LibGuides: Political Science Program at HFC: Websites

When Do You Need a Website?

You may need to use a website for a source if you need:

breaking news information.
government reports, documents, or data.
information directly from a business or organization, such as annual reports, statistics, press releases, etc.
any information that is very recent and/or only available on the free internet

However, while the internet is full of amazing, useful, accurate information, it is equally full of inaccurate and/or biased information. Luckily, the librarians at Eshleman Library have created a tool that will help you sort the good from the bad when it comes to information from websites! Click on the Evaluating Sources tab for more information.

Useful Websites for Political Science

Branches of the U.S. Government
Learn about the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the U.S. government.
Voting and Elections - USA
Gives answers to common questions about voting in the United States.
American Political Science Association
The leading professional organization for the study of political science and an understanding of politics, democracy, and citizenship throughout the world.
The Association serves more than 11,000 members in more than 100 countries and promotes a lively, diverse community of scholars, teachers, students, and practitioners who bring wide-ranging interests, methodologies, and perspectives to the analysis and conduct of government and politics.
Pew Research Center
An independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues

Government Websites

Census Data
Looking for data on the U.S. population? Check the Census Bureau.
CIA World Factbook
Search for information on countries.
Congressional Law (THOMAS)
Look up federal legislation and find your representatives.
Library of Congress
Library of Congress has digital materials, especially those of historical significance.
Medline Plus
Search for information on diseases. More reliable than WebMD!
National Archives
Search the archives for historical and primary sources.
SEMCOG
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments houses local data.
U.S. Veteran Affairs
Search for information about services for the armed services.
USA.gov
Official online guide to government information and services.

Government Publications and Reports

The government publishes an enormous number of very useful reports, containing a wealth of information, research, and statistics. However, they rarely publish this information in print form; most of the documents the government publishes are only available on the web. Here are a few good places to look for government documents that may be useful for your research:

Government Publishing Office
Search for published government documents.
GovInfo
Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
State of Michigan
Michigan's official website. Use to find policies and department documents.