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Research by Subject: Government
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Ginny Hopcroft - Librarian Liaison
For more information
or to schedule an individual research appointment contact me at x3298
or
ghopcrof@bowdoin.edu.
Welcome!
Resources for specific courses are listed below on the left; a quick search of resources for this field of study can be done in the Cast-A-Net box on the right. Otherwise, select from the tabs above.
For Specific Courses…
Current
- 204: Congress and the Policy Process
- 202: The American Presidency
- 363: Advanced Seminar in International Relati...
Show Previous Semesters
- 24: Political Theory and Uto... (Fall 2007 )
- 203: American Political Parti... (Fall 2005 )
- 204: Congress and the Policy ... (Fall 2006 )
- 209: Introduction to Politica... (Fall 2005 )
- 210: Constitutional Law I (Fall 2006 )
- 210: Constitutional Law I (Fall 2007 )
- 215: Urban Politics (Fall 2007 )
- 217: Interest Groups (Spring 2006 )
- 219: Education and Law (Fall 2007 )
- 225: Politics of the European... (Spring 2005 )
- 230: Post Communist Russian P... (Fall 2004 )
- 239: Comparative Constitution... (Fall 2006 )
Cast-A-Net Combined Search
Government and Politics (U.S.) searches these databases
· Bowdoin College Library Catalog
· Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
· Declassified Documents Reference System
· Facts on File World News Digest
· GPO Access
· LexisNexis-Congressional
· PAIS International (1915-1976)
· PAIS International (1972-Present)
· Washington Post (1987 - Current)
· Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
« Hide List
International Politics searches these databases
· Academic Search Premier
· Bowdoin College Library Catalog
· CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online
· Facts on File World News Digest
· IngentaConnect
· Jstor
· PAIS International (1972-Present)
· Project Muse
· Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
« Hide List
Advanced Search
The library catalog is an electronic index of Bowdoin College Library's holdings of books, periodicals, newspapers, cd-roms, and video and sound recordings. The catalog is often the best place to begin research. For detailed information about the research process and the library catalog see Getting Started.
Subject and keyword (word) searching of the library catalog produce different results, but both methods are useful in finding research information. Keyword searching is often the best way to get started and is especially helpful for personal names, very current or out of date terminology, locating chapters or essays within a book.
Subject searching gives best results when standardized Library of Congress Subject Headings are used. These subject headings are found either in the large red volumes near the reference desk or by checking the subject headings in a relevant catalog record. Examples of LC Subject Headings:
- Gaulle, Charles de
- Presidents--United States--Election
- Arab-Israeli Conflict
- Comparative government
- Former Soviet Republics--Civil Rights
Once you find the classification number for your research topic, browsing the shelves in your subject area can also be useful.
Library Catalogs
Bowdoin College Library Catalog
Books, videos, government documents, etc. in Bowdoin's library.
NExpress
A combined catalog containing the library holdings of Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Wellesley,
Williams, Middlebury, and Northeastern. Requests take 2-3 days.
MaineCat
Includes the holdings of most Maine libraries. Requests take 2-5 days
WorldCat
A combined database of many library catalogs worldwide. Request items found in WorldCat through our Interlibrary Loan service.
A quick search of resources for this field of study can be done in the Cast-A-Net box below on the right. Otherwise, select one of the individual databases below on the left.
Core Databases
- Academic Search Premier [about]
Academic Search Premier
Coverage Dates: Varies (mid-1990s) - Present
Format: Online
Contains full-text for 3,180 journals, and indexing for over 4,100. Some full-text titles have publisher's embargos which prevent the most current content from being online.
« Hide Description - CQ Almanac [about]
CQ Almanac
Coverage Dates: 1945 - Present
Format: Online
Coverage of the people, elections, legislation, and controversies in the U.S. Congress from 1945- . Original narrative accounts of every major piece of legislation that lawmakers considered during a congressional session. Includes all of the content from the print version of the Almanac. Updated annually. For more recent coverage, see CQ Weekly (http://library.bowdoin.edu/erl/ip/cqweb.cgi)
« Hide Description - Europa World Plus [about]
Europa World Plus
Coverage Dates: -
Format: Online
Economic, political and geographic background information along with statistical data, by country.
« Hide Description - Jstor [about]
Jstor
Coverage Dates: Varies - Varies
Format: Online
Digitized backfiles of scholarly journals; recent issues are not available through this database. Note: Images from Jstor's sister database, ARTstor, will be included in searches, but only by using the Basic Search mode.
« Hide Description - New York Times (1980-Present) [about]
New York Times (1980-Present)
Coverage Dates: 1980 - Present
Format: Online
New York Times; Late Edition (East Coast). Includes New York Times Book Review and New York Times Magazine from 1997 - present.
« Hide Description - PAIS International (1972-Present) [about]
PAIS International (1972-Present)
Coverage Dates: 1972 - Present
Format: Online
An index of more than 1600 periodicals and specialized journals, as well as selected books, directories, reports, and government documents.
« Hide Description - Polling the Nations [about]
Polling the Nations
Coverage Dates: 1986 - Present
Format: Online
Polling the Nations is a compilation of surveys conducted by over 1000 polling organizations in the United States and 100 other countries from 1986 to the present time. The pollsters included in the database are: US polling organizations (e.g., Harris International, The Pew Center); universities (e.g., Rice University, University of Maryland); newspapers (e.g., New York Times, Los Angeles Times); Television news organizations (e.g., CBS, NBS, Fox, CNN); international polling organizations (e.g., Eurobarometer; special interest groups (e.g., Boy Scouts, AFL-CIO)
« Hide Description - Project Muse [about]
Project Muse
Coverage Dates: Varies- 1995-1996 - Present
Format: Online
« Hide Description - Worldwide Political Science Abstracts [about]
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Coverage Dates: 1975 - Present
Format: Online
Provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy.
« Hide Description
Related Databases
- Access World News [about]
Access World News
Coverage Dates: Varies - Present
Format: Online
"Provides full-text information and perspectives from over 600 U.S. and over 700 international sources, each with its own distinctive focus offering diverse viewpoints on local, regional and world issues. Excludes paid advertisements."
« Hide Description - AccessUN [about]
AccessUN
Coverage Dates: 1951 - Present
Format: Online
Documents from the six main bodies of the United Nations - General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, Secretariat and International Court of Justice - are indexed. Full-text resolutions from the General Assembly, Security Council and the Economic and Social Council are appended to their respective bibliographic citations. In addition, several other document series will include the full-text version of the document.
« Hide Description - American State Papers 1789-1837 [about]
American State Papers 1789-1837
Coverage Dates: 1789 - 1837
Format: Online
"The American State Papers constitute rich primary source material on many aspects of early American history from 1789 to 1838. A retrospective republication of approximately 6280 numbered publications, largely Congressional but also containing Executive Department materials...Now available: 1st Congress, 1st Session through 25th Congress, 2nd Session, 1789-1838, American State Papers Vols. 01-038."
« Hide Description - CIAO: Columbia International Affairs ... [about]
CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online
Coverage Dates: 1991 - Present
Format: Online
Includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences
« Hide Description - Catalog of U.S. Government Publicatio... [about]
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Coverage Dates: 1976 - Present
Format: Online
Catalog of all U.S. government publications--tangible and virtual--issued through the Federal Depository Library Program. Includes links to full text where available.
« Hide Description - Declassified Documents Reference Syst... [about]
Declassified Documents Reference System
Coverage Dates: Post World War II - Variable
Format: Online
Contains declassified memos, diplomatic correspondence, national security policy statements, and intelligence estimates. Material relates to both foreign and domestic policy. All documents are full text searchable and can be displayed in either graphic (scanned image) or text (transcribed) format. Additional material is added as it is declassified, on an approximately yearly basis. About 70,000 documents are available now. This web interface duplicates the micorfilm source of the same name from Primary Source Media.
« Hide Description - FBIS Electronic Index [about]
FBIS Electronic Index
Coverage Dates: 1975 - 1996
Format: Online
An index to the Daily Reports published by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) of the CIA. Daily reports on microfiche located at Government Documents PrEx 7.10 in Main Micro. The FBIS reports are continued in electronic fulltext by the database World News Connection from 1995 forward.
« Hide Description - FBIS Full Text - Africa, Middle East,... [about]
FBIS Full Text - Africa, Middle East, S. Asia, 1974 - 1996
Coverage Dates: 1974 - 1996
Format: Online
Full text of Daily Reports from the CIA’s Foreign Broadcast Information Service, from 1974-1996. Individual reports include speeches, broadcasts, news articles from countries in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Texts are translated into English by the CIA.
« Hide Description - Facts on File World News Digest [about]
Facts on File World News Digest
Coverage Dates: 1940 - Present
Format: Online
Essential facts of the news as reported in the major newspapers and news magazines around the world. Emphasis throughout is on the factual content rather than opinion or analysis. Also, hourly headline news, maps, and more.
« Hide Description - GPO Access [about]
GPO Access
Coverage Dates: Varies (historical material included) - Present
Format: Online
Full text information from all three branches of the federal government, made available by the U.S. Government Printing Office. Includes Supreme Court decisions, congressional bills and hearings, presidential speeches, laws and regulations, and more.
« Hide Description - House and Senate Journals, Series I, ... [about]
House and Senate Journals, Series I, 1789-1817
Coverage Dates: 1789 - 1817
Format: Online
Journals of the House of Representatives and Senate 1789 to 1817, covering the first 14 Congresses of the United States.
« Hide Description - LexisNexis-Academic [about]
LexisNexis-Academic
Coverage Dates: Varies - Present
Format: Online
Worldwide newspapers, magazines, newswires, and trade journals. Archives of state and federal case law, statutes and regulations.
« Hide Description - LexisNexis-Congressional [about]
LexisNexis-Congressional
Coverage Dates: 1789 - Present
Format: Online
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information from Congressional Information Service, Inc.
« Hide Description - PAIS International (1915-1976) [about]
PAIS International (1915-1976)
Coverage Dates: 1915 - Present
Format: Online
Provides selective subject and bibliographical access to periodicals, books, hearings, reports, gray literature, government publications, and other English-language materials published around the world.
« Hide Description - Senate Executive Journals, Series I, ... [about]
Senate Executive Journals, Series I, 1789-1866
Coverage Dates: 1789 - 1866
Format: Online
Executive Journals of the United States Senate 1789 to 1866, covering the first Congress through the first session of the 39th Congress.
« Hide Description - U.S. Congressional Serial Set [about]
U.S. Congressional Serial Set
Coverage Dates: 1817 - 1980 when complete
Format: Online
Contains legislative reports, documents and journals from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, along with significant Executive agency publications. Reports of exploration, technology, finance, immigration, scientific discovery, culture, commerce and war comprise this set of primary documents. Maps and statistics are included. The last portion digitized will be the American State Papers, reports from 1789-1838, compiled and organized in subject volumes.
« Hide Description - United Nations Treaty Collection [about]
United Nations Treaty Collection
Coverage Dates: - Present
Format: Online
Contains the texts of over 40,000 bilateral and multilateral treaties and subsequent actions.
« Hide Description - Washington Post (1987 - Current) [about]
Washington Post (1987 - Current)
Coverage Dates: 1987 - Present
Format: Online
Contains ascii full text of the Washington Post.
« Hide Description - World Development Indicators [about]
World Development Indicators
Coverage Dates: 1960 - Present
Format: Online
Contains statistical data for over 550 development indicators and time series data from 1960--2001 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. Data selection screens are intuitive and easy to use. Results can be scaled, indexed against a particular year, viewed by percentage change, and charted. Data can also be exported in standard formats like Excel.
« Hide Description - World News Connection [about]
World News Connection
Coverage Dates: 1995 - Present
Format: Online
WNC provides the Foreign Broadcast Information Service Reports from 1995 to present in electronic fulltext. FBIS reports from 1978 to 1996 are on microfiche at PrEx 7.10 in Main Micro and accessed by the FBIS Electronic Index.
« Hide Description
» Guide to case law searching in Westlaw Campus
Cast-A-Net Combined Search
Government and Politics (U.S.) searches these databases
· Bowdoin College Library Catalog
· Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
· Declassified Documents Reference System
· Facts on File World News Digest
· GPO Access
· LexisNexis-Congressional
· PAIS International (1915-1976)
· PAIS International (1972-Present)
· Washington Post (1987 - Current)
· Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
« Hide List
International Politics searches these databases
· Academic Search Premier
· Bowdoin College Library Catalog
· CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online
· Facts on File World News Digest
· IngentaConnect
· Jstor
· PAIS International (1972-Present)
· Project Muse
· Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
« Hide List
Advanced Search
Reference Sources
Almanac of American Politics. Biennial. 1974-present
Main Ref JK 1012 .A44
Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Annual. 1945-present
Govt Index JK 1 C66
United States government manual. Annual. 1939-present
Govt Ref AE 2/108.2:
America Votes: a Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics
Annual. 1956-present.
Main Ref JK 1967 A8
Encyclopedia of the American presidency.
Main Ref JK511 .E53 1994
Dictionary of Twentieth Century European Politics
Main Ref JA61 .S53 1993
Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World
Main Ref JA61 .O95 1993
Political Parties of the World
Main Ref JF2051 .D39 1996
Statesman's Yearbook Annual. 1866-present.
Main Ref JA51 .S7
The Europa World Year Book. Annual. 1959-present.
Main Ref JN1 .E852
U.S. Congressional Documents
Comprehensive table of Congressional publications, including years of coverage, location, and electronic access when available.
Law Sources
For legal research basics, please see the course guide for Constitutional Law.
Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/
This web site is an excellent place for a non-lawyer to find legal information. It provides definitions and background along with texts
of laws, regulations and legal decisions. Very effective search engine.
Lexis Nexis Academic
Under the Legal Resources heading, L/N Academic provides federal and state statutes, federal and state caselaw, articles from law review journals and law newsletters, all in full text. Additionally, this database contains decisions from state and federal courts, laws, law journal articles, regulations and some international law.
Index to Legal Periodicals
Main Per Index 1929-present
This bibliographic index provides access to articles in all major law review journals from 1929 to the present, including many not included in L/N Academic.
Caselaw Reporters held in the Library:
United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition.
Govt Doc KF 101 .A5 U5 1754-present
United States Reports: Reports of decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Govt Doc Ju 6.8: 1875-1998
U.S. Supreme Court records and briefs [microform] : full opinion.
Main Micro
Microfiche edition, 1969/70--present
The Federal Reporter (U.S. Court of Appeals Decisions)
Govt Doc KF 105.A5: F4 1880-present
Federal Supplement (U.S. District Court Decisions)
Govt Doc KF120.A5:F4 xxx-present
Maine Reporter
Govt Doc Maine J 90.28 1966-present
Statutes and Regulations
United States Statutes at Large 1789 to present
Govt Doc AE 2.111:
U.S. Code
Govt Ref 1994 Edition Y 1.2/5:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html
Federal Register
Govt Ref AE 2.106:
http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html
Code of Federal Regulations
Govt Ref AE 2.106/3:1-50
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html
Official Government Publications
The Government Documents Collection, located on the lower level of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, has substantial resources for the study of politics and law, both domestic and international. This collection serves as an official depository for both United States and State of Maine publications. The Library purchases United Nations publications and shelves them in the main stacks of H-L.
Some representative titles:
United States
Congressional Record
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces150.html
Govt Doc X 1.1
U.S. Congressional Serial Set
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/history/sset/sset1.html
Govt Doc Y 1.1/2
U.S. Statutes at Large
Govt Doc AE 2.111
Public Papers of the Presidents
http://www.gpo.gov/nara/pubpaps/srchpaps.html
Govt Doc AE 2.114
Foreign Relations of the United States
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/frus/
Govt Doc S 1.1
Foreign Broadcast Information Service Reports (FBIS)
http://library.bowdoin.edu/erl/ip/wnc.cgi
Country reports on human rights practices
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/hr/
Govt Doc Y 4.F76/1-15
CIA World Factbook
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Govt Ref PREX 3.15
Country Studies
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
Background Notes
http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/
United States: Federal Government Resources on the Web
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/federal.html
GPO Access
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/index.html
Maine: Official State Web Site
http://www.state.me.us/
United Nations
Official United Nations website
http://www.un.org
http://www.un.org/ga/55/pvlista55.htm
Official Records of the General Assembly. United Nations.
Main Libr JX1977 .A41 1946-1984
Official Records/Social and Economic Council, United Nations.
Main Libr JZ5007.3 .A1 1966-1986
Official Records/United Nations, Security Council
Main Libr JX1977 .A515 1946-1985
Yearbook of the International Law Commission
Main Libr JX1261 U386 1949-present
United Nations documents and publications
microfiche edition, 1982-2001. Colby College Library (Available for Bowdoin use)
United Nations Treaty Collection
Library Gateway.Full text of UN treaties online.
AccessUN
Library Gateway Bibliographic index to United Nations official publications from 1947 to the present.
United Kingdom
The Parliamentary Debates (Authorized edition, Hansard)
Main Libr J301 H22 1803-1993
Main Micro Fiche 1179 1994-present
Web Sites
Government Documents Collection, Bowdoin College Library
http://library.bowdoin.edu/govdocs/
FirstGov
http://firstgov.gov/
Federal Web Locator
http://www.infoctr.edu/fwl/
Project Vote Smart
http://www.vote-smart.org
Extensive profiles (finances, issues, and voting records) of candidates and elected officials at all levels of state and federal government.
Foreign Government Resources on the Web
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/foreign.html
Strategies for Locating Foreign Government Information on the Web
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/socialsciences/forgate.htm
Links and practical ideas for finding government information.
Elections around the World
http://www.agora.stm.it/elections/home.htm
Tracking of all world elections with current results, political parties, etc.
International Constitutional Law
http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/
Constitutions of most countries with an informative outline of each country's recent political history and constitutional background.
For Specific Courses…
Current
- 204: Congress and the Policy Process
- 202: The American Presidency
- 363: Advanced Seminar in International Relati...
Show Previous Semesters
- 24: Political Theory and Uto... (Fall 2007 )
- 203: American Political Parti... (Fall 2005 )
- 204: Congress and the Policy ... (Fall 2006 )
- 209: Introduction to Politica... (Fall 2005 )
- 210: Constitutional Law I (Fall 2006 )
- 210: Constitutional Law I (Fall 2007 )
- 215: Urban Politics (Fall 2007 )
- 217: Interest Groups (Spring 2006 )
- 219: Education and Law (Fall 2007 )
- 225: Politics of the European... (Spring 2005 )
- 230: Post Communist Russian P... (Fall 2004 )
- 239: Comparative Constitution... (Fall 2006 )