Research Guides: Government Documents: Political Science

Poltical Science Government Documents

Political science students can find a vast array of government documents to help them in their research in their courses, both on United States government and politics and on politics and governments internationally.

CSCE

Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe
he Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, is an independent agency of the U.S. Federal Government. For 40 years, the Commission has monitored compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advanced comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy, and economic, environmental, and military cooperation in the 57-nation OSCE region.

Executive Branch Sites

The Executive Branch includes not only the President and the White House offices directly under him but also the various agencies under the President and under each of his Cabinet officers.

White House
This site provides information of the President of the United States and the Executive offices that work out of the White House.
Official Government Executive Sites
These sites are available from the Library of Congress, provides access to each of the Executive Branch agencies and their sub-agencies, as well as to the scores of independent agencies
A to Z Index of U. S. Government Departments and Agencies
This U.S. Government directory provides an extensive listing of federal agencies, but the vast amount of links makes it more formidable to use than the Library of Congress site.
Public Papers of the Presidents
This link provides access to all the Public Papers of the Presidents since 1991
Budget of the United States Government
***GPO has signed and certified the PDF files to assure users that the online documents are official and authentic.***
Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications are included, which may vary from year to year.

Legislative Branch Sites

The Legislative Branch is headed by the U. S. Congress, which enacts all Federak leigislation. Congress has two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Before a law is enacted it is introduced first as a bill, then debated and usually revised, and then enacted into law once it is passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President.

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.
Congressional Record
After each day that Congress is in session, the proceedings are printed in the Congressional Record (CR) and available the following morning.
New daily issues, reporting business from the previous day if either the House or Senate or both met, are usually available by 10:00 am.
U. S. Code
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926. The next main edition was published in 1934, and subsequent main editions have been published every six years since 1934. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information.
House of Representatitves
This site includes access to the Representatives' personal webpages. As per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate), and part of the federal government’s legislative branch. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states.
United States Senate
This includes access to the Senators' personal webpages

Judicial Branch Sites

The Judicial Branch is headed by the United States Supreme Court, which interprets the laws enacted by Congress and executed by the President.

Supreme Court Decisions
“Slip” opinions are the first version of the Court’s opinions posted on this website. A “slip” opinion consists of the majority or principal opinion, any concurring or dissenting opinions written by the Justices, and a prefatory syllabus prepared by the Reporter’s Office that summarizes the decision. The slip opinions collected here are those issued during October Term 2018 (October 1, 2018, through October 6, 2019). These opinions are posted on the website within minutes after the opinions are issued and will remain posted until the opinions for the entire Term are published in the bound volumes of the United States Reports.
State and Federal Court Cases
The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land in the United States. It creates a federal system of government in which power is shared between the federal government and the state governments. Due to federalism, both the federal government and each of the state governments have their own court systems. Discover the differences in structure, judicial selection, and cases heard in both systems.
United States Court Opinions
United States Courts Opinions (USCOURTS) collection is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) to provide public access to opinions from selected United States appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The USCOURTS collection is consistent with the E-Government Act's requirement for the substance of all written opinions, issued after April 16, 2005, to be made available in a text searchable format.
U. S. Tax Court
The Tax Court is composed of 19 presidentially appointed members. The United States Tax Court is a court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution. When the Commissioner of Internal Revenue has determined a tax deficiency, the taxpayer may dispute the deficiency in the Tax Court before paying any disputed amount. The Tax Court’s jurisdiction also includes the authority to redetermine transferee liability, make certain types of declaratory judgments, adjust partnership items, order abatement of interest, award administrative and litigation costs, redetermine worker classification, determine relief from joint and several liability on a joint return, review certain collection actions, and review awards to whistleblowers who provide information to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue on or after December 20, 2006.

Executive Branch Sites

The Executive Branch includes not only the President and the White House offices directly under him but also the various agencies under the President and under each of his Cabinet officers.

White House
This site provides information of the President of the United States and the Executive offices that work out of the White House.
Official Government Executive Sites
These sites are available from the Library of Congress, provides access to each of the Executive Branch agencies and their sub-agencies, as well as to the scores of independent agencies
A to Z Index of U. S. Government Departments and Agencies
This U.S. Government directory provides an extensive listing of federal agencies, but the vast amount of links makes it more formidable to use than the Library of Congress site.
Public Papers of the Presidents
This link provides access to all the Public Papers of the Presidents since 1991
Budget of the United States Government
***GPO has signed and certified the PDF files to assure users that the online documents are official and authentic.***
Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications are included, which may vary from year to year.

Legislative Branch Sites

Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.
Congressional Record
After each day that Congress is in session, the proceedings are printed in the Congressional Record (CR) and available the following morning.
New daily issues, reporting business from the previous day if either the House or Senate or both met, are usually available by 10:00 am.
U. S. Code
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926. The next main edition was published in 1934, and subsequent main editions have been published every six years since 1934. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information.
House of Representatitves
This site includes access to the Representatives' personal webpages. As per the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate), and part of the federal government’s legislative branch. The number of voting representatives in the House is fixed by law at no more than 435, proportionally representing the population of the 50 states.
United States Senate
This includes access to the Senators' personal webpages

USA.gov

USA.gov
USA.gov is an Official Guide to Government Information and Services and provides a Google-like search to find the government documents on your research subject.

Country Studies

Country Studies is a marvelous series of books published by the United States government tha provides the history, government, economics, society, and culture on each country of the world.

Lewis Univeristy Library has most all the volumes in its collection, but you can go online to the Library of Congress site where you can access the most up-to-date version of the Country Study you need.

Country Studies

World Fact Book

The World Factbook, published by the Central Intelligence Agency, provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.

World Fact Book