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This guide is designed for new researchers to find articles, sources and get started with research in topics related to public affairs.
Start with:
- Policy CommonsSearch millions of documents on thousands of topics from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, IGOs and NGOs as well as from North American cities. Featured topics include Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, Climate Change, Gender Equity, and reports from the 500 largest cities in North America. UMN access includes both the Global Think Tanks and North American City Reports modules.
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) ReportsCRS reports provide Congress with both anticipatory and on-demand research and analysis to support their legislative, oversight, and representational duties. All reports adhere to the core values of CRS; they are authoritative, objective and nonpartisan. Reports range in length from several pages to more than one-hundred pages and cover the full breadth of topics of interest to Congress. Currently, only the last year of reports is available freely through this website. See ProQuest Congressional below for full coverage of CRS reports.
- PAIS Index (Political Science and Public Policy)PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) searches journals and other sources on issues of political science and public policy. This includes government, politics, international relations, human rights and more.
- CIVIOSRepository of open digital objects from the Humphrey School faculty research.
- Web of ScienceA comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- PluralFollow existing and introduced federal and state legislation across the country or in your state. Plural streamlines how you discover, track, and organize the bills you care about. The platform allows individuals and teams to see what’s happening with similar legislation across the country, find out where bill language reappears over time, and even predict which bills are starting to gain momentum.
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowWeb-based online data and mapping application that provides access to thousands of indicators related to demographics, housing, crime, mortgages, health, jobs and more. Data is available at all common geographies (address, block group, census tract, zip code, county, city, state, MSA) as well as unique geographies like school districts and political boundaries. Data comes from both public and proprietary sources.
- Voxgov This link opens in a new windowSearch publications, press releases, and social media activity of U.S. government agencies and legislative unites including legislators, department chiefs, and other branches in the federal government. Social media includes Twitter feeds, YouTube videos and other output by government entities. Congressional documents such as hearings are also available.
Also check out:
- Worldwide Political Science AbstractsThe database provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration & public policy from1975 to the present.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowThe ProQuest Congressional Research Digital Collection (CRDC) provides full-text access to more than 5,000 Congressional committee prints published from 2004 to present and more than 23,000 Congressional Research Service reports published from 2004-present. Includes citations for bills, public laws, and Statutes at Large, and analytical abstracts of the documents. Also includes links to political parties and organizations and news sources. Coverage 1789-present.
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new windowIn the CQ Press Library, search or browse resources on American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences.
- Legis1Insightful profiles of members of congress, staff, committees, hearings, witnesses, legislation, issue areas, lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbying clients. Legis1's analytics provides unique insights into legislative effectiveness, staff turnover, staff experience, compensation, issue trends, lobbying clients and more. Limited to 5 simultaneous users.
- Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) This link opens in a new windowFFIS provides rigorous research and analysis of the impact on states of federal budget actions. The cornerstone of FFIS’s work is its grants database, which tracks more than 90% of federal funds flowing to state and local governments.
- Leadership Connect (formerly: Leadership Library)Leadership Connect (formerly Leadership Library) allows screening for people, companies, and organizations by type, industry, job function, geographic location, size, or keyword. Ideal for searching NGOs, government agencies, board memberships, and not-for-profit organizations.
Last Updated: Feb 7, 2025 1:07 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/c.php?g=838261