Introduction
Politics is the study of human nature as it has developed and is expressed in different socio-political settings. Political scientists examine particular political cultures, including our own, and explore the limits of various political models. We do this by studying the world around us, utilizing the proper empirical and statistical tools as well as extensive philosophical training. Due to the variety of sub-fields within Politics, our studies frequently engage us in related areas such as psychology, biology, economics and sociology.
This subject guide is intended to assist students pursuing research in the different areas of political science. The discipline is divided into four major categories that include: 1) Political Theory; 2) Comparative Politics; 3) International Relations; 4) American Politics.
Political theory studies the interplay of power and justice and considers the moral and ethical questions that arise from that confrontation. It attempts to answer questions related to the foundations of political societies as well as their most elemental concerns. Examples of important theorists include many of the great philosophers of antiquity, such as Plato and Aristotle, and modern thinkers like John Locke, Niccolo Machiavelli, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alexis de Toqueville, Karl Marx and Leo Strauss. Given the philosophical emphasis of political theory, some of the sources listed in this page will be cross disciplinary in nature.
Comparative politics analyzes the political development of nations conceptually, in order to explain the development of different national political systems. Comparative also examines how diverse cultures solve basic political problems. Often, comparative studies deal with the development of neighboring states, though comparative studies analyzing diverse states on opposite sides of the globe are also abundant. Comparative political studies are now becoming more important to researchers in recent years, as states become more interrelated through the process of globalization.
International relations examines the interactions between nations on many different levels and the interplay between power and justice in the international environment. Areas of study and interest with IR include social, economic and cultural relations, not only between national governments but increasingly in the modern area through what are called non-governmental organizations or NGO's.
American politics is, of course, the study of the political culture of our own country as it has developed and matured since the colonial period. The study of American politics mixes history, conceptual paradigms, statistical analyses and empirical studies of all types in an overall effort to understand and anticipate both the flow and future of the Republic. The resources attached to this page reflect the diversity of American politics as well as the richness of its history.
But Where Do I Begin?
The answer to this question, of course, depends on the type of project you have been assigned, and how much you already know about the general subject area itself. If, for example, you are doing a paper on arms control treaties between the United States and the former Soviet Union and have little or no knowledge of the Cold War era, it would be best to first consult a general history of the period in order to familiarize yourself with the people, events, and circumstances of the time. There are any number of such works in Geisel Library that can be found by going to the Library home page and clicking on the heading Find Books & More, which will take you to the catalog. Then do a keyword or subject search for the heading of Cold War which will net several pertinent results. This strategy, of course, will work for any subject heading, not simply the Cold War.
What is a literature review? For some ideas look at the following guides:
How to do a Literary Review (University of Toronto)
Review of Literature (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)
Important Reference Resources
Encyclopedia of American Political History
Ref E183 .E5
Encyclopedia of Political Science
From Gale Virtual Reference Library
Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the World's States
Ref JA51 .S7
Oxford Companion to Politics of the World
Ref JA61 .O95
Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right (2 vols.)
Ref JA61 .E54
Encyclopedia of Nationalism
Ref JC311.S5484
The Encyclopedia of Democracy (4 vols.)
Ref JC423 .E53
Encyclopedia of Human Rights
From Gale Virtual Reference Library
Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace
Encyclopedia of the American Legislative System (3 vols.)
Ref JF501 .E53
Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (4 vols.)
Ref JK511 .E53
International Encyclopedia of Elections
Ref JF1001 .I57
CQ Weekly
NHIOP Rm 5000: Vol.61, no.4 (Jan. 25, 2003– )
(Call number JK1.C15)
THOMAS: Roll Call Votes (online)
Legislative information from the Library of Congress, both House and Senate roll call votes from the 101st congress and onward.
Congressional Quarterly Almanac
U.S. Congress House and Senate roll call vote record is in the appendix
Ref JK1 .C66 (1963–present)
Vital Statistics on American Politics
Ref JK274 .V582
The United States Government Manual
Ref JK421 .A3 (print version)
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Presidency
Ref JK516 .C57
Vital Statistics on the Presidency
Ref JK518 .R338
United States Presidential Primary Elections, 1968–1996: A Handbook of Election Statistics
Ref JK522 .C66
America at the Polls, 1960–2000: John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush: A Handbook of American Presidential Election Statistics
Ref JK524 .M329
Congressional Directory
Directory of Congressional Voting Scores and Interest Group Ratings
Ref JK1051 .S555
Congressional Districts in the 2000s: A Portrait of America
NH Inst. of Politics Room 5006 JK1341 .C65
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (2 vols.)
Ref JK1967 .C662
CQ Guide to U.S. Elections
A Statistical History of the American Electorate
Ref JK1967 .R87
Find Journal Articles
Once familiar with the general subject area, you can start looking for more specific information either in books using the Library catalog, or in journals by using several of the major databases. Search for journal availability using the Journal Finder. Journals listed as "in Geisel Library Paper Holdings" are shelved alphabetically by journal title on the Lower Level of the Library. Many others are available full-text online by following the links provided. The major resources owned by the library in this area include:
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
"CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy. The database is building on the merged backfiles of Political Science Abstracts, published by IFI / Plenum, 1975–2000, and ABC POL SCI, published by ABC-CLIO, 1984–2000. Since 2000, development of the serials list has focused on expanding international coverage. As of August 2005 approximately 1,510 titles are being monitored for coverage; of these, 67% are published outside the United States."
JSTOR
Providing full text of 650 scholarly journal titles, JSTOR covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, mathematics and others. Coverage is generally from the beginning of publication (as early as 1886) to within 5 years of the current issue. The following political science journals are included: American Journal of International Law, American Journal of Political Science, Midwest Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, International Organization, Journal of Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Proceedings of the American Political Science Association, Public Opinion Quarterly, World Politics. User Guide
Project MUSE
"Project MUSE provides online, worldwide, institutional subscription access to the full text of more than 200 scholarly journals in arts and humanities, social sciences, and mathematics."
LexisNexis Academic
Find full-text newspaper articles from local, national and international papers. Gain access to full-text law reviews as well as company news and financial information, medical information, laws and regulations, polls and surveys, and general reference information.
CQ Researcher
"The CQ Researcher explores a single "hot" issue in the news in depth each week. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports." User Guide (PDF/1,071KB)
New York Times
"The New York Times (1851–2003) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue."
America: History & Life
Provides abstracts to journal articles, book/media reviews, and dissertations with a focus on United States and Canadian history and culture from prehistoric times to the present. (1964–present)
Historical Abstracts
Provides abstracts to journal articles, books, and dissertations covering world history from 1450 to the present (excluding North America).
ProQuest Central
A massive database covering a wide range of subjects, with full-text of scholarly journal articles, newspaper articles, dissertations, and business and industry profiles.
ProQuest Military Collection
This resource is a good entry point for researching topics related to the military and international relations, with several hundred scholarly journals and trade periodicals in full-text.
Praeger Security International Online
This database provides in-depth analysis of terrorism and security issues, including weekly commentaries along with the full text of over 600 books and encyclopedias. PSI also includes an archive of over 1,000 security-related primary source documents (mostly from the US government) and a searchable chronology of terrorist incidents. The keyword search box enables you to quickly locate relevant titles, reference book entries, and documents.
CountryWatch
This database offers a variety of information on the nations of the world. The CountryReviews provide indepth, up-to-date discussions of economic, political, and social conditions in every country, while the CountryWire enables you to follow the latest news developments. There is also a CountryWatch Data module with annual country-level statistics on health, education, demographics, and the economy.
GreenFILE
This database provides citations and abstracts from both scholarly and general interest publications about environmental issues. The journal articles, government documents, and reports indexed in GreenFILE offer perspectives from the scientific, medical, legal, and political communities on the challenges facing our environment. (1973–present)
Policy Archive
Policy Archive is a comprehensive digital library of public policy research containing over 19,000 documents from research institutes and think tanks across the country. Many of these reports are very extensive providing a wealth of information on timely subject of domestic and international significance.
If you need help using any of these databases, just ask a librarian, for help with search terms and strategies.
Selected Websites
Political Theory
Below are additional links relating to political theory:
The American Political Science Association, Foundations of Political Theory Section
This is great resource that links to free online journals and to other sites dedicated to major political theorists.
University of Michigan, Documents Center, Political Theory Resources
A tremendous resource of information on issues and leading individuals related to political theory.
Comparative Politics & International Relations
Below are additional links relating to comparative politics and international relations:
CIA World Factbook
An overview of all countries of the world with history and vital statistics.
U.S. Dept of State — Background Notes on Countries of the World
A good companion to CIA Factbook with information pertaining to current events and issues.
World Statesmen
An encyclopedia of leaders of nations, colonial territories, and international religious organizations.
United Nations
Organization of American States
European Union
British Commonwealth of Nations
Embassy of the Russian Federation
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
African Union
World Bank
World Trade Organization
International Monetary Fund
World Health Organization
American Politics
Below are additional links relating to American politics:
The President and Executive Branch
Office of the President
A huge cache of federal documents related to the history of the Presidency compiled by the University of Michigan, Federal Documents Center.
Presidents of the United States, biographical information
The White House Official Web Site
Presidential Libraries
American Presidency Project
Includes archives of Public Papers, executive orders, State of the Union addresses, and press conferences.
Audio Recordings of the Voices of U.S. Presidents
The Vincent Voice Library presents voices of U.S. Presidents, from President Benjamin Harrison to the present.
Executive Departments
Links to all Executive Departments Web sites of the United States Government.
United States Congress
THOMAS — Library of Congress
Locator for information on the U.S. Congress and government.
Official Web Site for the U.S. Senate
Official Web Site for the U.S. House of Representatives
FDSys
The official website for government publications, including Congressional hearings and the Congressional Record.
Federal Judiciary
Official Web Site for the Supreme Court
Historic Supreme Court Decisions by Justice
The U.S. Supreme Court History
Constitutions, Statutes, and Codes
Researching Constitutional Law on the Internet
Official Web Site of the Federal Judiciary
Guide to Law Online
New England Resources
GOVERNMENT
Connecticut Government
Maine Government
Massachusetts Government
New Hampshire Government
Rhode Island Government
Vermont Government
NEWS
Connecticut Newspapers
Maine Newspapers
Massachusetts Newspapers
New Hampshire Newspapers
Rhode Island Newspapers
Vermont Newspapers
STATE POLITICAL PARTIES
Connecticut Democratic Party
Connecticut Republican Party
Maine Democratic Party
Maine Republican Party
Massachusetts Democratic Party
Massachusetts Republican Party
New Hampshire Democratic party
New Hampshire Republican party
Rhode Island Democratic Party
Rhode Island Republican Party
Vermont Democratic Party
Vermont Republican Party
OTHER RESOURCES—NEW HAMPSHIRE
Information on State Constitutions and Statutes
From the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University.
New Hampshire Revised Statutes Online
New Hampshire State and Local Government
Political Parties
Directory of U.S. Political Parties
Descriptions of many political parties in the U.S. with links to their Web sites.
American Reform Party
Constitution Party
Democratic National Committee
Contains news, hearings updates and extensive information of the Democratic National Committee.
Green Party of the United States
Covers the Green Party platforms, candidates, events, and contact information.
Libertarian Party
Includes the Libertarian Party's philosophy, membership information, current activities, directories, official documents, information by state.
Republican National Committee
Links to news, video clips and chat line, and more.
Socialist Party
Citing Sources
See the library's Citing Sources guide for resources on how to properly cite research materials. Always confirm the style required by your instructor.
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