Political Science

Resource Name Comments
American attitudes: program on international policy attitudes

“The study of American opinions and perceptions toward international issues is the focus of this site. A shared project of the Center on Policy Attitudes (COPA) and the Center for International Security Studies (CISSM) at the University of Maryland, the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) carries out polls and conducts focus groups to survey public attitudes on global affairs. The mission of COPA, founded in 1992, is stated as "giving the public a greater voice," and this site does offer a wealth of insight into the American pulse.” – Choice

ANES: American National Election Studies.

“A joint project of Stanford University and the University of Michigan, with funding by the National Science Foundation, ANES provides access to statistical data on American elections since 1948, building on the work conducted by Survey Research Center and the Center for Political Studies of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. The site's core content consists of 65 data sets on pre- and postelection surveys of voter attitudes toward politics and related issues.” -- Choice

Background notes.

The US Department of State's Background Notes site provides facts and narrative entries on 198 "independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special sovereignty." The main page is simply an alphabetical listing of each country report available, with the date (month and year) of last update.” -- Choice

Backgrounder - Council on Foreign Relations

"Backgrounder offers concise articles on important issues in international affairs, as suggested by the slogan on its site: "Current political and economic issues succinctly explained." It is part of the Council on Foreign Relations site http://www.cfr.org/ (CH, Mar'03, 40-4258), which offers substantial additional online resources and daily news updates in the forms of text, podcasts, and videos; however, the flagship journal Foreign Affairs is not included." -- Choice

BBC News: country profiles

“This valuable resource provides concise information not only on countries but on territories and selected international organizations as well. Entries are arranged in drop-down menus organized by continent. Each country profile includes an overview, which provides brief historical background, and a synopsis of current political events broken down into several sections.” -- Choice

Biographical directory of the United States Congress: 1774-present

"As part of its self-mandated transition to government information in electronic format, the US Congress presents a Web version of this longstanding historical publication." -- Choice

Capital Eye.

“Most people interested in the area of money and politics may be familiar with Capital Eye's parent Web site, OpenSecrets.org. Capital Eye is the newsletter of the Center for Responsive Politics, one of the most respected sources for campaign finance information, including all federal races. The Capital Eye site is very basic, with the home page listing the current month's articles, an archive page listing past articles by month, and an opinion page with a handful of articles (most of which have been published in major newspapers).” – Choice

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“The Web site of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States," is one of the clearest and easiest to navigate this reviewer has ever seen. Users can quickly determine the CEIP's exact mission, goals, and objectives. This site will be a valuable resource for anyone wanting thoughtful coverage and analyses of international affairs.” – Choice

Center on Religion and Democracy

"The Center on Religion and Democracy, a nonpartisan research center at the Univ. of Virginia, is committed to addressing the question of whether American democracy can be "properly woven with the threads of new cultures, languages, backgrounds, interests and ideas." Funded in part by the Pew Foundation, the center is connected to Pew centers at six other universities. Its goal is to make its research available to those concerned with the challenges of the day. The center's staff members are affiliated with academic institutions and religious organizations." -- Choice

Center for Contemporary Arab Studies.

“The Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) was established in 1975 within Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, which educates individuals for leadership in international affairs. The CCAS Web site is an eclectic mix of information about CCAS academic programs and local events, along with Arab studies subject resources. Subject material is easily located using Research and Publications and K-12 Educational Outreach tabs along the top navigation bar. CCAS has been offering K-12 resources on Islam and Arab regions in the local Washington DC area since 1983; the online presence extends this program.” – Choice

Center for Systemic Peace.

"The Center for Systemic Peace (CSP), developed by Monty G. Marshall (professor, School of Public Policy; director of research, Center for Global Policy, George Mason Univ.), "supports scientific research and quantitative analysis in many issue areas related to the fundamental problems of violence in both human relations and societal development." Its Web site is clear and concise and offers fine scholarship that should prove quite useful for the serious political science researcher. Comprehensive research reports available here cover major episodes of political violence around the world and global trends in conflict from 1946 to 2004, with a separate report devoted to political instability in Africa." -- Choice

CIA FOIA: Electronic Reading Room.

“In compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Central Intelligence Agency developed this free Web resource to provide the public with directions on how to request access to CIA information, and to provide electronic access to previously released declassified documents. The directions on how to file a request are clear and easy to follow, including information on the appeal process for denied requests. Previously declassified documents can be searched, viewed online, and printed.” – Choice

Constitution Finder.

Constitution Finder provides a listing of constitutions, charters, amendments, and related documents for 211 governmental entities worldwide. The document list is overseen by John Paul Jones (Richmond School of Law, Univ. of Richmond) and maintained by a changing group of law students. The organization of the site is logical and the navigation easy.” – Choice

ElectionGuide. "ElectionGuide is a publication of the International Foundation for Election Systems, which claims this site to be the most comprehensive and timely source of verified election information and results. For elections and other votes where data are available, this site provides an overview of what is at stake, description of the government structure, voting and demographic data, and breakdown of votes cast in the election." -- Choice
Erik Herron's Guide to Politics in East Central Europe and Eurasia

“Herron (director, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, and associate professor of political science, Univ. of Kansas) maintains this guide (first reviewed, CH, Nov'03, 41-1809) to more than 3,700 links "designed to facilitate research on the politics and economics of transition states in the post-communist world."” -- Choice

FIRST "The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), whose printed works have long been highly regarded, moves into cyberspace with the FIRST site, which is a joint project of SIPRI and the International Relations and Security Network. Users can access 39 databases prepared by 18 separate centers, programs, agencies, etc., from governmental and nongovernmental organizations in eight countries in North America and Europe." -- Choice
First Amendment Center. “The Web site is extremely user-friendly. The organization is by topic, premised on the five primary rights/freedoms: speech, press, religious liberty, assembly, and petition. Each topic is further subdivided and expertly developed. When possible, court cases and articles are linked in order to provide context. Updates are provided to all primary topics and related subtopics in a timely fashion. Updated, expert legal analysis and commentary is also included. The site offers daily news stories by the Associated Press that relate to First Amendment issues and concerns. Where necessary, expert editorial staff members further explain particular issues.” – Choice
Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.

“This recent, noteworthy collection of foreign affairs oral histories is hosted by the Library of Congress in its seminal American Memory Collection. It contains an electronic collection of transcribed interviews of foreign service officers who served in the diplomatic corps in the 1920s-40s, but the bulk of the collection features post-WW II FSOs.” – Choice

Gallup.com

"With polling data dating back to at least 1952, Gallup.com is a fascinating resource for students and scholars researching public opinion, and not just on politics. Some topics (e.g., abortion) include useful commentary supplementing the numerical data. The home page includes links to Gallup's latest poll results and a current video polling report. Along with polling data, the site contains substantial content detailing the company's monograph publications (Gallup Press), various types of consulting (Gallup Consulting), and education (Gallup University). The bread and butter of the site's content, however, are the polling data, accessible from the Politics and Government link on the upper left of every page." -- Choice

IDEA: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. "The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that supports "sustainable democracy worldwide" and aims to "strengthen democratic institutions and processes."" -- Choice
John Locke Bibliography

"Attig (Penn State) has made an enormous contribution to the study of John Locke. This freely accessible and extensive Internet resource is a continuation of his book The Works of John Locke: A Comprehensive Bibliography from the Seventeenth Century to the Present (1985)." – Choice

 

Metavid. “This valuable site offers an archived collection of the televised proceedings of the US Senate and House of Representatives. Video footage is provided by C-SPAN (C-SPAN.org, http://www.c-span.org/; CH, Sup'05, 42Sup-0635), a private, nonprofit corporation created as a public service by the cable television industry, which is noteworthy for its coverage of the proceedings on the floor of each house of Congress. METAVID provides a basic keyword search capability. Each search begins at the same home page location.” – Choice
MIT Center for International Studies “This academic research center aims to support and promote international research and education at MIT. The director's message states that the MIT Center for International Studies (CIS) was originally formed after WW II to help the US fight the Cold War against the Soviet Union. The site is divided into four main sections: general information about the CIS; Programs; Publications; and News and Events. The main page also provides a search link, some spotlight articles, and a link to the spotlight archives.” – Choice 
The Nationalism Project "Created in 1999 by Zuelow (history, West Liberty State College, WV), The Nationalism Project is a scholarly clearinghouse of information on anything related to the topic--from book reviews to bibliographies to Web sites. Because nationalism can be such a sensitive subject, the site explicitly states that no political agenda is promoted and that clearly biased contributions are not accepted." -- Choice
The Online Library of Liberty “This award-winning site offers full-text access to various classic and contemporary books related to individual liberty, limited government, and the free market. Currently it contains 464 authors and 1,450 titles, ranging from classical Greece to the 20th century. Provided by the Liberty Fund, a private educational fund devoted to promoting "a society of free and responsible individuals," the offerings relate to those values rather than to all points of view.” – Choice
Political Resources on the Net. “Providing access to politically related Web sites by country, this site contains extensive links to political parties, organizations, government agencies, and media sources. The Governments section links to the national constitution, election information, chiefs of state, agencies, legislative bodies, embassies, and state-level governments.” – Choice
PolitiFact

"A joint project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, this easy to access site is a useful resource for introducing a more balanced view of current politics to the classroom. PolitiFact aims to separate truth from fiction in the 2008 US presidential election by monitoring and researching campaign statements and claims made by the candidates and special interest groups. With videos, graphics, and the Truth-O-Meter evaluation system, PolitiFact tries to help readers critically evaluate the information they receive from the candidates and other sources." -- Choice

PollingReport.com. “This online public opinion site publishes the results of current polls conducted by US public survey organizations such as NPR, Fox News, Harris, and Gallup. It allows free access to national data; subscribers can get data at the state level for $195 a year and receive a newsletter authored by pollsters and analysts. PollingReport is nonpartisan and always cites its data back to the original poll.” – Choice
Tracked in America. "Tracked in America, in affiliation with the ACLU and other reputable civil rights organizations, explores a century of illegal and oftentimes unjust action foisted by the US government upon its citizenry. The site is replete with two hours of audio reviews, over 300 photographs, and some 25 personal stories of individuals who have encountered the overreactionary zeal of the US federal government in its effort to abort crises by curtailing rights." -- Choice
USA.gov. USA.gov is the award-winning, improved Web portal successor to FirstGov (CH, Apr'01, 38-4192). Managed by the GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Communications, it is "an easy-to-search, free-access website designed to give you a centralized place to find information from U.S. local, state, and federal government agency websites."” – Choice
Vinnie's Home Page: Vincent Ferraro, Resources for the Study of International Relations and Foreign Policy. “Notwithstanding its unprepossessing title, "Vinnie's Home Page" http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/feros-pg.htm holds a treasure trove of high quality information on the general topic of international relations that should prove highly useful to a broad range of users, from high school students to undergraduates through advanced scholars and practitioners, as well as the general public. The "Vinnie" in question is Vincent Ferraro, the Ruth C. Lawson Professor of International Politics at Mount Holyoke College, assisted with the Web page by Christine Gora and Urszula Sedzikowski.” – Choice

 


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