Public Policy

Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
Indexes & abstracts research papers in the social sciences (legal, economics, management, marketing, politics, etc.). Contains working / forthcoming papers (not yet available in print). Some are fulltext.

ProQuest Social Science Journals
ProQuest Social Science Journals include full-text periodicals covering the social sciences, including addiction studies, urban studies, family studies, international relations and much more.

CongressNow
Indexed in LexisNexis Academic, this publication covers Capitol Hill.

CQ Weekly
Print Location: http://ezproxy.ithaca.edu:2048/login?url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqweekly
Weekly info on Congress: reports on upcoming issues, wrap up of news, status of bills, behind-the-scenes action, committee and floor activity, debates and all roll-call votes.

Military and Government Collection
Current news pertaining to all branches of the military: full-text journals, periodicals and pamphlets; indexing/abstracts for additional titles.

ProQuest Research Library
From business and political science to literature and psychology, ProQuest Research Library™ provides one-stop access to a wide range of popular academic subjects. The database includes more than 5,060 titles—over 3,600 in full text—from 1971 forward. It features a highly-respected, diversified mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, and newspapers.
note: Also includes ProQuest Education, Health Management, Psychology, and Social Science journals, as well as ebrary ebooks.

Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy (SSPP)
A peer-reviewed, open access journal that provides a platform for the dissemination of new practices and for dialogue emerging out of the field of sustainability.

PolitiFact
A project of the St. Petersburg Times, PolitiFact is a website that examines truth in politics.

Govtrack
Tracks legislation and votes in the United States Congress with email updates and RSS feeds. An open-source and community project.

OpenCongress
Non-for-profit and open source site that brings together news and government data. Visitors can track and comment on legislators and legislation.

Docuticker
Daily update of new reports from government agencies, ngo's, think tanks, and other groups. Search by keyword/subject.

PolicyArchive
Digital library of public policy research with more than 12,000 policy documents from about 220 think tanks and research groups.

Tech Policy Summit
"Tech Policy Summit offers an independent, nonpartisan forum for learning and networking among industry executives, investors, consumer advocates, government officials and legal experts who may have different perspectives but who share a common goal of enabling innovation." - from the homepage

Tobacco atlas / Judith Mackay and Michael Eriksen.
Print Location: REF G1046.J94 T6 2009
Geneva : World Health Organization, 2009.

Lannan Audio and Video Archives
Lannan, an organization that supports artists and writers, as well as Native activists in rural indigenous communities, has an Audio/Video tab on its hompage that contains a 15 year archive of events. 

CQ's Politics in America
Print Location: REF DESK JK1083 .B55
Published annually, it contains in-depth profiles of members of Congress. Current ed. at the Reference Desk. Prior 4 years are in the General Stacks.

SCOTUSBlog
Supreme Court of the United States blog.

Weekly Standard : The Blog
The Weekly Standard, a conservative news magazine, includes a blog, "Today's Standard."

Daily Kos
Progressive community blog.

Huffington Post
Edgy leftist blog founded by Arianna Huffington.

Nation : Blogs
The Nation magazine's blog site. Includes: Campaign 08, Editor's Cut, The Beat, Actnow!, The Dreyfuss Report, Capitolism, The Notion, And Another Thing.  Liberal perspecitve.

National Review : Blog Row
National Review magazine's Blog Row includes: Bench Memos, Campain Spot, The Corner, Frum, Kudlow, Liberal Fascism, Media Blog, Phi Beta Cons, Planet Gore, Pryce-Jones, and Tank.  Default is to The Corner. Conservative perspective.

Newstex Government and Politics Blogs
A LexisNexis file of blogs by politicians, United States agencies, and some additional political blogs by individuals.

Politico
Online magazine with blogs covering American politics.

Talking Points Memo (TPM)
Josh Marshall's political blog.

TNR Blogs
The New Republic: A Journal of Politics and the Art magazine (TNR) hosts the following blogs: The Plank, The Stump, The Spine, The Flack, and The Vine.

Williams Institute
Based at the UCLA School of Law, the Williams Institute provides law and public policy guidance in the field of sexual orientation through research and scholarship.

Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY)
Part of the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, CAMY. "monitors the marketing practices of the alcohol industry to focus attention and action on industry practices that jeopardize the health and safety of America's youth."

Center for Policy Research (Syracuse University)
Collection of essays on current public policy issues in aging, health, income security, metropolitan studies and related research.

Harvard Kennedy School
Public policy research from Harvard. Information can be accessed under the Research & Publications tab.

List of Think Tanks (Wikipedia)
An international listing by country of think tanks. For the United States, there is also a list by political or economic leanings. 

State and Local Government on the Net
The State and Local Government Internet directory provides convenient one-stop access to the websites of thousands of state agencies and city and county governments.

New York Red Book
Print Location: http://phoebe.ithaca.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=198014
Annual directory of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of New York government. The current edition is behind the reference desk. Most prior editions from 1897+ are in general stacks.

Union of International Organizations : databases
The following UIA databases are searchable for free: Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential, IGO Search, Logotypes of International Organizations, and Transnational Associations Online. Users can create an account for added features.

United States Government Manual
Provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. Also includes information on quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the United States participates, and boards, commissions, and committees.

Television across Europe: Regulation, Policy and Independence
Eumap.org, 2005. Available in PDF format. EUMAP is a programme of the Open Society Institute, a Soros Foundations network.

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences - 2nd edition
This edition highlights the expanding influence of economics in social science research and features nearly 3,000 entirely new articles and important biographies from around the world on a wide array of global topics, including: achievement testing, censorship, personality measurement, aging, income distribution, foreign aid (political and economic aspects), food (world problems, consumption patterns), cultural adaptation, comparative health-care systems, terrorism, political correctness, agricultural innovation, legislation of morality, sexual violence and exploitation, and white collar crime.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd ed.
Is a reference devoted to the terms and concepts of U.S. law. It covers a wide variety of persons, entities, and events that have shaped the U.S. legal system.

Congress.gov
(Beta, September 2012).  Contains United States legistative information.  I plans to be a successor to THOMAS.gov.  There is currently a chart comparing of coverage dates between the two sources.th

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The US EPA provides information on major environmental topics, including laws and regulations. The site includes a database that allows you to Search Your Environment by zipcode that includes public records.

FDsys (GPO's Federal Digital System)
The Government Printing Office's (GPO) Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides public access to government information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies. Search or browse  for documents and publications.  Use the Advance Search form to search by date or specific publication title (Congressional Record, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Bills, Hearings, the United States Code, etc.). Fulltext primary source documents are available in both PDF (downloadable) and XML formats.

United States Sentencing Commission
An independent agency of the judicial branch which establishes sentencing polices, advises Congress the President on policies, and researches and analyzes issues.  There are pages for research information, education and training, data and statistics, and publications.

Congressional Hearings
A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, Joint, or Special Committee of Congress, usually open to the public, to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. In addition, hearings may also be purely exploratory in nature, providing testimony and data about topics of current interest. Most Congressional hearings are published two months to two years after they are held. Only hearings released to GPO from the committees are made available on GPO Access. Coverage from 1985 - present.

Country Reports on Terrorism
Annual report by the Secretary of State that examines terrorism around the world, terrorist safe havens, terrorist organizations, state sponsors of terrorism, WMDs, etc.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Multi-national organization that aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region, as well as justice and the rule of law as per the UN Charter.

Europe's Information Society
European Union thematic portal on information society and media and policies (audiovisual, copyright, digital libraries, internet, etc.).

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
U.S. government agency that regulates radio, television, wire, satellite and cable communications. The site includes: headline news, links to bureaus and offices (such as the Office of General Counsel / Court Filings), Public Comments page, an online Complaint form, a Consumer Center, Rules and Regulations (CFR title 47), etc.  Most recently, the FCC links to Broadband.gov, a separate page addressing the National Broadband Plan and FFC.gov/data (an online clearinghouse for data sets).

Federal News Service
LexisNexis file containing: White House briefings and Presidential statements. Includes some Congressional hearings, National Press Club Speeches and conferences when they address major topics of current interest.

Federal Register via FDsys
The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.   Site covers 1994 - present.

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) 1861-1960
Digital facsimile of these government documents. Covers 1861-1960 with some gaps. Also available in print and microfiche at JX233.A3rn

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) 1961-1975
Digital facsimile of these government documents See also IC Library stacks & microfiche at: JX233 .A3 for earlier volumes

Government Accountability Office (GAO)
The GAO investigates and reports on the use of government funds for Congress. Full text copies of the reports are available by searching the site.

Military Education Research Library Network (MERLN)
Database of defense-related U.S. policy statements.

National Conference of State Legislatures
This website offers research and policy information on multi-state legislation. Particularly helpful is the Issues & Research tab.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS): Abstracts Database
US Dept of Justice, Office of Justice Programs site that is a portal to justice and substance abuse information useful for research and policy development. Topics include: corrections, courts, crime, crime prevention, drugs, the justice system, juvenile justice, law enforcement and victims. The collection of several thousand full-text publications, primarily government documents, can be searched.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
Bureau of the US Dept. of Commerce that advises the president on telecommunications policies.

New York State Legislature: Bills and Laws
Search bill text, status, summaries, sponsor memos, and floor vote. Links to search for NYS Legislative Bills, NYS Legislative Resolutions, and the Laws of New York (see also: LexisNexis - Federal & State Codes - NY Consolidated Law Service).

Open CRS: Congressional Research Report for the People
Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides background reports to Congress yet they were not distributed to government document collections. Citizens had to write their Congressional representatives to obtain copies. The Open CRS site has indexed and posted copies of these valuable documents.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
Member countries are committed to democracy and the market economy.  There is an OECD iLibrary that contains books, papers, and statistics of the OECD.  It is a mixture of free and fee-based information.

Organization of American States (OAS)
Multi-national organization of Western nations committed to democracy, and other social justice issues such as: poverty, terrorism, illegal drugs, corruption, etc.

NY Open Government
NY State Office of the Attorney General's portal to NY State information.

ReliefWeb
A project of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) it provides news, statistics, reopts and other information related to humanitarian relief, including updates to crisis situations, refugee camps, and other relief efforts.

USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse
Provides reports on USAID efforts in developing countries. Most topics of the files are related to public health, environmental, and development issues.

White House
Official site for the Executive branch of the Federal Government. Includes speeches for the President and Vice President, press briefings, and information on appointments, nominations, and cabinet departments.

Thomas - Legislative Information
Database of United States legislative information including: bills, resolutions, the Congressional Record, treaties, Committee Reports, Public Laws, Roll Call Votes, etc.

CQ Researcher
Comprehensive reporting and analysis on current issues in the news. Each report includes an introductory overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
A national media watch group that monitors media bias and censorship.

FactCheck.org
Annenberg Political fact check site.

National Survey of State Laws
Print Location: REF KF386 .N38 2008
6th ed., 2008. Identifies sections of state codes, state by state, for popular issue areas such as: antitrust, capital punishment, gun control, prayer in schools, whistleblower statues, abortion, gambling, right to die, lotteries, taxes, etc.

Drudge Report
Aggregated news feeds from Matt Drudge. Some original reporting. Considered conservative leaning.

United Press International (UPI)
Daily news. Also in LexisNexis: News.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
The ICRC, established in 1863, works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for people affected by conflict and armed violence and to promote the laws that protect victims of war.

Media Policy
Organization that organizes and analyzes global media policy.

Program on Corporations, Law & Democracy (POCLAD)
Group of eleven citizens that questions the authority of corporations to govern through writing, legal research, public speaking, etc.

United Nations Foundation
An organization that advocates for the United Nations and connects "people, ideas and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems."  The UNF established a Global Entrepreneur Council to help with innovation and impact.

What Works Clearinghouse
Institute of Education Sciences, US Dept. of Education. Site includes reports, research, working papers, etc. to assist in education decision making.

Aspen Institute
Public policy institute that promotes values-based leadership.

Digital Due Process
A coalition of privacy advocates including think tanks, companies and organizations.

Heritage Foundation
Research institute promoting conservative public policy.

Brookings Institution
Public policy think tank that supports research in a wide array of areas including: education, Asian policy, children, socio-economics, health care, Middle East policy, taxation, etc.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC)
A coalition of health care professionals, educators and parents who advocate against children's' exposure to commercialism through marketing. There are almost 30 member organizations.

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Think tank founded in 1910 that promotes peace between nations. Maintains programs on: China, Democracy & the Rule of Law, the Middle East, Nonproliferation, Russia &Eurasia, South Asia, & Trade, Equity & Development.

CATO Institute
Libertarian think tank founded in 1977 that provide research in the following areas: Bioethics, Education &Child Policy, Government &Politics, Immigration &Labor, Law &Civil Liberties, Regulatory Studies, National Security &Foreign Policy, Budget &Tax Policy, Energy &Environment, Health &Welfare, International Economics, Political Philosophy, and Telecom, Internet & Information Policy.

Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
Think tank on national security policy.

Center for Digital Democracy
Advocates for the public regarding the emerging digital communications landscape.

Children NOW
Advocacy organization that addresses public policy issues that concern children.

Council on Foreign Relations
Foreign policy think tank. Publishes the journal Foreign Affairs.

Educause
Nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of higher education through information technology.

European Science Foundation (ESF)
An Association of 77 member organizations devoted to scholarly research in 30 European counties. Research areas are: Humanities; Life, Earth and Environmental Sciences; Medical Sciences; Physical and Engineering Sciences; Social Sciences. Research topics: Marine Board; Polar Board; Space Sciences; Nuclear Physics; Radio Astronomy.

Guttmacher Institute
Public policy institute focused on advancement of women's sexual and reproductive health through research, education, and policy changes.  Subjects include Abortion, Contraception, Pregnancy and more.

Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Advocacy group defending human rights around the world. Site can be searched by country or by issue area. Many free documents can be accessed under the publications page. An annual film festival is held.

Institute for Policy Studies
Founded in 1963, IPS is a progressive think tank dedicated to social justice.

Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA)
Founded in 1997 by Norman Solomon, the IPA assists progressive & grassroots organizations get coverage in mainstream media.

International Anticounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
Promotes laws and regulations that combats intellectual property theft such as counterfeiting and piracy. Members include the RIAA & the MPAA.

International Food Policy Research Institute
Institute that advocates sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty through data, research, and outreach activities.

International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX)
Founded in 1968 IREX is a nonprofit organization that provides leadership and programs that improve education, independent media and foster civil society development.  Reports such as the Media Sustainability Index are posted to their website.

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Nonprofit organization that researches the economy. Includes papers, statistical data, business cycle information, etc.

National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA)
Nonpartisan policy research organization that advocates for alternatives to government regulation in favor of self-regulation of the private sector.

National Governors Association (NGA)
Collective voice of America's governors since 1908. Includes policy reports and the Center for Best Practices.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Alliance of 26 countries in North America & Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in 1949.

Pew Center on the States
Policy solutions for state governments from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

RAND Corporation
Think tank that publishes reports in the following issue areas: Arts, Child Policy, Civil Justice, Education, Energy &Environment, Health &Health Care, International Affairs, National Security, Population & Aging, Public Safety, Science &Technology, Substance Abuse, Terrorism &Homeland Security, Transportation & Infrastructure, &Workforce &Workplace.

Transgender Law & Policy Institute
Contains an up-to-date listing of all laws in the US that are transgender-inclusive and resources and information on legal issues affecting transgendered and gender variant people in the US.

U.S. PIRG
A federation of state Public Interest Research Groups that advocates for the American public on a variety of issue areas: product safety, toxins, health care, transportation, politics, media, taxes, higher education, etc.

National Security Archive (at George Washington University)

Declassified documents pertaining to national security obtained by FOIA requests.  Contains collections such as the Torture Archive (primary sources related to the detention and interrogation of individuals by the United States).

New York State Digital Collections: catalog
Contains over 65,000 documents relating to New York State. Three main collections include: 1. New York State Government Publications (Regents exams from 1957 to current), 2. New York State Scanned Documents Collection (broadsides, maps, manuscripts, and special collections) and 3. Education Laws and Policy documents

Chesapeake Project
An archive of government and legal information from the following participants: Georgetown Law Library,  Harvard Law School Library, Maryland State Law Library, and the Virginia State Law Library.

Congressional Budget Office (US)
Website with a current Monthly Budget Review, Budget Projections, Economic Projections, Status of Discretionary Appropriations, Historical Budget Data Spreadsheets for Selected Estimates and Projections, and a rnGlossary of Budgetary and Economic Terms.

Congressional Committee Reports (US Congress)
Beginning with the 104th Congress (1995-1996) to the present.

Europa : European Union On-Line
Gateway to European Union. It provides up-to-date coverage of European Union affairs and essential information on European integration. Go to the Documents tab to connect to EUR-LEX (E.U. Law), the Bulletin of the E.U., and other agency materials.

New York State Executive budget
Website for NY Division of the Budget.

Official Documents of the United Nations (ODS)

Full text UN documents from 1993+; General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, & Trusteeship Council from 1946+

United states code congressional and administrative news (USCCAN)
Print Location: REF KF48 .U58
Contains public laws, legislative histories, executive messages and orders, administrative regulations, lists of committees, indexes & tables, for each session of Congress. Library has 1952+ (lacks 1961, 1963, 1965-66).

Compilation of Presidential Documents
The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents are the official publications of materials released by the White House Press Secretary.

Comparative Constitutions Project
Scholars collect data in order to investigate constitutional choices of international states.

Follow the Money (National Institute on Money in State Politics
Organization that tracks campain money in state-level elections. 

Influence Explorer
A project of the Sunlight Foundation, the data on this site is provided by multiple sources:  the Center for Responsive Politics, the National Institute for Money in State Politics, Taxpayers for Common Sense, the Project On Government Oversight, the EPAand USASpending.gov.  The data aims to provide insight into the influence that goes into lawmaking.

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD)
Facilitates criminal justice research by making available data, reports, and publications. Includes data on capital punishment, violence against women, terrorism, and crime. Users can create an account. Some data is restricted to ICPSR members.

Opensecrets.org (Center for Responsive Politics)
This site by the Center for Responsive Politics eports on PACs, donors, soft money and lobbyists in U.S. elections.

Siena Research Institute
Survey institute founded in 1980 at Siena College, New York. In addition to national and state-wide polls, SRI conducts the Siena New York Poll that focuses on New York voter's sentiments.

University of Wisconsin Advertising Project
Monitors media for national and cable networds as well as local advertising in the country's top 100 markets.  Data can be ordered for 1996-2008.

Wesleyan Media Project: Political Advertising Analysis
Data for political advertising spending is embargoed for 4 years after an election cycle.   Academics can contact them for data beginning in 1996.

World Bank: Data
Access to more than 2,000 financial, business, health, economic and human development indicators for over 200 countries, with some of the data going back 50 years. Search results can be exported in different formats. Users can also choose to download the entire database directly from the catalog.  Includes World Development Indicators and Global Finance Indicators as well as detailed country profiles. 

CPANDA (Cultural Policy & the Arts National Data Archive)
Archives data on arts, media, and cultural policy.

Kids Count Data Center
From the Annie E. Casey Foundation, use this resource to access data on child well-being in the the United States.

State of the Cities Data System (SOCDS)
From HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research Information Service, this site provides data for individual Metropolitan Ares, Central Cities, and Suburbs. 

Human Development Reports
From the UNDP, the Human Development Reports is a annual publication that examines global progress. Includes data and statistics.

Polling the Nations
A compilation of public opinion surveys, containing the full text of questions and responses from 14,000 surveys from 1986 to the present in the United States and more than 80 other countries. Each record includes the polling organization responsible for the poll, the sample size and the date the poll was released.
note: Limited to 4 simultaneous users.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
Site includes the following databases: Facts on International Relations and Security Trends; Multilateral Peace Operations; Data on Military Expenditure; Data on Arms Transfers; Data on Arms Production; Database on National Export Control Systems

UNdata
UNdata pools major UN databases and those of several international organizations - browse, search and download data from a large number of statistical databases. Data categories include: agriculture, education, employment, energy, environment, health, human development, industry, information and communication technology, national accounts, population, refugees, trade, and tourism.

Gapminder
Gapminder World provides both interactive charts and graphs of United Nation statistics, including life expectancy and income per capita.  Many are interactive. It contains data on the local, national and global levels about social, economic and environmental conditions. This is product of the United Nations in conjunction with Google using Trenalyzer software.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Print Location: REF HA202 .U5
The authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. The final edition from the US Census is the 2012 edition.  The 2013 edition forward are availbe at the IC reference desk in print.

Scripps Library and Multimedia Archive
A research source on U.S. public policy.  Includes White House recordings, Presidential interviews, and audio & video recordings of the Miller Center Forums.

Wilson Center: OnDemand
Multimedia programs on national and world affairs from the Wilson Center.

FORA.tv
Streaming video of lectures in politics, business, technology, the world, and culture, from academics, think tanks, authors, politicians, etc.  Some videos are free and some are pay-per-view.

University Computer Policy and Law Program
Cornell University, Office of Information Technology, posts free lectures that discuss information technology ethics.