GCSU Library Subject Guide
Political Science
Political Science
Reference Sources Subject Headings Articles
Web Sites Citing Sources Contact A Librarian
Reference Sources The Reference Collection, located on the second floor of the GCSU Library, is often the best place to start your research. Books in the Reference Collection can help you become more familiar with your topic and assist you with identifying keywords and important people. Bibliographies can help you identify specific articles and books.
- Almanac of American Politics (Ref. JK 1012 .A44): Profiles of current political leaders.
Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus (Ref. JK 1 .C66): Yearly summation of important political events & people.
The Encyclopedia of Democracy (Ref. JC423 .E53 1995): Essays on major figures and concepts of democracy.
The Europa World Year Book (Ref. JN1 E85): Yearly overview of country information, including political systems.
Municipal Year Book (Ref. JS 344 .C5 A24) :Budgetary trends and figures for local governments.
Official Code of Georgia (Ref KFG30 .A24): the compilation of the laws of the state of Georgia that are currently in force.
Statistical Abstract of the United States (Ref. HA 202 .S7 97): Major statistical source for U.S., includes population, social & demographic statistics.
United States Code (Ref. KF 62 1934 .A2): the compilation of the laws of the United States that are currently in force.
Subject HeadingsUsing the correct subject headings for your topic will help you get more relevant results when searching the Library Catalog. Below is a concise list of subject headings for the field of Political Science. For a more complete list, you can perform a Subject Heading search using the Exact Search feature in the Library Catalog.
- Political science
Political science Dictionaries
Political science Economic aspects
Political science History
Political science Methodology
Political science Philosophy
Political science Research
Political science Study and teaching
You may also search the catalog for political science resources dealing with specific geographic regions. For example:
Political science China, Political science Europe, Political science United States, etc.
Narrower terms
- Authoritarianism
Bureaucracy
Citizenship
Conservatism
Democracy
Federal government
Liberalism
Political parties
Public administration
Radicalism
Religion and politics
Right and left (Political science)
Separation of powers
World politics
Articles - Databases
Most databases index articles from journals, newspapers, and magazines. Some databases offer full text articles, while others contain only citations. Some databases are subject specific, while others are more general in coverage. Some databases relevant to the field of Political Science are:
- Academic Search Complete
is a multidisciplinary database that contains articles from academic journals and magazines in the humanities, the social sciences, and the general sciences. JSTOR contains backfiles of over 50 core scholarly journals from various disciplines. Full-text extends back to the 1800's for some of the titles covered. Includes titles such as the American Journal of International Law, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics Political Research Quarterly, and several others. More recent issues of the journals may be found elsewhere, as JSTOR does not include recent issues.
Lexis-Nexis Academic
is a full text database with extensive coverage of news, business and legal material. Includes full text of newspapers, periodicals, wire stories, laws, federal regulations, State and Supreme Court cases, tax codes. Project Muse Full-text of scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. Includes political science publications such as China Review, Global Environmental Politics International, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Human Rights Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, Journal of Policy History, Washington Quarterly.
Research Library
is a multidisciplinary database that contains articles from academic journals and magazines in the humanities, the social sciences, and the general sciences. For a more complete list of databases pertaining to Political Science, access GALILEO's Political Science and Public Administration page.
Journal Locator
Search for specific journals or magazines. The Journal Locator will tell you the location and availability of a journal or magazine: either in the GCSU Periodicals Collection or in a database.
Online Journals
- Crossroads: the ASA Journal: An interdisciplinary journal published by the ASERI Postgraduate School of Economics and International Relations Students Association. "A fundamental aim of Crossroads is to publish schilarly articles, commentaries, and opinion pieces dealing with the international dimensions of political economy, economics, political science, business, and law."
LLRX.com: a "free, independent, one person produced Web journal dedicated to providing legal, library, IT/IS, marketing and administrative professionals with the most up-to-date information on a wide range of Internet research and technology-related issues, applications, resources and tools."
*All quotes are taken from the respective journal web sites.
Web Sites
- Abstracts of RAND Documents: Searchable index to the RAND (Research and Development) Institute documents. RAND (nonprofit institution that studies public policy) publishes research reports on topics such as national defense, education and training, health care, criminal and civil justice, labor and population, science and technology, community development, international relations, and regional studies. Most reports are available at no cost.
American Political Science Association: Homepage for the APSA with links to publications, conferences, membership information, and newsletter.
AmericanPresident.org: Created by the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs, this is a nonpartisan web site dealing with the history and function of the presidency.
American Presidents: a web site created to compliment the C-span television series American Presidents: Life Portraits. The site contains the complete series, plus biographical information and important events during each administration.
Annotated Constitution: Online version of The Constitution of the United States of America Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 29, 1992. Users can browse and keyword search for annotated references to Supreme Court decisions in their constitutional context.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-present: Biographical sketches of members of congress from 1774-present. More recent entries include pictures and many sketches also include bibliographies and listings of research collections relating to the member profiled. Searchable by name, position, and state.
C-SPAN: Very current political information, including videos of political events and speeches, plus archives of past elections, etc.
Center for the American Woman and Politics: Database of current and past women office holders and candidates with demographic and political information on officeholders. Includes an examination of trends and movements in politics, a newsletter, fact sheets, and a directory of Women's PACs and Donor Networks.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: U.S. State department publication reporting human rights practices to the Congress. Based on evidence and data gathered by embassy staff, government officials, military sources, human-right monitors, journalists, and others. Revised annually.
FACSNET: Online data source for journalists and political science majors. Includes top stories from the day's AP wire, summaries of recent Supreme Court decisions, and other information on political hot topics.
FECInfo: Frequently updated list of campaign contributors and PACs that includes how much money each has given to which elected officials. Compiled from the Federal Election Commission's records.
FindLaw: Searchable database of Supreme Court decisions since 1937. Browsable by year and by U.S. Report volume number. Searchable by citation, case title, and full text.
FirstGov: The official web portal of the U. S. Government
Foreign Consular Offices in the United States: List of foreign consular offices by country, with names, addresses, and phone numbers included.
Gallup Poll Organization: Site includes opinion polls, special reports, trends and social audits provided by the Gallup Organization.
History & Politics Out Loud: Searchable archive of politically important audio files. Includes the speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., speeches from the Washington, D.C. 1963 Civil Rights March, Nixon Watergate tapes and others. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and Michigan State University.
LLRX.com: A directory of research dealing with the United States Supreme Court; maintained by Gail Partin, an associate law librarian in the Sheely-Lee Law Library at Penn State.
National Security Archive: Full-text of declassified documents available through the Freedom of Information Act and assembled by George Washington University's Gelman Library.
PIPA: The Program on International Policy Attitudes, studies public opinions on matters of international scope.
Poly-Cy: A directory of Internet Resources in Political Science, maintained for the West Virginia University Department of Political Science.
Project Vote Smart: Nonpartisan site with information on state and federal candidates and elected officials. Includes biographies, campaign finances, issue stands, etc.
Thomas: Full text and legislative history of recent bills, public laws, and House and Senate Committee Reports, plus text of the Congressional Record and the Congressional Index.
United Nations Documentation: Research Guide: Overviews of the types of documents and publications issued by the United Nations plus information about where to locate these publications. Offers links to General Assembly, Security Council, and Economic and Social Council documents, resolutions, decisions, and speeches and provides access to press releases summarizing U.N. activities. Compiled by the U.N.'s Dag Hammarskjold Library.
United States Historical Census Data Browser: Historical census data from 1790-1970 for each state and county.
Women in Politics: Bibliographic database currently indexing hundreds of titles of recent works concerned with women in politics. Provides bibliographic references to books, reports and journal articles on all aspects of women's participation in political life worldwide.
Contact A Librarian For further assistance, contact the Reference Desk in the GCSU Library or contact the GCSU Library liaison to the Department of Government and Sociology:
- Liaison: Edward Whatley
Email: edward.whatley@gcsu.edu
Phone: (478) 445-0981