Political Science Subject Guide
Getting Started
Research in political Science is an interdisciplinary pursuit. Topics range from analysis of election data to legal ramifications of the Bill of Rights to foreign policy and so on. The result is that research in this area can vary widely and include other subjects and disciplines.
Finding Books
Searching
Searching TIGER by keyword or subject is often the first and best step to find books on your topic.
To expand your research to books that we don’t own at Colorado College, or books that are checked out or otherwise unavailable, use Prospector - Colorado Unified Catalog . This is a collection of books (and other materials) from libraries around Colorado. Request a book and it will arrive at the Tutt Library circulation desk for you to check out a few days later.
Want more books? You can search and request books not available in TIGER or Prospector through Interlibrary Loan via WorldCat . A word of warning – this process can take weeks.
If you need help with TIGER, Prospector, or WorldCat, just ask a librarian.
Browsing
At Tutt Library, books are shelved by topic with the letter designating the subject. Thus J is political science and K is legal materials while D is World History and E and F are history of the Americas.
Here is an overview of the J call numbers:
J and JA: Political Science, General works and collections
JC: Political theory
JF: Constitutional history and administration
JJ: Political institutions and public administration – North America
JK: Political institutions and public administration – United States
JL: Political institutions and public administration – Canada, Latin America
JN: Political institutions and public administration – Europe
JQ: Political institutions and public administration – Asia. Africa. Australia. Oceania/Pacific Area
JS: Local government and municipal government
JV: Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration
JX: International law and relations
JZ: International relations
Online reference sources
Search this online collection of reference books related to topics of:
- Law and Courts including American law, Constitutional materials, State laws, Supreme Court, and Crime
- Oxford Handbooks Online. Political Science – explains the key issues, the classic and contemporary debates on those issues, and sets the agenda for how those debates might evolve. The handbook offers authoritative and trustworthy guides to the scholarship
Web
Political Information.com — over 5000 carefully selected policy & political websites and the latest political news from dozens of authoritative sources
Finding Articles
The best databases for finding articles on political science topics will vary according to the subjects. Think about what you are interested in: new sources, international affairs, legal and congressional materials, etc. Then follow the links below.
- Academic Search Complete
- Coverage: 1865 - current
- Large database with extensive full text access to journals, in addition to abstracts and indexing. Subject coverage is general and broad.
- Afghanistan And The U.S., 1945-1963
- Coverage: 1945-1963
- This collection of U.S. State Department Central Classified Files relating to internal and foreign affairs contains a wide range of materials from U.S. diplomats, including special reports, studies, statistics, legal documents, letters, translations of reports and articles from foreign newspapers and journals, speeches and transcripts. A wide range of subjects are covered including the politics, economics, and culture of Afghanistan. Part of Archives Unbound.
- The American Indian Movement And Native American Radicalism
- Coverage: 1968-1979
- Collection of FBI files providing detailed information on the evolution of AIM (American Indian Movement) as an organization of social protest and the development of Native American radicalism. Part of Archives Unbound.
- ARTFL Project, University Of Chicago
- Coverage: Medieval to 20th Century
- Consists of nearly 2000 French texts. Subjects include literary criticism, biology, history, economics, and philosophy. Genres include novels, verse, theater, journalism, essays, correspondence, and treatises. The 18th, 19th and 20th centuries are about equally represented, with a smaller selection of 17th century texts as well as some medieval and Renaissance texts.
- Ciao
- Coverage: varies
- Journal articles and papers relating to International Affairs.
- Congressional Universe. Congressional Indexes 1789-1972
- Coverage: varies
- Provides access to congressional and legislative information. Includes information about members of congress like voting records, addresses, etc.
- CQ Library
- Coverage: Nov. 1991 - current
- This weekly publication covers the most current and controversial issues of the day with complete summaries, insight into all sides of the issues, bibliographies and more.
- CQ Voting And Elections Collection
- An elections database covering presidential, congressional and gubernatorial elections, campaigns, political parties, voters and demographics. Includes historical and modern data, analyses of elections and voting behavior, explanations of electoral process and reforms, census and district demographics, key events and issues, and much more
- The Economist
- Coverage: 1843-2006
- HISTORICAL ARCHIVE 1843-2006. Digitized version of the famous magazine which has analyzed British and global affairs for 150+ years. For more recent issues of the Economist, please see the print version in Tutt Library or access through EBSCO: http://0-search.ebscohost.com.tiger.coloradocollege.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&jid=ECO&site=ehost-live
- The Encyclopaedia Of Islam
- Coverage: historical
- Offers basic searching of the full-text of nearly 12,000 pages of volumes I to XI and Supplement (Volume XII) of the print edition.
- Federal Surveillance Of African Americans, 1920-1984
- Coverage: 1920-1984
- Collection of documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Library. The collection includes COINTELPROs file on Black Nationalist groups from 1956-1971; also contains FBI files on notable figures such as Malcom X, Paul Robeson, Jesse Jackson and W. E. Dubois, as well as groups such as the Black Panthers and NAACP. The investigations are illustrative of conservative and government concerns over communism, socialism, civil rights, and other issues of this era. Part of Archives Unbound.
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service Electronic Index
- Coverage: 1975 - 1996
- Index only to translations of foreign news media by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service. Microfiche text found in Documents/Microfiche area-PrEx 7.10.
- Foreign Relations Between Latin America And The Caribbean States, 1930-1944
- Coverage: 1930-1944
- Organized by country, this collection covers a wide range of viewpoints on political, social, and economic issues. It sheds light on the foreign relations interactions between Central American and South American countries. In the Caribbean, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic are represented. This collection includes cables, memoranda, correspondence, reports and analyzes, and treaties. Documents are from the U.S. State Department. Part of Archives Unbound.
- The Gallup Brain
- Coverage: 1935 - current
- A searchable, living record of more than 60 years of public opinon. Find answers to more than 125,000 questions and responses from more than 3.5 million people interviewed by The Gallup Poll since 1935.
- Handbook Of Latin American Studies
- Coverage: 1935 - current
- Annotated bibliography of scholarly works on Latin American studies. Online version of the print title, volume 1 - present. Multidisciplinary topics. Covers humanities and social sciences.
- Index Islamicus
- Coverage: 1906 - current
- Indexes books, journal articles, conference proceedings about Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Includes the other main Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, plus Muslim minorities elsewhere.
- Inter-University Consortium For Political And Social Research
- Coverage: N/A
- Provides large data sets such as public opinion polls, attitude surveys, health information, results of research projects. Data may require use of specialized software such as SPSS or SAS.
- JSTOR
- Coverage: late 1800's - most recent 0-5 years
- Archival access to many scholarly periodicals. Some titles include current issues while others have a moving wall imposed on them.
- LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe
- Coverage: 1977 - current
- Access to popular press material such as newspaper articles. Also contains law review articles.
- Los Angeles Times (Historical)
- Coverage: 1881 - 1988
- Provides complete, full-image access to historical articles from the Los Angeles Times from its inception. For current online articles, use Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.
- The New York Times
- Coverage: 1851 - 3 years from current
- Provides complete, full-image access to historical articles from the New York Times from 1851 to 3 years from present.
- Nineteenth Century Masterfile
- Coverage: 1200's-1930
- Collection of dozens of indexes to English-language publishing prior to 1930. Indexing coverage includes Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, 1802-1906. Index to Nineteenth century historical periodicals. Government Documents Indices include indexes to: U.S. patents, 1790-1873; U.S. government publications, 1774-1881; British House of Commons and House of Lords, 1803-1830. Indexing also books, newspapers and periodicals. Links to full text in other databases, HathiTrust and Google Books.
- OECD ILibrary
- Coverage: 1967 - current
- Books, journals, working papers, statistics, and glossaries published by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Users can search by country, theme, date, content type, and more. The OECD FactBook is available from 2005 to current, with data tables and graphs that can be exported to Excel. This database was formerly known as SourceOECD.
- The Official Index To The Times, 1906-1980
- Coverage: 1906 - 1980
- Index to the London Times.
- Oxford Handbooks Online
- The Oxford Handbooks series are a collection in four subject modules: Business and Management, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion. Each handbook explains the key issues, the classic and contemporary debates on those issues, and sets the agenda for how those debates might evolve. The handbooks offer authoritative and trustworthy guides to the scholarship in these disciplines.
- PAIS International
- Coverage: 1915 - current
- Articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs.
- Political Science Complete
- Coverage: 1887-current
- Political science database with a global scope. Contains full text for some journals, reference books, monographs and conference papers, in addition to abstracts and indexes for many journals.
- Project Muse
- Coverage: varies
- Project Muse Standard Collection of core scholarly titles from John Hopkins University. Offers current and back issues. Please note: we do not subscribe to the Premium Collection. We have access to most, but not all, Project Muse titles.
- Social Sciences Abstracts
- Coverage: 1983 - current
- International, English-language periodicals in sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, political science, and law. Broader coverage than SocIndex.
- The Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985
- Coverage: 1785-1985
- Full text of the The Times (London) provides access to full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper is captured, with all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos.
- UN Statistics Division Common Database
- Coverage: 1958 - current
- Statistical compilation for the United Nations. Contains selected data series from 30 specialized international sources, including labor, agricultural, nutritional and industrial statistics. Years of coverage vary with data series/countries selected.
- The Wall Street Journal
- Coverage: 1984 - current
- Daily business/financial and political news and reports with global coverage.
- Web Of Knowledge
- Coverage: 1900 - current
- Citation-based searching in all disciplines. Includes Science Citation Index (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1900-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present). Web of Knowledge differs from Web of Science by including other databases such as Medline.
- Web Of Science
- Coverage: 1900 - current
- Citation-based searching in all disciplines. Includes Science Citation Index (1900-present), Social Sciences Citation Index (1900-present), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present). Web of Science differs from Web of Knowledge by focusing on these three indexes.
- World News Connection
- Coverage: 1995 - current
- Translations of foreign news media by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).