Your policy can be a bill that passed or was defeated, a regulation that was passed or withdrawn, or a Supreme Court case.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, plus some general news sources that cross branches.
For another view of how to find sources for this kind of project, consult the University of Michigan Library's Public Policy Matrix.
Subject Portal » Public Policy » Course Guides »
Need Help?
- Susan Turkel, Outreach and Information Technology Librarian (BMC)
- Arleen Zimmerle, Media & Reference Librarian (BMC)
Related Subjects:
Databases A-Z:
Other:
POLS 121 : Introduction to American Politics (BMC)
Your policy paper:
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.
The 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-present online; older publications in print.)
Legislative branch:
Need a refresher on the legislative process? Consult this detailed guide from LexisNexis Congressional.
Bills, laws, activities of Congress
CQ almanac plus.
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly Inc., c2002-
This print source continues "Congressional Quarterly Almanac." The 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.
LexisNexis Congressional
Provides daily updated information on the U.S. legislature, including:
- full text of bills, public laws, and legislative histories (late 1980s-present)
- Congressional hearings (indexing for 1970-present); most hearings are available from Haverford or Swarthmore, and some recent ones are online
- committee reports (1990-present)
- House and Senate documents 1995-present)
- Congressional Record (1985-present)
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 (1980-date), and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date). Academic lets you search by keyword only, Congressional lets you search by keyword or by Federal Register or Code of Federal Regulations citation.
After publication in the Federal Register, rules and regulations are gathered in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Online versions of the CFR are available via GPO Access (1996-date), LexisNexis Academic (2005-date), and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date). Academic lets you search by keyword only, Congressional lets you search by keyword or by Code or CFR citation.
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 (1980-date), and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date). Academic lets you search by keyword only, Congressional lets you search by keyword or by Federal Register or Code of Federal Regulations citation.
After publication in the Federal Register, rules and regulations are gathered in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Online versions of the CFR are available via GPO Access (1996-date), LexisNexis Academic (2005-date), and LexisNexis Congressional (1981-date). Academic lets you search by keyword only, Congressional lets you search by keyword or by Code or CFR citation.
You can view and comment on regulations and other actions of federal agencies via Regulations.gov.
Presidential statements
The American Presidency Project
Site contains documents related to the study of the American Presidency, including public papers, annual messages to Congress, inaugural addresses, radio addresses, acceptance speeches, presidential candidates debates, party platforms, elections data, and an audio/video archive.
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court opinions and oral arguments
LexisNexis academic
Provider: LN
U.S. Supreme Court opinions, transcripts, and briefs are available in full text via LexisNexis Academic. Opinions from 1790 through the present.
- 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.
There are two sources for recent oral arguments in Supreme Court cases:
- The Oyez Project
Audio files (1980-current) as well as many written transcripts, opinions, and other related materials
- Supreme Court website
Click on Oral Arguments, then Argument Transcripts (Oct. 2000 through the present)
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.
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 provides articles and floor votes on bills. Discusses controversies and provides scuttlebutt on all areas of 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 National Journal, Congress Daily, markup reports, and several political blogs and other up-to-date information on the activities of Congress.
LexisNexis academic
Provider: LN
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 provides the full text of the NY Times from 1980 through today. 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!
Please come to the library for personalized help with your research.
Reference desk hours:
Monday – Wednesday: 10 – noon, 1 - 5 pm, 7 - 10 pm
Thursday – Friday: 10 – noon, 1 - 5 pm
Saturday – Sunday: 1 - 5 pm
Reference desk email: library@brynmawr.edu or click Ask a Librarian on the Library’s home page.
Reference desk phone: x5279