PS 101: Introduction to Political Science
Professor Krassa
General Finding Aids for Government Information
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Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
- Find government reports distributed to depository libraries in print and on the Internet by
title or keyword. Coverage begins in 1994; for prior years back to the late 1970s and more
search options, try the
FirstSearch version of the
Catalog (UIUC Subscription)
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GPO Access
- A portal to government information, especially legislative and regulatory information.
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Firstgov
- A consumer-oriented portal to government information on the Internet.
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Google Uncle Sam
- A search engine for government information on the Internet, including state and local
information.
Statistical Sources
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LexisNexis
Statistical UIUC Subscription
- Limit your search by subject, title, geographic area, demographic characteristics, and economic
characteristics. Searches federal, state, international, and private sources.
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FedStats
- Find statistics available on U.S. government web sites, either by topic or by agency.
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Statistical Abstract of the U.S. (C3.134)
- Use source notes at the bottom of each table to find more detailed statistics.
Legislative Sources
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LexisNexis Congressional
UIUC Subscription
- 1789-present. Some links to full text for more recent citations.
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Thomas
- Index available 1973-present. Full text available 1989-present.
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How Our Laws Are Made, Charles W.
Johnson
- This site by the Parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives explains the process of
passing a federal law and the documents generated along the way.
State Legislation
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Illinois General Assembly
- Access bills, laws, reports, and other information about the Illinois General Assembly at this
site. Some information available from 1997-present.
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Researching Legislative
History, Richard D. Edwards
- This site from the Illinois General Assembly's Legislative Reference Bureau explains the
process of passing a law in Illinois and how to find the intent of the General Assembly in passing
a bill.
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Legal Information Institute: Constitutions,
Statutes, and Codes
- Access the legislative web pages of individual states as well as Uniform Laws as passed by the
states and state laws by topic.
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National Council of State Legislatures
- This nonprofit organization reports on legislation across all 50 states on many
topics.
Sample Resources
Slavery, Representation and the Constitution
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Historical Census Data
Browser
- Find basic population data for African Americans from 1790 to 1970 in ten year increments, from
U.S. Census data. Slaves were included as a separate category during the 19th Century.
More detail is available in the print volumes, available in the Government Documents
Library.
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U.S. Serial Set, Digital
Edition
- This link is for Congressional documents from 1817-1844. Look at the Social Issues
section for documents on slavery. Later Congressional documents are available in print and
microfiche at the Government Documents Library.
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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
- This federal government agency monitors all kinds of civil rights issues, including race
relations and voting.
- Some subject headings that can be used in the online catalog for this topic:
- Slavery United States (and subheadings)
Election Districts United States (and subheadings)
African Americans Politics and Suffrage (and other subheadings of African Americans)
Competing Electoral Systems
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Center for Voting and Democracy
- Contains concise pieces (see the right margin) on instant runoff voting (IRV), plurality
elections, and related topics.
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PR Library: Readings in Proportional
Representation
- Includes introductory readings, scholarly articles, bibliographies, and links to Web
resources.
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Proportional Representation in Local
Elections: An Overview
- In this state government publication, the author weighs the advantages and drawbacks of
proportional representation and single transferable voting (STV) at the local level.
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Electoral College Home
Page
- Explains the workings of the Electoral College system, outlines its history, and provides
Electoral College statistics for all U.S. presidential elections.
- Some subject headings that can be used in the online catalog for this topic:
- Representative government and representation
Proportional representative
Single transferable voting
Supreme Court's Handling of Constitutional Cases
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Analysis and Interpretation of the
Constitution: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States
- This Congressional publication contains a history of each provision of the U.S. Constitution,
as well as a brief description of the Supreme Court cases that have discussed the provision.
The print version is available in the Government Documents Library (call no. Y1.1/3:103-6).
- Some subject headings that can be used in the online catalog for this topic:
- United States Supreme Court (and subheadings)
Constitutional Law (and subheadings)