Political Science

Prepared by Mika Slaughter

October 2003

Databases and Indexes

Provides access to current and retrospective United Nations documents and publications.

Site for online resources from the U. S. Government. Includes links to material from all branches of government.

Updated monthly, this index gives citations and abstracts for books, articles, documents, conferences, and statistical directories dealing with politics and public affairs.

Indexes 524 core periodicals in the fields of anthropology, economics, geography, law and criminology, political science, social work, sociology, and international relations. Includes full text of articles from 172 publications back to 1995.

The database provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.

Selected Periodicals

Finding Books

Items in the Reference collection can be found on the first floor of the Poynter Library, while materials on the general subjects of political science and political theory can be found on the third floor in the classification JA - JC, and books on U.S. politics and government fall under the classification JK.   Specific topics can be searched on the Libraries of the USF System Online Catalog using the subject headings: Policy, Law, Legislation, Political Science , or Politics and Government. 

Biographies

Lists 2,000 prominent political science figures worldwide with a brief summary of the individual's policies and accomplishments.   Includes those persons alive as of December 31, 1990 .   Personal name index by country at the back.

A guide to individuals closely identified with a political idea or system of thought.   Alphabetically arranged, each entry is followed by a list of the individual's writings and a brief bibliography.

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Short entries cover terms, theories, events, institutions, and individuals that make up contemporary world politics.

Lengthy signed essays give overviews and critical analyses of twentieth-century political studies.   A bibliography follows each entry.   Subject index at the back.

Handbooks and Guides

CIA World Factbook

Annual publication. Provides brief demographic, social, and economic data for each country of the world. Includes a map in color.

Annual publication.  Covers the United Nations and its agencies, other international organizations, and the countries of the world in alphabetical order.   A detailed political, social, and economic picture is given for each country, including an introductory history and a statistical survey.   An index of international organizations is at the back of volume one, and an index of territories is at the back of volume two.

Handbook of Political Science  8v.

A collection of essays by scholars representing the major areas of political science.   Gives a useful, encyclopedic survey of the entire field.   Extensive notes and references follow each entry.   Each volume is individually indexed.

This book is considered a classic guide to the field.   An introductory section on political reference theory is followed by chapters grouped by topic.   Each entry carries an extensive critical annotation.   Author, title, and subject indexes at the back.

Annual publication.  Lists the independent countries of the world in alphabetical order with detailed descriptions of each country and its politics and government.   Section at the back gives intergovernmental organizations (e.g., PLO, EU).   An index of geographical and organizational names is included.

A guide to library resources useful for research papers in political science.   Includes detailed basic information on using and interpreting legal materials.   An appendix reprints the style manual for the American Political Science Association (APSA).

Annual publication.  A concise and reliable manual of statistical and descriptive information about the governments of the world.   A bibliography follows each country's entry.   A section on international organizations in included, and there is a place and organization index at the back.   A companion volume, Statesman's Year-Book World Gazetteer [REF G103.5 .P38 1986], is issued periodically and gives brief information on geographical locations.

Suggested General Works

Addresses ethical issues and responsibilities that stretch across international boundaries."    Identifies and discusses 22 key issues in international ethics.   Includes a chronology, biographical sketches of important ethicists, significant documents, a bibliography, and an index.

Arranged alphabetically by author within topical chapters.   Author and concept indexes at the back.

Arranged alphabetically by author; British writers predominate.   Keyword in context index at the back.

David Easton's treatise on the "science of politics" and its relationship to general political theory is still considered an influential classic in the field.

Statistical Sources

Please refer to the Statistical Sources Subject Guide for a more comprehensive listing of resources.  

Web Sources

Economist Country Briefings

Part of the Economist.com web site, this series of reports gives news, profiles, forecasts, and statistics on 195 countries, as compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)

Political Science Internet Resources

Compiled by Western Connecticut State University 's Department of Social Sciences, this lengthy list gives clickable links to U.S. and international sites dealing with politics and government.

Political Science Resources: Foreign Politics

Compiled by the University of Michigan 's Documents Center Library , this is a list of clickable links to a variety of international home pages.   The addition of material from a consortium of educational institutions makes the site comprehensive and broadly based.

Poly-Cy: Internet Resources for Political Science

Maintained by the Department of Political Science at West Virginia University , this site gives a wide variety of links to other sources in politics and government.

WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources

Gives "over 2,000 annotated links in a wide range of international affairs topics."   The site is maintained by the Department of Political Science, Elizabethtown (PA) College.