Research by Subject: Political Science
ENCYCLOPEDIAS, HANDBOOKS, DICTIONARIES
Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science 
"The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science provides students and general readers with a clear and lively introduction to the terminology of political science."
Encyclopedia of Research Design
The Encyclopedia of Research Design, edited by Neil J. Salkind, is a collection of entries written by scholars in the field of research design, the discipline of how to plan and conduct empirical research, including the use of both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Encyclopedia of Government and Politics
Call Number: REF JA61 .C66 2004
Provides "analysis of government and politics at a global, regional and nation-state level...assesses both traditional and contemporary approaches, and projects the paths of future research." 2 vols.
Europa World
The online version of Europa World Year Book and nine Europa Regional Surveys of the World provides "impartial economic, political and geographic background information and statistical data by country, and includes thousands of directory contact details with click-through web links and a comprehensive listing of some 1,900 international organizations." Continually updated.
HarperCollins Dictionary of American Government and Politics
Call Number: REF JK9 .S43 1992
Includes over 5000 terms, concepts, organizations, court cases, and processes. Brief, cross-referenced entries; no index.
New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics
Contains over 1,500 articles and essays on topics in economics. An excellent source for overviews of complex topics, case studies, and as a starting point for further research.
Political Handbook of the World
Provides thorough and accurate information on the major aspects of each country's government and political party system. Individual country profiles include key facts, government and political history, political parties and organizations,legislatures and cabinets, major national media outlets, and current issues. Click on the CQP Electronic Library link to cross-search all CQ Press subscriptions.
ENCYCLOPEDIAS, HANDBOOKS, DICTIONARIES - SPECIALIZED
Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments 
"The CIA publishes and updates the online directory of Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments regularly. The directory is intended to be used primarily as a reference aid and includes as many governments of the world as is considered practical, some of them not officially recognized by the United States."
Encyclopedia of Crime & Justice
Call Number: REF HV6017 .E52 2002
Contains over 250 essays on criminal conduct, crime prevention, and punishment. Essays are broad in scope and accessible to the general reader; contains bibliographies and indexes. 2nd ed., 4 vols.
World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures
Call Number: REF JF511 .W67 1998
"Congressional Quarterly offers an invaluable survey of legislative bodies. For each country, the legislative body is described in terms of constitutional approach as well as practice. Chapters describe each parliament or legislature in terms of key characteristics including historical background, elections, relations with the executive branch and judiciary, budgetary control, lawmaking, parliamentary procedures, and member's rights and immunities. Organized alphabetically by country, the work covers all democracies regardless of size. In addition, a number of essay articles cover various general topics relating to aspects of legislative governing." 2 vols.
LIBRARY CATALOG - BOOKS & MORE
HELIN Library Catalog
Find and request material at Wheaton and HELIN:
World Library Catalog 
Find and request material at Wheaton, HELIN, Brown, Google Books, and WorldCat (libraries worldwide):
PAIS International and PAIS Archive
Indexes materials relating to political, social, and public policy issues. Citations include journal articles, books, directories, conference proceedings, pamphlets, reports, and government documents; a ProQuest database; 1937 - present.
LexisNexis Academic
Indexes and abstracts U.S. and foreign newspapers, journals, transcripts, federal and state case law, law reviews, state and country profiles, company information and more. Many documents are in full text; dates of coverage vary.
ProQuest Congressional
Full text access to publications from and about the U.S. Congress, including congressional working papers, bills (1989-), and testimony (1988-); committee reports (1990-); member biographical and committee assignment information; voting records (1988-); member and campaign financial data and disclosures; plus the Federal Register (1980-), the Code of Federal Regulations (current), the U.S. Code, CIS Indexing and Abstracts (1970-), and the Congressional Record (1985-).
CQ Global Researcher
CQ Global Researcher provides definitive, in-depth single-topic coverage of global affairs from a number of international viewpoints. Click on the CQP Electronic Library link to cross-search all CQ Press subscriptions. 2007 - present.
CQ Researcher Online
CQ Researcher contains in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the U.S. economy. Click on the CQP Electronic Library link to cross-search all CQ Press subscriptions. 1991 - present..
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
Indexes a wide range of scholarship in international affairs, including working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, books, journal articles, and policy briefs. Much is in full text. Includes links to international affairs centers, institutes, environmental studies web pages, news media, and US, international, and foreign government sites.
GreenFILE
Indexes and abstracts journal articles relating to the human impact on the environment in such disciplines as agriculture, education, law, health and technology.
JSTOR
Full text backfiles of over 1,200 core scholarly journals in humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Includes over 60 current titles, including all University of Chicago Press journals. For all other titles, JSTOR does not contain the most recent 1-7 years of content. Many of these titles are continued in Project Muse or in the Library's print and/or electronic subscriptions. Use the yellow arrow, then the ArticleLinker button to link to content on an external site or check Journal Finder for complete holdings information.
National Journal
Provides comprehensive objective and nonpartisan insight on American politics, policy and campaigns and the legislative process on Capitol Hill. Includes: National Journal, Almanac of American Politics, CongressDaily, and Hotline.
Philosopher's Index
Indexes and abstracts the scholarship of philosophy and related fields. Includes books and journal articles; a ProQuest database; 1940 - present.
Project Muse
Full text collection of over 500 scholarly journals from the Johns Hopkins University Press and other university presses. Earlier years may be in JSTOR. Check Journal Finder for complete holdings information.
ScienceDirect
Full text of over 2,100 Elsevier journals and 10 encyclopedias in the sciences and social sciences. Coverage for most titles is 1993 - or 1995 - present.
Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
Indexes articles and book reviews in some of the key international English language journals in the social sciences, for example: anthropology, area studies, economics, political science, psychology, sociology; includes over 320 full text journals; 1984 - present.
Social Services Abstracts
Indexes and abstracts research in social work, human services, social welfare and policy, and community development. A ProQuest database; 1979 - present.
Annual Review of Political Science
1998- present Each year, Annual Reviews critically reviews the most significant primary research literature to guide you to the principal contributions of the field and help you keep up to date in your area of research.
New York Times on the Web - current file
Current (1980+) file includes indexing plus full text articles, with limited images. Access provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
Washington Post on the Web - current file
Current (1987+) file includes indexing plus full text articles, with limited images.
Wall Street Journal on the Web - current file
Current (1984+) file includes indexing plus full text articles, with limited images. Access provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.
World News Connection
English-language translations of time-sensitive news and information from non-U.S. media sources. The information in WNC is provided to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service; 1994 - present.
note: use VPN for off-campus access; also note - for best results, use a browser other than Internet Explorer (Firefox, Safari, etc.) Also -- this is a 'single user access' database, meaning that only one user from the Wheaton community can log onto WNC at any given time. When you complete your search, please log off to allow others to gain access.
Congressional Bills
Congressional Bills (GPO Access) contains all published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress forward. The 111th Congress database is updated by 6 a.m. (EST) daily when bills are published and approved for release. Available as ASCII text and PDF files.
Also contains a glossary of abbreviations and definitions.
Historic Documents
Includes approximately one hundred primary source documents covering the most significant events of the year. These documents range from presidential speeches, international agreements, and Supreme Court decisions to U.S. governmental reports, scientific findings, and cultural discussions. Click on the CQP Electronic Library link to cross-search all CQ Press subscriptions. 1972 - present.
THOMAS
A Library of Congress site that includes bills and resolutions, activity in Congress, the Congressional Record, committee information, schedules and calendars, and treaties.
Alt-Press Watch
Full text database of newspapers, magazines and journals from alternative and independent presses; publication dates vary from the 1980's, 1990's or 2000's - present.
Association of Religion Data Archives
ARDA allows you to interactively explore data on American and international religion using online features for generating national profiles, GIS maps, church membership overviews, denominational heritage trees, tables, charts, and other reports.
Bureau of Economic Analysis
BEA is an agency of the Department of Commerce. Along with the Census Bureau and STAT-USA, BEA is part of the Department's Economics and Statistics Administration. BEA produces economic accounts statistics that enable government and business decision-makers, researchers, and the American public to follow and understand the performance of the Nation's economy. To do this, BEA collects source data, conducts research and analysis, develops and implements estimation methodologies, and disseminates statistics to the public. BEA is one of the world's leading statistical agencies. Although it is a relatively small agency, BEA produces some of the most closely watched economic statistics that influence the decisions made by government officials, business people, households, and individuals. BEA's economic statistics, which provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of the U.S. economy, are key ingredients in critical decisions affecting monetary policy, tax and budget projections, and business investment plans.
CIA World Factbook
The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. Includes various physical and political maps.
FedStats
provides access to the full range of official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without having to know in advance which Federal agency produces which particular statistic. With convenient searching and linking capabilities to more than 100 agencies that provide data and trend information on such topics as economic and population trends, crime, education, health care, aviation safety, energy use, farm production and more, FedStats is your one location for access to the full breadth of Federal statistical information.
Gallup
Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology, and sociology, and our consultants assist leaders in identifying and monitoring behavioral economic indicators worldwide.
ICPSR (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research)
ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of datasets in the social sciences and related disciplines, such as sociology, demography, political science, criminal justice, foreign policy, law, economics, history, education, gerontology, and public health. The archive provides raw numerical data that can be used with statistical software, such as SPSS. A Data Use Tutorial will give you a brief overview before you begin using the archive.
All Wheaton faculty, students, and staff have access to the extensive ICPSR data holdings. First time users will be asked to create an ICPSR MyData account; thereafter, you will need to login with your email address and password to download data.
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
"The IMF publishes a range of time series data on IMF lending, exchange rates and other economic and financial indicators. Manuals, guides, and other material on statistical practices at the IMF, in member countries, and of the statistical community at large are also available."
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
Includes data and guides to a variety of topics in criminal justice, including delinquency, drugs and alcohol, and violence against women. NACJD is home to web sites two separately maintained programs: the Project for Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods and the Homicide Research Working Group. Access is free but requires the creation of an account.
NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service)
Summaries of more than 200,000 criminal justice publications including: federal, state, and local government reports; books; research reports; journal articles; unpublished research -- often with links to full text. The NCJRS is a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.
Penn World Tables 6.2
From the University of Toronto, "The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices for 188 countries for some or all of the years 1950-2004. The European Union or the OECD provide more detailed purchasing power and real product estimates for their countries and the World Bank makes current price estimates for most PWT countries at the GDP level." Data is available in multiple formats, including text, HTML, Excel, and SPSS.
Social Explorer
"Social Explorer is a premier U.S. demographics website that visually displays the demographic changes that have occurred in the U.S. from 1790 through the present at a variety of geographic levels, including neighborhoods, counties, and states. Social Explorer partners with many university research centers and produces statistical information and thematic maps for the New York Times, Time Warner Cable, and many other groups."
Statistical Abstract of the United States
"The Statistical Abstract of the United States, published since 1878, is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web. Sources of data include the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and many other Federal agencies and private organizations."
United Nations
Data, documents, committee reports, and informational essays on international law, peace and security, humanitarian crises, development, and issues of worldwide concern. Includes World Economic and Social Surveys and World Economic Situation and Prospects and other official UN publications.
U.S. Census Bureau
A rich source that includes statistics on population, housing, employment, income and poverty. Includes maps and geographic data, as well as American Factfinder, an interactive web site from which users may retrieve Census data for all available geographic locations and variables.
U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress, "a full and complete report regarding the status of internationally recognized human rights...The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
usa.gov
The portal for government publications on the Web, including federal and state reports and statistical data.
The World Bank
"The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world...made up of two unique development institutions owned by 185 member countries—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)."
World Health Organization
"WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends." Includes data and reports on matters of world health, including The World Health Report.
Supreme Court Yearbook
Provides valuable in-depth coverage and analysis of every decision from the nation's highest court. Click on the CQP Electronic Library link to cross-search all CQ Press subscriptions. 1989/90 session - present.
