LibGuides: American Federal Government (POLS 1113): Websites

Political Science General Web Resources

Budget - U.S. Government
From the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO): 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.
FREEDOM.OU.EDU
Freedom.ou.edu is a program of the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage at the University of Oklahoma dedicated to promoting civic education through short, topical, online talks related to citizenship, freedom, and the Constitution.
Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia
A national nonpartisan educational center of research about the U.S. Government.
Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that provides information on the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. The center conducts public opinion polling, demographic studies, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. It does not take positions on policy issues.
Congress.gov
Legislative information from current and previous sessions of U. S. Congress (bills, resolutions, Congressional Record, records of hearings, roll call votes).
USA.gov
Official web portal for the U. S. government that includes federal, state, and local government resources, a guide to government agencies, online services, etc.

Cornerstone Documents

America's Founding Documents
U. S. Constitution
Bill of Rights
Declaration of Independence
The Federalist Papers
The Federalist, commonly referred to as the Federalist Papers, is a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788. The Federalist Papers were written and published to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed United States Constitution, which was drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787.
ConSource
A free, online library of constitutional history--which digitizes and cross-references source documents written by individuals who drafted, ratified, and influenced the creation of the U.S. Constitution and its amendments.
Constitution Daily--National Constitution Center
Constitution Daily, the National Constitution Center blog, offers smart commentary and conversation about constitutional issues in the news--drawing insights from America’s history and from a variety of expert contributors
America's Historical Documents
The National Archives collection of original documents, from famous milestones to unique details.

U. S. Congress

Federal Legislative Branch: the U.S. Congress in session

Statement of Disbursements
Quarterly report of receipts and expenditures by committees, staff, and members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
U. S. House of Representatives - Office of the Clerk
Directory of standing committees, House calendar of debate, financial disclosure and gift reports.
U.S. House of Representatives
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.
U.S. Senate
Every two years the Senate convenes a new “congress,” a two-year period of legislative business. Typically, a congress is divided into two annual sessions of the Senate, convened in early January and adjourned in December. On any given day, however, the Senate may meet in a variety of designated sessions to fulfill its legislative, executive, and constitutional duties.
Biographical Directory--U.S. Congress (1774-present)

President

Federal Executive Branch: U.S. Presidential Seal

American Presidency Project
Univ. of California at Santa Barbara archives with Presidential papers, addresses, press briefings, Political party platforms, Presidential election data
Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Portraits of the Presidents
See paintings at the National Portrait Gallery
State of the Union Addresses (1945-present)
Transcripts from the American Presidency Project.
The White House

Political Parties

Google Scholar

Interested in using Google for your scholarly research?

Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources.

Google Scholar

U. S. Supreme Court

Front of the Supreme Court building

Federal Judical Branch: Supreme Court Building

SCOTUSblog (Supreme Court of the United States Blog)
Keep up with the daily court activities and follow issues being heard by the Supreme Court Justices. Community Discussions of legal issues included.
The Oyez Project
A multimedia archive devoted to the U. S. Supreme Court, including complete source for all audio recorded the the Court since October 1955.
U. S. Supreme Court Home Page

Library of Congress

Library of Congress Reading Room

An agency of the legislative branch of the U.S. government, the Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library's mission is to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people.

Library of Congress Digital Collections
The Digital Collections of the Library of Congress provide free and open access to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity.
Congress.gov
Legislative information from current and previous sessions of U. S. Congress (bills, resolutions, Congressional Record, records of hearings, roll call votes).

National Archives

National Archives
The national record keeper of historical documents, photos, public vaults and records including military.

Special Interest Groups

Common Cause
Nonpartisan, non-profit organization focusing on open, honest and accountable government through grassroots organizing, coalition building, research, policy development, public education, obbying and litigation.
Political Money Line
News about political campaign financing and special interest contributions to candidates.
OpenSecrets.org
Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit organization that tracks the influence of money on U.S. politics, and how that money affects policy and citizens' lives.
Project Vote Smart
Reports on performance evaluations from all special interest groups who provide them, regardless of issue or bias.