LibGuides: POLS 202 Introduction to American Government & Politics: Think Tanks, Public Policy Analysis, and Public Opinion

Public Policy Think Tanks

Annenberg Public Policy Center
Non-partisan research areas in public policy and political communication, children and media, health and media, and much more.
Brookings Institute
Brookings is a nonprofit public policy organization whose goal is to conduct independent research and analysis and to promote democracy, and economic and social security and health, nationally and internationally.
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that provides reports and statistics on the issues, attitudes and social trends shaping America and the world.
Rand
Bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to providing strategic insights and policy solutions on topics including cybersecurity and technology; defense and security; economics; energy and sustainability; global health; human rights; and international development

Political Organizations

Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart is an independent, nonpartisan, citizen group devoted to providing unbiased information on legislative topics and bills, as well as candidates for political office.
Public Citizen
Public Citizen describes itself as the people's lobbyists. Progressive advocates on legislative issues
Public Agenda
A nonpartisan, non-profit policy organization whose agenda is involving the public in policy education, debate, and legislation.
Open Secrets
Open Secrets is a resource site maintained by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit group that tracks campaign contributions between politicians and PACs / private / corporate donors.
FactCheck.org
FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Political Commentary and News Radio

National Public Radio (NPR)
Independent and topical radio news. Be sure to check the long list of programs distributed through NPR.
National Public Radio (NPR): The NPR Politics Podcast
An NPR podcast with two political reporters
Washington Week in Review
PBS weekly news show with in-depth discussion of news and politics from a mainstream perspective

Select Political Blogs & Columns

Political Blogs have both opinion and reporting. Consume with caution!

Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is a lively and very opinionated liberal Internet newspaper
Drudge Report
The Drudge Report aggregates news from across the political spectrum and mixes it with conservative commentary.
The Weekly Standard
A weekly conservative political news and opinion publication
Politico
This links to the Politic.com congressional page, but search the entire online resource for policy analysis, reporting and lots of opinion.
Salon
Salon offers both online news and political commentary.

Legislative Analysis

Congressional Research Service
The CRS is a nonpartisan government group that provides authoritative policy research and analysis to all members and committees of Congress. This links to their areas of research, but the Contact Us link is in the left menu.

Public Opinion Polls

Kaiser Foundation Public Polling
Kaiser is a public interest health foundation
National Opinion Research Center
U. of Chicago NORC’s mission is to conduct high-quality social science research in the public interest.
Pew Research Center: U.S. Politics & Policy
An independent, non-partisan public opinion research organization that studies attitudes toward politics, the press and public policy issues
Gallup Poll
Gallup assesses the state of the nation on all matters, from healthcare satisfaction to hiring and housing
Polling Report.com
An independent, nonpartisan resource
on trends in American public opinion

The Congress

House Republicans
The Website of the Republican Party - with info on legislation, issues, news, & more
House Democrats
The official Website of the House Democratic Caucus has links to information on legislation, news, and issues.
U.S. Senate Democrats
Your go-to place for information and links to Members, Committees, Leadership, news, and current legislative issues.
U.S. Senate Republicans
Your go-to place for information on issues, news, legislation, and leadership on the Republican Senate.

Government Agencies

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
The US Department of Commerce analysis of the US economy
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
With policy info on biotechnology, climate change, dietary guidelines, energy and more
U.S. Department of Education
Research, statistics, news, policy, and more information on education in the United States.
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Use the search box in the upper right hand side to search for statistics across 27 different types of health institutes.
U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)
Learn more about the federal government and health care policy and practice here
USA.gov
The portal to all official U.S. Government agencies, departments, publications, and more.

Recommended Journals and News Sources

Academic Journals:

Magazines

Foreign Affairs
A leading forum for serious discussion of American foreign policy and global affairs.

Political News Sources:

The New York Times (website)
Check out the day's news and issues in the online NY Times. Free online access is limited, Full text is available in the library's ProQuest database.
The Washington Post
Free online access is limited, Full text is available in the library's ProQuest database.
The Wall Street Journal (website)
The Chicago Tribune (website)
Los Angeles Times
Free online access is limited, Full text is available in the library's ProQuest database.
The Seattle Times
Washington state's largest circulating newspaper. Print editions available in Holman Library
The Boston Globe (website)
The Atlantic (website)
Search The Atlantic's website for articles on topics related to U.S. society, politics, education,, business, or news. The print magazine's articles are available in EBSCOhost databases and on the shelf at the library.
The New Yorker (website)
The Economist
Reports on and offers analysis of international news, world politics, business, finance, science, and technology. Full text available from 1988 to present
The Economist (website)
The New Republic
Axios
A mix of original and smartly narrated coverage of media trends, tech, business and politics with expertise, voice and smart brevity
Politico
This links to the Politic.com congressional page, but search the entire online resource for policy analysis, reporting and lots of opinion.
Slate Magazine
Founded in 1996, we are a general-interest publication offering analysis and commentary about politics, news, business, technology, and culture

Recommended Websites for Yoav Duman's POLS 202 class

Congress.gov : Resources A-Z
Oyez
Oyez offers plain-English case summaries, illustrated decision information, searchable audio and full text Supreme Court opinions as well as detailed information on every justice throughout the Court’s history.
American Presidency Project
Includes the messages, papers, and documents of American presidents
more...less...
• The Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Washington - Taft (1789-1913)
• The Public Papers of the Presidents:
Hoover to Obama (1929-2012: Book I)
• The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: Carter - G.W. Bush (1977-2009)
• The Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents: Obama-Trump (2009-2017)
• Our archives also contain thousands of other documents such as party platforms, candidates' remarks, Statements of Administration Policy, documents released by the Office of the Press Secretary, and election debates.
American National Election Studies
To serve the research needs of social scientists, teachers, students, policy makers and journalists, the ANES produces high quality data from its own surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation
FiveThirtyEight
Focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging.
CQ Press Encyclopedia of American Government
CNN Politics