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| Eagle Graphics Courtesy of Sundream Designs. |
| This is the homepage of Visiting Assistant Professor, Randall D. Smith. |
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| Resources for POLS Students: |
| On this page you will find a plethora of useful internet links. You'll likely find that it is well worth your time to look through them before beginning your next paper. Please feel free to utilize any of these sources in your political science courses and rest assured they are considered good "scholarly sources." |
| Randall D. Smith's Current Courses |
| University of Illinois at Chicago, Department of Political Science |
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| He's Baaaack!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Randall D. Smith, Ph.D. Visiting Asst. Prof. of Pol. Sci. 1122-B BSB 1007 W. Harrison St. (M/C 276) Chicago, IL 60607 (312) 996 -5156 |
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| The Best Places to Start any POLS Research: UIC Library's Electronic Resources If you haven't been here before, now is a good time to start. I promise you'll be back, so it's probably a good idea to get familiar with our University's research porthole. Poly-Cy A host of political science links organized by Robert Duval of West Virginia University. The links are organized in a tree based on topic, allowing greater specificity as you go. |
| He's Baaaack!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Here's something Interesting ... Political Games: Fantasy Congress A lot like fantasy football, but it's based on successes in Congress. Diplomacy A World War I role-play game online. Do you believe your adversaries, or do you just attack them? Information about the game and how to play can be accessed at The Diplomatic Pouch. Be sure and check out their Online Resources to get a good idea of what the game is and how it is played. A very good online host of the game can be accessed through Redscape. They offer the traditional Diplomacy game over the internet as well as variants on the original theme. |
| He's Baaaack!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| He's Baaaack!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| American Politics: American Presidency Project, The If it has to deal with US presidents, you will most likely find it at this site compiled by UC Santa Barbara. Biographical Directory of the US Congress, 1774- Present The US Congress provides this search engine that allows for searches by Congress or MC's name. Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation, A The Library of Congress offers this website that provides Congressional documents and debates spanning the early years of the Republic, 1774-1873. Congressional Quarterly The authoritative source for all things legislative. Much of the site requires registration, but allows for a free trial membership. Google US Government Search Believe it or not, this is a very thorough search of government documents available online. Government Printing Offfice (GPO) Free electronic access to official published information put out by the US government. Federal Election Commission Provides campaign finance reports and data, as well as information about federal election statutes. FirstGov The online portal to the federal government. FindLaw Offers both a browsable and searchable collection of US Supreme Court Decisions. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) NARA provides electronic access to some of the most important documents in US history. New York Times, The A direct link to the Politics section of what may be the most well respected daily newspaper in the US. Opensecrets.org Provides a guide to the money (PACs, individuals and industry) in US elections. Legal Information Institute Cornell Law School offers this browsable listing, and text, of all current US laws by popular name. Politics1 An unbiased source on American politics, elections, candidates and campaigns. Project Vote Smart Offers unbiased biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finance information and interest group ratings of candidates and elected officials. State and Local Government on the Net A directory of official state, county and city government websites. Thomas (Library of Congress) Legislative information on the current and past Congresses. US House of Representatives Your direct link to "popular representation" in the US Congress. US Senate Your direct link to the "upper house" of the US Congress. US State Department's Dispatch Magazine Archive of major speeches and congressional testimony from the State Department. US Code Search Searchable database of current and prior versions of the US (Federal) Code (laws) offered by the Government Printing Office. Voter Information Services Contains Congressional report cards, party unity scores and voting records. |
| He's Baaaack!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| International Politics: Amnesty International An independent international advocate of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reporter of abuses. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) The BBC provides an important research tool for international scholars. We often find that American media outlets provide a wealth of information about domestic happenings, but little in-depth international news coverage. The BBC can help you avoid American-centric media in your research. Country Studies The Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress offers an easy access method for beginning research on specific states in the international arena. Unfortunately the studies are limited to only the larger states of the international system. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook A respectable place to begin investigation of any of the states in the international system. Christian Science Monitor A relatively unbiased media outlet that covers more international news than the traditional American news sources. Economics of Civil War, Crime and Violence, The The World Bank Group provides this gateway to researching conflict in the international arena. Foreign and International Law Resources Cornell University's Law Library offers an extensive listing of resources regarding a variety of topics in international law. Freedom House A non-profit, non-partisan organization advocating democracy and ranking states by their level of freedom. Guide to Foreign and International Legal Databases This resource produced by the New York University Law Library is a great place to begin international legal research. Human Development Report 2006 Annual report of the United Nations Development Programme of worldwide development (includes Human Development Index - HDI). Human Rights Watch An organization dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world, offering investigative reports of alleged violations of human rights. International Law Links The E. B. Williams Law Library at Georgetown provides several useful online research tools on the topic. Institute for Trade and Commercial Diplomacy (ITCD) The ITCD offers well informed and easy to understand definitions of the most commonly utilized terms in IPE, as well as links to useful sites for understanding the myriad of international economic negotiations. Model UN Research Stanford University offers some helpful hints on beginning your Model UN research. While most of you will be beginning your research for Model UN at your premanent residences, Stanford's suggestions can be found either through links from their page, or at other large libraries. State Department's Background Notes The Background Notes offered on the Department of State's website provide very up-to-date information on a great number of states in the international system. UNCharter.org UNCharter.org provides a borwsable and text searchable UN Charter. United Nations, The Still one of the best and most comprehensive international research sites. United Nations Treaty Collection As the requisite repository of all treaties accountable under international law, this is the place to begin treaty research. World Bank, The A unique source of international development and technical funding owned and operated by its members. |
| He's Baaaack!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| POLS Data: General Political Science Data Sources: Harvard-MIT Data Center A solid archive of a variety of data, both domestic and international (formerly the Virtual Data Center Project). Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) The Consortium is a data repository that includes a variety of datasets that UIC students may utilize. If you find ICPSR data that you would like to obtain for a project, then please contact me to gain access to the dataset. American Politics Data Sources: American National Elections Studies (ANES) A sound source for everything relating to American Elections. Bureau of Labor Statistics National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS) primarily concerning labor market activities. Bureau of Justice Statistics A reliable source for crime, adjudication and corrections statistics. Economagic.com: Economic Time Series Page A source for statistics on money, labor and energy. Primarily a domestic focus, but contains some international data as well. Economic Statistics Briefing Room The White House's compilation of federal economic indicators. FedStats Cut through the blinding particulars by starting at the central search engine of data produced by all Federal Agencies. Gallup Poll, The Likely the most trusted source of public polling on all sorts of questions political (availabe with a free registration for thirty days). Geostat Center: Historical Census Browser The University of Virginia Library provides access to historical census data back to 1790. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Statistics "'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah the taxman!" ... Statistics from the US Treasury concerning nation-wide taxes. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Useful economic data that focuses on domestic data, but also contains international comparisons. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) The Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences is the primary government entity tasked with gathering and analyzing US education statistics. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Center for Disease Control statistics on all matters concerning citizen health. Social Statistics Briefing Room The White House's compilation of federal social statistics. STAT-USA/Internet The Department of Commerce's access point to data concerning business, trade and economic information. Statistical Abstract of the United States The US Census Bureau's summary of statistics on the social, political and economic organization of the United States. United States Census Bureau Access a wealth of US demographic data directly from the source . State/Local/Urban Politics Data Sources: State and Metropolitan Area Databook US Census Bureau statistics on social and economic conditions in the US at the state and metropolitan area levels. County and City Databook US Census Bureau statistics on population, housing and other demographics at the county and city levels. International Politics Data Sources: Correlates of War Project, The An ongoing project that looks to systematically gather and analyze data about war. Elections Canada A good source for information and data on Canadian elections. International Crisis Behavior Project The Center for International Development and Conflict Management offers data on all international crises occuring since the end of World War II. It provides not only quantitative data on these crises, but also qualitative descriptions of each of the crises. Social Indicators of Development The World Bank's most detailed statistical data on states in the international arena. UN Statistics Division This arm of the UN provides a wealth of statistical information on many of its member states. William Davidson Institute The Davidson Data Center & Network (DDCN) provides data on transition economies. |