Political Science

Welcome to the David L. Rice Library Political Science Research Guide!

In this guide, you will find a collection of tools, texts, and links to library databases and resources useful for doing research in Political Science. For more information about the Political Science, Public Administration, and Philosophy program at USI, visit the College of Liberal Arts.  Note: students pursuing the Public & Nonprofit Administration track in Political Science should also consult the Business Research Guide. Those interested in International Relations should refer to the Global Studies Research Guide

How to use this guide

Material provided in the Political Science Research Guide has been broken down into five different categories:

• Political theory, which includes links to resources for both broad philosophical discussions of political principles and more specific elements of the historical literature related to US and international politics.
• US Government, which includes links to federal, state, and local government bodies, agencies, and officeholders. Note: For more detailed information about state and federal legislative and judicial operations (as well as international law and legal citation resources), please go to the Law and Legislation Research Guide.
• The Data and Statistics tab collects links to resources for social and economic data relevant to the study of politics and policy.
• The Issues and Current Events tab collects news feeds, reference, and event analysis sources for keeping up with contemporary politics.
• The International Politics and Governments tab provides some basic information and search suggestions for finding information about international organizations and governing bodies (like the United Nations and the European Union), news sources for international politics and events, and ways to find official government sites online.

There may be some redundancy in the database link lists for each tab, but keep scrolling! While each research area has resources in common, they also have specialized material of their own for you to find.