Pilgrim Library: Political Science Research Guide: Government Publications

U.S. Government Resources

USA.gov
"Official online guide to government information and services."
United States Census Bureau
"Learn about America's communities through our data profiles. They cover 100,000+ different geographies: states, counties, places, tribal areas, zip codes, and congressional districts. For each, the U.S. Census Bureau covers topics like education, employment, health, and housing just to name a few."

U.S. Census: Redistricting Data

Explore and analyze Census Bureau redistricting datasets from 1990-2020. "Datasets may include statistics, graphs, maps, microdata, printed reports, and results in other forms."

GovInfo
"Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government."
U.S. Congress
Official website of the U.S. Congress. It includes a variety of information related to the U.S. legislation, including voting records for the House of Representatives and the Senate, member directories, and committee reports and publications.

U.S. Senate

Official website of the U.S. Senate. It contains information regarding current and former U.S. Senators, legislation, committees, leadership, history, and much more!

U.S. House of Representatives

Official website of the U.S. House of Representatives. It contains information regarding current and former U.S. Representatives, legislation, committees, and leadership.

The White House
Official website of the executive branch of government. It includes information about the current administration, its priorities and record, and historical information about all previous administrations. Users are also able to access speeches, remarks, and other statements made by members of the administration.
Supreme Court of the United States
Official website of the Supreme Court of the United States. It includes information about current and former Supreme Court Justices, the rulings of the court for cases dating back to 1991, transcripts of oral arguments heard by the court, and access to case documents dating back to 2001.

FindLaw

"Searchable database of U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 1760."

Directories of Government Representatives

Current U.S. Congress Member List
Searchable list of the current members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate with information about each member including their contact information and political party affiliation.
Members of Congress (GovTrack)
"Find out who represents you in Congress, what bills they have sponsored, and how they voted."
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774 - 2005
Includes biographies of nearly 12,000 individuals who have served in the Congress of the United States since 1789 and in the Continental Congresses between 1774 and 1789.
Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
Directory published and updated by the CIA that includes Presidents, Prime Ministers, Cabinet members, Ambassadors, etc. from "as many governments of the world as is considered practical, some of them not officially recognized by the United States."
U.S. Ambassadors List
List of all U.S. Ambassadors assigned to embassies overseas as of February 2023.

Government Documents

U.S. Government Manual
"The official handbook of the Federal Government provides information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies; international organizations in which the United States participates; and boards, commissions, and committees."
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
"Finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive information for historical and current publications as well as direct links to the full document, when available."
National Archives and Records Administration
As the "nation's record keeper," the National Archives houses many documents integral to U.S. founding and history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights, as well as an extensive archive of documents and records useful for a variety of research.
Library of Congress
Access the Library's catalog and digital collections, which are organized into topics, including "Government, Law, & Politics."
CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room
The FOIA Electronic Reading Room is provided as a public service by the Directorate of Digital Innovation's Information Management Services. Users are able to view documents released through the FOIA and other CIA release programs by simply browsing various collections or searching for documents using specific terms.
National Security Archive Virtual Reading Room
"Founded in 1985 by journalists and scholars to check rising government secrecy, the National Security Archive combines a unique range of functions: investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents, leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information, global advocate of open government, and indexer and publisher of former secrets."
United Nations Digital Library
This platform provides access to UN-produced materials in digital format free of charge. The library houses UN documents, votes, speeches, public domain publications, and more!
FBI Records: The Vault
Freedom of Information Act Library containing 6,700 documents and other media from the FBI that have been scanned from paper into digital copies.

Political Science Research Guide

U.S. Government Resources

Directories of Government Representatives

Government Documents

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