Political Science

Databases and Indexes

To locate articles you will want to search the following databases or printed indexes and abstracts to which we subscribe. The following databases and printed sources will be helpful in finding information for political science topics. Be sure to take advantage of the help features in each of the databases to refine your searches. Most databases also have additional helpful information, such as dates of coverage of the database, subjects covered in the database, and a list of journal titles that are indexed by that database.

ABC Pol Sci (Library has 1969-1984) WOO Reference JA71 .A3: is a bibliography of contents for political science and government periodicals. A “List of Periodicals” in the back includes all the periodical titles mentioned in the volume of ABC Pol Sci. For current online access, see Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.
CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online (1991- present): is a comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. It is divided into the following categories: working papers, conference proceedings, journal abstracts, books, a schedule of events, policy briefs and economic indicators, links and resources, and maps and country data. Updated monthly. (Information taken from Which Database to Use)
FBIS Index (coverage: 1975-1996): These titles index the FBIS publications issued by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service of the U.S. Government. This index divides the world into eight geographic regions, e.g., East Asia, China, East Europe, Latin America, Near East & South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Eurasia, and West Europe. Each area has its own "FBIS Daily Reports" that include translated transcripts of foreign radio and television broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from around the world. The full text of a large percentage of the reports indexed here can be found in The College of Wooster Libraries' collection, especially those from the early 1980's-present. The earlier texts are located in the Government Publications microfiche cabinets under the beginning Superintendent of Documents number PREX 7.10/3: [series]. From 1996 to the present, these publications are on CD-ROM in the Documents CD-ROM cabinets on level 1 (Docs Reference Electronic PREX 7.10/3: [year and no.]; these CDs can be used in the Government Publications Data Room. Contents include FBIS Daily Reports, Joint Publications Research Service Reports, and various other reports. From 1996 onward, there is no index to the CD-ROMs, but they are searchable.
Index to U.S. Government Periodicals (1970-1987) WOO Docs IndexRef Z1223 .Z7I5: indexes articles in about 160 government periodicals and newsletters. Is the forerunner of LexisNexis Government Periodicals.
International Political Science Abstracts
(Library has 1982-present in print) WOO Reference JA36 .I5: "has provided since 1951 non evaluative abstracts of articles in the field of political science published in journals (and yearbooks) all over the world.” Published bimonthly. (Information taken from Explanatory Notes.)
LexisNexis Government Periodicals (1988-present): indexes articles from over 170 periodicals and newsletters published by agencies and departments of the U.S. Government. This database extends the coverage of the title listed. Updated quarterly.
PAIS International (1972 – present): indexes articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, Internet sources, and statistical directories about public affairs. Abstracts are included for most records from 1985 to the present. Each year, PAIS indexers review more than 8000 books and issues of more than 1600 periodicals. Newspapers and newsletters are not indexed. PAIS international includes publications from over 120 countries throughout the world. In addition to English, some of the indexed materials are published in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Updated monthly. [Information is digested from the OhioLINK web site for this database.]
PAIS Archive (1915-1976): This title includes many educational topics within its scope of covering subjects of interest to the public.
Social Sciences Citation Index (1980-present): Social Sciences Citation Index is a multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the social sciences. It indexes more than 1,725 journals spanning 50 disciplines, as well as covering individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals.
United States Political Science Documents (Library has 1975-1991) WOO Reference JA36 .U58: is an indexing and abstracting title for over 130 periodicals in the political science field. A Political Science Thesaurus WOO Reference JA71 .B41 1971 helps the user to find correct terminology for the index. A series of helpful indexes makes this a user-friendly index for the period that it covers.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (1975-7/2006): "CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts is building on the merged back files of Political Science Abstracts, published by IFI/Plenum, 1975-2000, and ABC POL SCI, published by ABC-CLIO, 1984-2000. The database 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"—Online fact sheet. Updated monthly.

Journal Resources

Journal titles (print, electronic, and microform) can be located by using the Libraries' eJournal/Journal page. Titles specific to Political Science can be found by browsing the Law, Politics, and Government category on this page.

JSTOR: Provides access to the full content of a variety of scholarly journals. Coverage generally begins with volume one of a journal, and ends 2-5 years from the present. Journals may be browsed or searched.

Reference Sources

Political science encyclopedias and dictionaries can be found by going into CONSORT and doing a subject search, e.g., Political science—dictionaries.

Four newspapers that the Libraries subscribe to that have coverage on political science issues are The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and the Washington Post. Back issues are on microfilm. We have a complete run of the New York Times. Indexes to all three are in the Index Reference section of the Reference room.

Selected Internet Resources

General

International Sources

Africabib.org: Reference to many African-related journals.
Canadian Government Information: Collection of links including Canadian government, legislative, federal news release, and federal library information.

African Studies Internet Resources: Columbia University Libraries. Compilation of bibliographic resources and research materials available on the global network.
Europa: (The European Union On-line): Up-to-date coverage of EU affairs and essential information on European integration.
European Union in the US: Basic Information, News, Country Profiles, and EU-USRelations.
European Union Internet Resources: EU Servers and Institutions, EU Documents on theWeb, Servers of Interest in EU Countries, and Miscellaneous other items.
Her Majesty's Stationery Office (UK): Acts of Parliament, Statutory Instruments, and anything else not covered by the UK's Stationery Office.
Norwegian Institute for International Affairs (NUPI) Centre for Russian Studies: Research and Information on Political and Economic Issues, focusing on Russian Domestic Affairs, foreign policy, and Russian-Norwegian relations.
Official Documents (Stationery Office-UK): Official publisher of most British government publications.
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE): News, information and documents on this regional security organization.
Political Database of the Americas (Latin America)
Portals to the World (U.S. Library of Congress): Selective links providing authoritative in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world.
United Nations Documentation-Research Guide: Overview of UN reports, resolutions, meeting notes, press releases, etc.
United Nations Population Information Network (POPIN): Comprehensive international, regional, and national demographic data on population. Also includes information on conferences.
University of Minnesota Human Rights Library: (Also available in Arabic, Español, Français, and Russkiy)
WomenWatch: The UN Internet Gateway on the Advancement and Empowerment of Women: UN publications, country reports, statistics, and news on global women's issues.

U.S. Constitution and Other Documents

A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation: Congressional Documents between 1774-1873.
The Constitution of the United States of America: Text of the Constitution, important Supreme Court decisions, and the creation of the Constitution.
The National Security Archive (George Washington University): Archive of Declassified US Documents and Information on International Affairs.
World Government Documents Archive: Declassified Documents Reference System:US:: Primary source materials covering events after WW II through the 1970s, including the Cold War, Vietnam War, Cuban missile crisis, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Voting and Elections

Campaigns and Elections: Information on US politics and links to US govt. sites.
The Center for Voting and Democracy: The site concentrates on proportional representation but covers other issues such as instant runoff voting, choice voting, cumulative voting, limited voting, and more.
Elections around the World: Information on national and foreign elections since 1990.
Federal Election Commission: Provides campaign finance law, how to research public records, financial statistics and databases, election process, and voting results.
National Election Studies (NES): Provides data collected by NES and allows studies to be downloaded.
Project Vote-Smart: Candidate and campaign info about the legislatures, Congress, and the President.
U.S. Electoral College: Explains the electoral college, and includes electoral statistics and links to the Federal Register, and the National Archives and Records Administration.

Miscellaneous

Assessing the New Federalism: Center for the American Woman and Politics: Links to information on Womens' Studies, Center publications, and Rutgers' Political Science department.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Nonpartisan research organization that researches many areas such as federal budget priorities, federal tax policies, federal welfare policy, health policy, state fiscal policy, low income housing, social security and more.
Electronic Policy Network
Freedom Forum: National and international news about freedom and basic rights.
Odum Institute for Research in Social Science Data Archive
National Network of State Polls (NNSP): Largest collection of state-level survey data.
opensecrets.org: Information on Monetary Influence in U.S. Politics and Elections.
Political Information.com: Guide and search engine to 5000+ political and public policy web sites.
Political Science Resources: Internet Guides (University of Michigan): Political Science Resources on the Web (University of Michigan)
Public Agenda Online: The Inside Source for Public Opinion and Analysis: Public opinion research and citizen education about major issues. Richard Kimber's political science resources: Emphasizes UK politics but also includes other political science links.
State and Local Governments: Provides links to all states, even some counties and city governments; national organizations, multi-state sites, federal resources.
U. S. Census Bureau: High quality user-friendly page. Some features of interest include customized maps and current population projections.

United Nations

Global Policy Forum: Global Policy Forum (GPF), monitors global policy making at the United Nations.

Selected Course/Research Guides

Government Resources Guides and Pathfinders
Law and Legislation Subject Guide

Need Help?

Mark Gooch
Technology and Government Information Librarian
330/263-2522
AIM: mgooch90
Yahoo! IM: mgooch1