Political Science Resources

Books

Use PacifiCat, the online catalog to locate books and the titles of journals owned by the library. There are also links to larger library systems, such as Melvyl, on the library homepage. If you find something elsewhere, we can borrow it for you through InterLibrary Loan.

Journal Articles

It’s good to use newspapers and newsmagazines for the most current information, but you will be expected to use scholarly materials for your final papers. Try the following databases to locate articles. The library has more than fifty databases, so don’t hesitate to ask a librarian for help!

• Academic Search Complete: the best starting place for a wide variety of information. Includes a lot of full-text of both popular and scholarly information.
• Business Source Premier: index and full-text of journals about economics and business.
• Country Watch: facts and figures for all countries (U.N. Members) of the world
• CQ Electronic Library: (from the library homepage) text and commentary about public affairs and legislation.
• Communication and Mass Media: index and full-text of leading journals about communication and public affairs.
• EconLit: and index to the literature of economics. No full-text.
• Factiva: excellent and timely coverage of world news and economic affairs. A mix of full-test popular and scholarly sources.
• JSTOR: an archive of important scholarly journals. These are backfiles, not contemporary sources!
• Lexis-Nexis: giant databases of news and legal information, including law reviews. Almost all full-text.

What is this icon?   PacificLink is a process that searches among all the library databases. If it’s not full-text in Academic Search, for example, click on PacificLink to see if there is full-text somewhere else, or if the library has the journal in print.

What if it’s not here at all? Use the library's InterLibrary Loan service and we will find it for you. There is a fax service. (that’s $3.00!) or regular two week delivery for $1.00.

Research Guides

• Political Science Research Methods:  JA 71.J55 2001.
• Essentials of Political Research:  JA71.M635 2000.

Reference Books

• Encyclopedia of American Public Policy: REF JK468.P64.J33
• Encyclopedia of Modern American Social Issues:. REF HN57.K73.
• Encyclopedia of the American Constitution: REF KF4548.E53

Online Sources

• Access GPO: excellent gateway to the federal government with links to law and legislative publications.
• CQ Electronic Library: text and commentary about public affairs and legislation.
• FindLaw: excellent site for Supreme Ct. decisions and international law resources.

This is a sample, just ask for help if you can’t find something!

• America Votes: REF JK1967.A51, older editions in stacks.
• National Accounts Statistics: REF HC79.I5
• Statistical Abstract of the United States: REF HA202.
• Vital Statistics on American Politics: REF JK274.S74

Just ask for help if you can’t find something and be sure to evaluate sources of statistics for reliability!

• FedStats: sources of data from the government.
• FirstGov: gateway to government information, including data.
• Statistics on the Web: University of. Michigan portal
• Department of Energy: alternative fuels, etc.
• Center for Disease Control: drug use statistics
• Bureau of Justice Statistics: drug use
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
• World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers: defense spending