Instructor Smith's Homepage
Political Science Links
Office: GDH 211B
Phone: (309) 341-7380
E-mail: rdsmith@knox.edu
Please be patient.
Political Science Links
Data:
General:

         
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
                   The Consortium is a data repository that includes a variety of datasets that Knox College 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.

         
The Virtual Data Center's (VDC) Homepage
                    The Harvard - MIT Data Center's Henry A. Murray Research Archive is a solid source for a variety
                    of data, both domestic and international.


Domestic:

         
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:

         
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:

         
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.
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.
Click here to check out Sundream Designs.
Feathers Courtesy of Silverhawk's Native American Indian Graphics.
Eagle Graphics Courtesy of Sundream Designs.
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.


Project Vote Smart

          Offers unbiased biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finance information
          and interest group ratings of candidates and elected officials.


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.

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 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.

International Politics:
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.