and the Nation
Main Ref JK411 .66
CIS Annual Government Index
Govt Index KF49 .C62
Documents of the U.S. Congress
Online finding tool for all Congressional publications at Bowdoin College Library.
Congressional Staff Directory
Main Ref JK1012 .C 65
Federal Staff Directory
Main Ref JK 723 .E9F44
United States government manual
Govt Ref AE 2/108.2:date
Federal Election Commission
Financial reports of campaign contributions at all levels of Federal Govenment.
Open Secrets (Center for Responsive Politics)
Reliable information related to all aspects of political money and interest groups, ranging from specific individuals to industry-related groups.
Project Vote Smart
Well organized information-biographies, finances, issues-about candidates and elected officials at all levels of state and federal government.
Primary Source Databases
GPO Access
Full text service for congressional publications from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Coverage back to 1993.
LexisNexis Congressional
Online subscription service providing index access-and some full text-for congressional publications: bills, laws, committee reports, hearings, the congressional record, legislative histories, etc. Coverage back to the late 1980's.
LexisNexis Academic
Online subscription service of full text news and legal information. Good source for transcripts of interviews.
Thomas
Named for Thomas Jefferson, this website from the Library of Congress offers full-text access to bills, laws, the Congressional Record, status of current bills, etc. Publications from 1993 to the present.
United States House of Representatives
A good guide to the workings of the House. Directory information for House members, detailed calendars, descriptions of House operations and committees.
The United States Senate
Excellent source of detailed information about Senate operations. Contains directories, committees, calendars, history of the Senate, statistics, etc.
Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Full text reports from this non-partisan "watchdog" office of Congress evaluate effectiveness of legislated programs.
Congressional Documents
Bills
Texts of laws under consideration; also in LexisNexis Congressional.
Committee Hearings and Prints
Texts of discussion, expert evidence and testimony for bills under consideration; if not available online, try the Library Catalog.
Committee Reports
Texts of committee reports specifically related to proposed legislation or issues under investigation. Also in LexisNexis Congressional.
The Congressional Record
Text of debate on the floors of the House and Senate; found in LexisNexis Congressional as well as in print in the Govt Docs Collection at Govt Docs X/Cong [Sess#,Pt.#].
Budget of the United States Government
Govt Ref PrEx 2.8
Budget as proposed by the President; contains outline of actual expenditure for the previous year.
United States. Census Bureau. Voting and Registration in the Election of-
Govt C 3.186/3
Information provided each election year from the current population survey; state rankings and tables included.
To locate articles in the journals below, use the indexes in the following section. Also use JSTOR in the Online Indexes/Databases for fulltext of all articles up to the last 5 years for the starred journals.
American Journal of Political Science*
American Political Science Review*
Congressional Quarterly
Journal of Politics*
Legislative Studies Quarterly
National Journal
Political Science Quarterly*
Polity
Public Administration Review
Public Opinion Quarterly*
Social Science Quarterly
Western Political Quarterly or Political Research Quarterly
Indexes and Databases
Some of these databases provide article citation only, while others contain the article's full text. To find whether Bowdoin Library either holds the journal in print or provides access to the full text, please click the "check availability" link in the database record.
LexisNexis Congressional
LexisNexis Congressional is an online subscription service providing indexing and some full text access to congressional publications: bills, laws, committee reports, testimony from hearings, the congressional record, legislative histories, etc. Coverage goes back to approximately the late 1980's.
LexisNexis Academic
Full-text web database of news and legal information provides access to both current news and up to 20 years of retrospective news, both domestic and international. Transcripts of interviews and political talk shows as well as regional newspapers.
Academic Search Premier
Indexes English-language periodicals in the social sciences, humanities, and science, as well as general interest magazines and several national U.S. newspapers. Date coverage varies; many articles in full text.
Catalog of Government Publications
To access Bowdoin's government publications, first check the Library Catalog. If you do not find your title or subject there, you should check the Catalog of Government Publications for 1976 to present. You'll obtain a citation, possibly containing a link to the full text. If there's no link, use the SUDOC (classification) number to locate the paper document in the Library's Government Documents collection.
PAIS International 1972-
Citation indexing for "publications on all subjects that bear on contemporary public issues and the making and evaluation of public policy, irrespective of source or traditional disciplinary boundaries." Sources indexed: articles, books, government documents or the reports of public and private organizations.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts,1975-
Index for scholarly journal articles, books and dissertations in political science from the U.S. and internationally.
Citation Sources
Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources, 1993. Reserve 133e.
Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources, 2002. Reserve 133f.
