Research Guides: GOVT 2305 SO Bowman: Finding Websites

Websites

The American Constitution: The Avalon Project
Read full-text of historical documents that influenced the American Constitution (like the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights 1689) as well as important American historical documents like the early state constitutions and early versions of the US Constitution before ratification.
C-Span
Watch your government in action.
The Charters of Freedom
U.S. Government Archives website with articles about the important founding documents.
Congressional Research Service
Search for reports provided to members of Congress to help inform policy and legislative decisions.
Constitute Project
The world's constitutions to read, search, and compare. Find relevant passages by keyword or by topic. Information on this site is provided under a Creative Commons license (which means you can reuse information freely for noncommercial purposes).
Constitution Finder
This is a large collection of national, state, and historic constitutions from around the globe. The collection is compiled and maintained by the University of Richmond's School of Law.
Guide to Government Information
Research guide for information resources by and about the federal government. Created and maintained by UC San Diego.
National Archives Electoral College website
Learn about the election process as well as historical election information.
National Constitution Center
The official website for the first and only institution in America established by Congress to "disseminate information about the United States Constitution on a non-partisan basis in order to increase the awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people."
SCOTUSblog
The Supreme Court of the United States blog offers non-biased, journalistic-style summaries of cases.
The Supreme Court
Learn about the judicial branch. Read Supreme Court documents, transcripts, and opinions. Follow current cases and recent decisions.
The U.S. House of Representatives
Learn about the legislative process, find your Representative, and follow legislative activity.
The U.S. Senate
Learn about the history of the Senate. Track current bills and committees. Read about the issues that concern your Senator.
United Nations
Learn about important issues facing the world today.
USA.gov
As the U.S. government's official web portal, USA.gov makes it easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the web.
The White House
Learn about the executive branch and follow issues concerning the President

Oyez.org

The Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955.

Data.census.gov

Demographic and economic data collected by the US Census Bureau.

Catalog of US Government Publications

Finding tool for all US Government publications by keyword, title, and agency. 1976 to present.

Congressional Research Service Reports

Research reports compiled at the request of members of Congress. Posted by the US State Department. 1999 - date.

Data.gov

Portal to US Government's open data - 180,000+ data sets across a range of topics.

FDSys

Federal Digital System provides full-text access to official publications from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

FCSM

Portal to federal statistical programs by topic and agency.

USA.gov

US Government's official web portal to services and information.

MetaLib

MetaLib is a federated search engine that searches multiple U.S. Federal government databases, retrieving reports, articles, and citations while providing direct links to selected resources available online

Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913

Searchable archive of documents, reports and summaries of trials held at the Old Bailey, London’s central criminal court, dating from 1674-1913.

Regulations.gov

Regulations.gov provides information on the development of Federal regulations and other related documents issued by the U.S. government.

Sam Sheppard Case: 1954-2000

Documents related to the murder case brought against Dr. Sam Sheppard, provided by the law library at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. The case was the inspiration behind the television series and subsequent movie, The Fugitive.

Social Science Research Network (SSRN)

Open access archive of scholarly papers in the social sciences. Some content restricted to subscribing institutions.

United Nations Treaty Collection

Includes United Nations Treaty Series documents since 1946 as well as multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General.

Executive Branch

Compilation of Presidential Documents
Official publications released by the White House, 1993 to date

Federal Agency Directory
A-Z index of US government departments and agencies.

Historic Documents

Core Documents of Our Democracy
Cornerstone documents of American democracy digitized by the US Government Printing Office.

Primary Documents in American History
Digitized historical documents from the Library of Congress collections, 1775-1872.

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court of the United States
Legal information including opinions, court rules, and transcripts of oral arguments.

Legislative Branch

Congress.gov
Official site for US federal legislative information. Covers committees, members of Congress, legislation.

American Civil Liberties Union - "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. The ACLU's mission is to conserve America's original civic values: the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."

National Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Special Interest Groups - Project Vote Smart reports on performance evaluations from all special interest groups (SIGs) who provide them, regardless of issue or bias.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) History - The ACLU, or American Civil Liberties Union, is a nonprofit legal organization whose goal is to protect the constitutional rights of Americans through litigation and lobbying.

Family Research Council - Founded in 1983, Family Research Council is a nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to articulating and advancing a family-centered philosophy of public life. In addition to providing policy research and analysis for the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government, FRC seeks to inform the news media, the academic community, business leaders, and the general public about family issues that affect the nation from a biblical worldview.

FRC Action - Based in Washington, D.C., FRC Action is the legislative affiliate of Family Research Council. We seek to educate and influence elected officials on Capitol Hill and in the states, activate our grassroots network, and mobilize Values Voters on behalf of faith, family, and freedom. FRC Action is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit and was founded in 1992. FRC Action exists so that our nation’s most fundamental values are represented as we impact public policy, influence elections, and support candidates who share our values for public office.

Websites

America's Founding Documents
Maintained by the National Archives office.
The American Constitution: A Documentary Record
A project by Yale Law School to maintain documents in law, history and diplomacy.
GovInfo
Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
National Constitution Center
Objective: Bring together people of all ages and perspective to learn about, debate, and celebrate the U.S. Constitution.

Executive Branch: The White House
Official site of The White House.
GovTrack
Tracks the U.S. Congress to make government more open and accessible.
Judical Branch: U. S. Courts
Maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Federal Judiciary.
Legislative Branch: Congress
Presented by the Library of Congress, Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information.

SCOTUSblog
Independent news & analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court
Official website of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Recent Decisions
List of Supreme Court decisions from the Legal Information Institute.
U. S. Supreme Court Media
Multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court of the United States accessible to everyone.

Oyez

Oyez
Oyez (pronounced OH-yay)—a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and Chicago-Kent College of Law—is a multimedia archive devoted to making the Supreme Court of the United States accessible to everyone. It is the most complete and authoritative source for all of the Court’s audio since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. Oyez offers transcript-synchronized and searchable audio, plain-English case summaries, illustrated decision information, and full-text Supreme Court opinions (through Justia). Oyez also provides detailed information on every justice throughout the Court’s history and offers a panoramic tour of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of several justices.