Your policy can be represented by a bill that passed or was defeated, a regulation that was passed or withdrawn, or a Supreme Court case.
This course guide provides resources that will help you get started and that will help you find primary source documents to help with your analysis. It is organized by branch of government, along with general news sources that cross branches and some resouces on interest groups.
For another view of how to find sources for this kind of project, consult the University of Michigan Library's Public Policy Matrix.
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POLS 121 : Intro to American Politics - Second Paper Assignment (BMC)
The Policymaking Process:
Start here:
You can use a variety of sources to identify a bill, rule, or case to study. You can browse or search any of the resources listed in this guide, or consult your course readings and your past readings in public policy. A good place to browse for ideas can be CQ Researcher.
CQ researcher
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1991-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1991-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1991-present.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
CQ Researcher contains hundreds of full-text research reports on topics of public policy interest. Each report includes a chronology, charts, graphs, bibliography, and other overview materials. You may browse reports or search by keyword. (1991-date is available online; 1928-1990 is available in print at S McCabe H35 E35.)
Tripod library catalog.
Search Tripod for books, online resources, and more on your policy area. Tripod includes records and online links for government publications such as Congressional hearings and reports, public laws, and government agency reports held in the Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore libraries. Use the request option to ask for items from Haverford or Swarthmore.
WorldCat
Provider: OCLC
WorldCat can be used to identify books and other items on your topic that we might not have in our collection. Use E-ZBorrow or ILL to request books not in Tripod.
Legislative branch:
Need a refresher on the legislative process? Consult this detailed guide from LexisNexis Congressional.
Bills, laws, activities of Congress
LexisNexis Congressional
Provides daily updated information on the U.S. legislature, including:
- Senate & House bills full text (1989-date)
- Public Laws full text (1988-date)
- legislative histories (1969-date)
- Congressional hearings (indexing for 1824-date). Many hearings are available from Haverford or Swarthmore, and some recent ones are also available online.
- Committee reports (indexing for 1819-date, selected full-text 1990-date)
- Committee prints (indexing for 1830-date, selected full-text 1993-date)
- Congressional Record full text (1985-date)
CQ almanac plus.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly Inc., c2002-
This print continuation of Congressional Quarterly Almanac provides a detailed narrative of important legislation in all policy areas, and provides basic information on all bills in the House and the Senate for a given legislative session. Bryn Mawr has Almanacs from 1955-date.
Congress and the nation.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly Service, 1965-
Each volume of this companion publication to CQ Almanac Plus covers Congress over a four year presidential term. Congress and the Nation is a good source for a broader overview of issues and legislation that span multiple Congresses. Coverage begins with the 79th Congress in 1945 as Harry S. Truman became President upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Executive branch:
Regulations
The Federal Register is the source for United States rules and regulations. For a guide to using the Federal Register see the the National Archives web page About the Federal Register.
You can access the Register via GPO Access (1994-date), LexisNexis Academic and LexisNexis Congressional (both 1981-date). Academic and Congressional can both search the Register by keyword. Searching by Federal Register citation or Code of Federal Regulations citation is simpler in Congressional.
After publication in the Federal Register, rules and regulations are gathered in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Online versions of the current and archived CFR are available via GPO Access (1996-date), LexisNexis Academic (1981-date), and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date). Academic and Congressional can both search the CFR by keyword. Searching by CFR citation or United States Code citation is simpler in Congressional.
You can view and comment on regulations and other actions of federal agencies via Regulations.gov.
You can access the Register via GPO Access (1994-date), LexisNexis Academic and LexisNexis Congressional (both 1981-date). Academic and Congressional can both search the Register by keyword. Searching by Federal Register citation or Code of Federal Regulations citation is simpler in Congressional.
After publication in the Federal Register, rules and regulations are gathered in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Online versions of the current and archived CFR are available via GPO Access (1996-date), LexisNexis Academic (1981-date), and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date). Academic and Congressional can both search the CFR by keyword. Searching by CFR citation or United States Code citation is simpler in Congressional.
You can view and comment on regulations and other actions of federal agencies via Regulations.gov.
Presidential statements
The American Presidency Project
This site contains documents related to the American Presidency, including
The Public Papers of the Presidents is also available in print at Tri-Co libraries. In Canaday the volumes are shelved at J80 A283.
- Public Papers of the Presidents (1929-date)
- Weekly/Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents (1977-date)
- annual messages to Congress (1790-date)
- inaugural addresses (1789-date)
- Saturday radio addresses (1982-date)
- presidential nomination acceptance speeches (1928-2008)
- presidential candidates debates (1960-2008)
- party platforms (1840-2008)
- elections data (1789-2008)
- and an audio/video archive.
The Public Papers of the Presidents is also available in print at Tri-Co libraries. In Canaday the volumes are shelved at J80 A283.
Judicial branch:
Need a refresher on the way the federal court system is organized? See this narrative summary from USCourts.gov.
Supreme Court opinions and oral arguments
LexisNexis academic
Provider: LN
U.S. Supreme Court opinions (1790-date), transcripts, and briefs are available in full text via LexisNexis Academic.
- Click on Legal, then Federal & State Cases
- Enter your keywords or case name in the search boxes
- Select the court of interest; the default is Federal & State Cases, Combined but you probably want U.S. Supreme Court Cases, Lawyers' Edition
- The Lawyers' Edition includes the full opinion as well as notes and references to related articles.
Supreme Court opinions (1800-date) are also available in print at Tri-Co libraries. In Canaday the volumes are shelved at KF 101 U5.
There are two sources for recent oral arguments in Supreme Court cases:
- The Oyez Project
Contains audio files (1995-date, selected earlier) of oral arguments as well as many written transcripts, opinions, and other related materials.
- Supreme Court website
Contains argument transcripts (2000-date) and written opinions (1991-date). For argument transcripts, click on Oral Arguments, then Argument Transcripts. For opinions, click on Opinions, then Bound Volumes.
Supreme Court - reference information
The Oxford companion to the Supreme Court of the United States
Publisher: New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.
This reference book "includes more than twelve hundred articles on all aspects of the Court's history, personnel, and operations. There are biographies of each justice and entries on important cases, issues, and the workings and minutiae of the Court." --BOOK JACKET.
Lobbyists/Non-governmental Agencies:
PolicyFile
Provider: Chadwyck-Healey
Provides online access to abstracts and full-text articles on public policy research and analysis from think tanks, university research programs, research organizations and publishers.Covers a wide range of topics from international trade to health care reform, from telecommunications regulation to terrorism. Coverage varies.
OpenSecrets.org
Created in 1996 by the Center for Responsive Politics, OpenSecrets.org is the "nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy."
Federal regulatory directory.
Publisher: [Washington] Congressional Quarterly Inc.
The Directory provides in depth coverage of federal regulation and regulatory agencies. Most entries include an overview of relevant legislation as well as agency and non-governmental agency contact information.
Washington information directory.
Publisher: [Washington] Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
Arranged by subject, this Directory provides descriptions and contact information for federal agencies, relevant Congressional committees and bodies, and non-governmental groups.
News sources:
CQ weekly
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1983-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1983-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1983-present.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly,
This weekly news magazine from the publishers of CQ Almanac Plus, Congress and the Nation, and CQ Researcher provides coverage of issues before Congress and related legislative activity. Like all CQ publications the Weekly is a good source for information on federal legislation and policy.
LexisNexis Congressional
Click Political News/Hot Topics to search news stories on bills and other congressional activity. This source includes the Washington Post (Section A), Roll Call, and The Hill.
National Journal Group's policy central
Includes
- Almanac of American Politics
- Congress Daily
- The Hotline
- National Journal
- markup reports
- and several political blogs and other up-to-date information on the activities of Congress.
LexisNexis academic
Provider: LN
Contains the full text of thousands of newspapers, magazines, news transcripts, reference works, and legal materials. You can sort results by relevance, limit results to specific newspapers, and more. It's best to start with a Power Search, which gives you more power to select the sources you search.
The New York times on the Web
Holdings:
(Bryn Mawr College) Available from 1851-present.
(Haverford College) Available from 1851-present.
(Swarthmore College) Available from 1851-present.
Publisher: [New York, N.Y.] : New York Times.
LexisNexis Academic provides the full text of the NY Times from 1980-date. For older articles, go to ProQuest Historical Newspapers (1860s through three years ago).
Citing your sources:
For tips on citing your sources, consult the guides on the Library's Citation & Style Guides page.
Getting human help!
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