U.S. Politics and Government
How the United States government works, the major institutions, and the politics that shapes what it does.
This page:
U.S. Politics and Government, generally |
Executive Branch |
Legislative Branch |
Judicial Branch |
Government Documents |
Law |
Politics |
State and Local Governments |
California Politics and Government
U.S. Politics and Government, generally
- U.S. Government Manual - The standard guide for navigating the federal government
- USA.Gov - Official directory of federal government Web sites (formerly FirstGov.gov)
- Branches of U.S. Government
- U.S. Government Services and Information
- A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies
- Contact Government Agencies by Topic
- How to Contact Your Elected Officials - Federal, state, and local
- U.S. Digital Registry (DigitalGov) - Official U.S. government "social media and public-facing collaboration accounts, mobile apps, and mobile websites"
- Federal Agencies Directory (Louisiana State U. libraries)
- Gov+ - Searches federal and state government sites, news organizations, and think tanks (Clusty)
- GovEngine - Directory of federal, state, and local government Web sites
- Government Information Portal (Vanderbilt University Library)
- GovSpot
- Metalib - Search dozens of federal databases all at once or in groups
- U.S. Government Portals - Sites devoted to a specific subject, often with the domain in the form of Keyword.gov
- U.S. Politics, Government, and Law - An annotated list of reference Websites (Alcove 9, Library of Congress)
- C-Span Video Library - Videos, many historic, going back to 1987
- FedFlix - Films produced by government agencies (a joint venture of the National Technical Information Service and Public.Resource.org, hosted by the Internet Archive)
- Benefits.gov
- Budget of the United States Government
- Congressional Budget Office - Trusted by both parties to do non-partisan analysis
- DisasterAssistance.gov
- FedSpending (OMB Watch)
- GovLoans.gov
- Grants.gov
- Office of Management and Budget: Historical Tables - Comparative tables of the federal budget and related statistics
- Oversight.gov - "All federal inspector general reports in one place"
- SAM.gov - Government contracts and grants (replaces Federal Business Opportunities [FBO.gov, FedBizOpps.gov] and Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance [CFDA.gov])
- USASpending.gov - Data on federal government spending
- GovSpeak: A Guide to U.S. Government Acronyms & Abbreviations (UC San Diego Library)
- Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids - A nicely done site with different tracks for different ages
- iCivics Games - Games to help kids learn about government
- Kids.gov - Official kids' portal for the U.S. government
- FlagNotify - Notifications of when the flag should be flown at half staff.
- Half Staff American Flag Notifications - Get a notification when the U.S. flag or your state flag should be flown at half staff.
- National Contact Center - Directory assistance for the federal government (phone: 1-844-USA-GOV1)
- Political Graveyard - How, when and where politicians died and where they are buried; info on living pols, too
Guides to the U.S. Government:
U.S. Government Web Directories and Search Engines:
Video:
Federal Government Spending, Contracts, and Benefits:
Dictionary of Government Terms:
See also
Government for Kids:
U.S. National Symbols:
Miscellaneous:
Government: Executive Branch
See also
- White House - Includes links to most other Executive Branch agencies
- Executive Orders, below
- Compilation of Presidential Documents - 1993 to date, updated weekly (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- Public Papers of the President - From 1991 to the latest published volume (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- American Presidency Project: Documents (UC Santa Barbara)
- Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States - Back to the Hoover administration (University of Michigan Digital Library)
- Papers of the Presidents of the United States - Back to Washington, but not all presidents' papers are available yet (Avalon Project, Yale)
- Dept. of State
- Virtual Reading Room Documents Search
- Documents Collections - Selected collections of documents released in response to public interest
- Dept. of the Treasury
- Dept. of Defense
- Dept. of Justice
- Dept. of the Interior
- Dept. of Agriculture
- Dept. of Commerce
- Dept. of Labor
- Dept. of Health and Human Services
- Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
- Dept. of Transportation
- Dept. of Energy
- Dept. of Education
- Dept. of Veterans Affairs
- Dept. of Homeland Security
- DoD Almanac - Facts and figures about the Dept. of Defense and military
- Joint Chiefs of Staff
- Unified Combatant Commands - Military operations by region of the world
- SearchMil.com - Searches .mil domains
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing [moneyfactory.gov]
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Forest Service
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - Not the most fun or the most interesting site, but it can be useful.
- Forms and publications are available online.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- National Archives and Records Administration
- National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Park Service
- National Science Foundation
- Peace Corps
- Smithsonian Institution
- State Department
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
- U.S. Mint
- U.S. Naval Observatory
- U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
- The United States Postal Service: An American History (publication 100)
- Treaties in Force (State Dept.)
- State Dept. Office of the Historian: Countries - History of U.S. relations with other countries
- Foreign Policy - Journal on U.S. international relations
- Military Policy Awareness Links (MiPALs) - Compilations of U.S. policy statements on current world hot spots
- Plum Book, 1996-current - Lists the top 8,000 jobs (official title: U.S. Government Policy and Supporting Positions). It's published every four years, in December after the presidential election, by Congressional committees as a guide for incoming administrations.
- Center for Presidential Transition - Think tank with useful information for all concerned
- Presidential Transition Directory (General Services Administration)
White House Documents:
See also
Cabinet Departments:
Military:
See also
Web Directory and Search Engine
Other Executive Branch Agencies (selected):
See also
International Relations:
Presidential Transition:
Government: Legislative Branch
- Congress.gov - Congress, including status of pending bills and recent statutes (Library of Congress)
- Resources A to Z - Links to Congressional topics and definitions, government agencies, and non-government sites
- House of Representatives
- Senate
- Center on Congress - Explains Congress to young people and adults
- GovTrack.us - Track actions of the Congress, find interactive district maps, compare versions of bills, get RSS feeds
- Open Congress - An encyclopedia of information about Congress: members, bills, issues
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 - Present
- Congressional Directory - Official guide to members (Government Publishing Office)
- Congressional Pictorial Directory, from 1997 on (Government Publishing Office)
- Congressional District maps - 113th Congress (NationalMap.gov)
- CongressMerge - Find your representative, find members of Congress who meet certain criteria (e.g., age, profession, religion), get schedules and lists of committee members
- Member Guide for Congress
- Write Your Representative (House of Representatives)
- How to Contact U.S. Senators
- Congress.org - Track your senators' and representative's votes by e-mail
- Congressional Record - From 1989 to the present day (Congress.gov)
- Congressional Record - From 1994 to the present day (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- Congressional Record (bound edition) - From its inception in 1873 up to several years ago (GovInfo.gov)
- Congressional Hearings - Back to 1985 (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- Congressional Quarterly - Independent news about Congress
- The Hill
- Roll Call - The Capitol Hill insiders' newspaper
- How Our Laws Are Made - By the House parliamentarian
- Enactment of a Law - By the Senate parliamentarian
- How Our Laws Are Made: A Ghost Writer's View - By a staffer in the Legislative Counsel's Office
- Statutes, below, for recent legislation
- A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates - Bills, statutes, journals, and reports from 1774-1875
- Bills and Resolutions, 1799-1873
- Statutes at Large, 1789-1875
- U.S. Serial Set - House and Senate documents and House and Senate reports, 1833-1917
- House of Representatives History, Art, and Archives
- Senate Historical Office
- Jefferson's Manual and Rules of the House of Representatives
- Senate Manual
- Legislative Glossary (Congress.gov)
- U.S. Senate Glossary
Members of Congress:
Congressional Record:
The official source of information about what happens in Congress.
Congressional Hearings:
What gets said in committees.
Congressional News:
How a Bill Becomes a Law:
Various viewpoints.
Historical Legislation:
See also
From the Library of Congress' American Memory project.
History:
Rules:
Dictionaries of Congressional Terms:
Congress Calculator
Enter a Congress number (e.g., 110th) and get the relevant years, or enter a year and get the Congress number.
Note: Sometimes a "lame duck session" of Congress goes into the beginning of the odd-numbered year after the election.
- Architect of the Capitol
- Congressional Budget Office
- Government Accountability Office (GAO)
- Government Publishing Office (see also Government Documents below)
- Library of Congress
- U.S. Botanic Garden
Legislative Branch Agencies:
Government: Judicial Branch
- United States Courts (USCourts.gov)
- U.S. Supreme Court - Current decisions are available, but since they came relatively late to the Web, other sites have larger archives. See Law below.
- SCOTUSblog - A great source for commentary on the Supreme Court
Supreme Court News:
Government Documents
See also
- Core Documents of Our Democracy - Links to some of the most important documents in our history, legal materials, and government reference sites (U.S. Government Publishing Office)
- Basic Readings in U.S. Democracy - Important documents, speeches, and court cases (U.S. Information Agency)
- Our Documents.gov - "100 milestone documents"
- GPO home page
- GovInfo.gov - The main portal for the most important government documents
- Metalib - Search dozens of federal databases all at once or in groups
- GPO Bookstore
- Catalog of U.S. Government Publications - 1994 on
- Depository Libraries of U.S. government documents (Find one near you )
- GPO Webinars - Instructions on using government documents, for depository librarians and the general public
U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO)
- American Historical Documents, 1000-1904 (Harvard Classics via Bartleby)
- CIA Publications
- Congressional Research Service reports
- CRSReports.com
- CRS Reports at Federation of American Scientists - On military and scientific matters
- CRS Reports at the University of North Texas
- CRS Annual Reports - Lists of reports published by CRS (R Street)
- Every CRS Report
Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports
These reports, compiled by a division of the Library of Congress for members of Congress, are now available from the source. For pre-2018 reports, check the other sources listed here.
- Core or Essential Government Documents, as selected by government document librarians (Diane Kovacs)
- Fedworld - Government databases
- Full Text Reports - Reports from government agencies, non-profits, think tanks, etc. as discovered by librarians Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy. (No longer updated. See Price's LJ InfoDocket)
- Government Accountability Office reports and testimony - Nonpartisan GAO reports often make the news; find them here
- Journalist's Resource - "Research on today's news topics"; includes links to studies on current events
- National Archives and Records Administration
- National Technical Information Service (NTIS) - Technical publications from government agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- National Technical Reports Library - Search NTIS publications. Registration required to view full text documents.
- Primary Documents in American History (Library of Congress)
- Publications.USA.gov (formerly Pueblo.GSA.gov)
- Technical Report Archive & Image Library (TRAIL) - Project to digitize U.S. government technical reports (About TRAIL) (Center for Research Libraries)
- United States Government Information - Research guide (University of Michigan Library)
- U.S. Government Documents Ready Reference Collection - Most frequently used gov. docs at Columbia
- U.S. Government Periodicals (U. of Louisville)
- Political Research for sites that dig up documents officials would rather you didn't see
- Introduction to Public Records Research - All kinds of sources for public records you may not have known about, from law librarian Genie Tyburski
- KnowX - Search public records (fee for some records)
- SearchSystems.net Public Records Directory - International list of sources
- Virtual Gumshoe - Public records and other sources of information
- CyberCemetery of former federal Web sites (U. of North Texas)
- Library of Congress Web Archives - Archives of Web pages from elections from 2000-2004 and other notable events
- Web Harvest - A project of the National Archives to save Web sites at the end of Presidential and Congressional terms
- Government Information Online: Virtual Reference Service - Ask government documents librarians your question [govtinfo.org]
Public Records:
See also
Archived Government Web Sites:
Ask a Government Documents Librarian:
Law
- U.S. Constitution - Including facsimiles of the original document (National Archives)
- U.S. Constitution Online - With explanations for schoolchildren (USConstitution.net)
- Bill of Rights Institute - Educational activities for young people to learn about the Constitution
- Popular Names of Constitutional Provisions
Primary Sources: Constitution
- Constitution Annotated - Also available as an app (Congress.gov)
- Findlaw
- U.S. Constitution Annotated (Legal Information Institute, Cornell)
Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis and Interpretation
Annotated with case law by the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress
- Public Library of Law - Statutes and case law, federal and state
- Historical Legislation, above
- Congress.gov - Congress, including status of pending bills and recent statutes (Library of Congress)
- U.S. Code (current): Search (House of Representatives) or Browse (Cornell)
- U.S. Code - Browse back to 1994
- Statutes at Large - Laws and resolutions passed by Congress, from 1951 on. (GPO)
- Statute Compilations
- Public Laws - From the 104th Congress (1995-1996) on (National Archives)
- Public and Private Laws - From the 104th Congress (1995-1996) on
- Popular Names of Acts in the U.S. Code - If you know the common name of a federal law, this will tell you where to find it (Cornell)
- Federal Statutes: A Beginner's Guide - How to look up statutes (Law Library of Congress)
- Code of Federal Regulations - Annual compilations, from 1996 on.
- eCFR - Updated daily, but not the official legal version of the CFR
- Federal Register - Back to 1994
- Federal Register - Browsable back to its beginning in 1936
- Office of the Federal Register - Includes these and other legal publications
- White House Documents, above
- Executive Orders - Back to 1937 (National Archives, Office of the Federal Register)
- Federal Legal Information Through Electronics (FLITE) - Searchable database of Supreme Court decisions from 1937 (FedWorld)
- Oyez Project - Leading constitutional cases (often with audio recordings of the oral arguments), information on the Supreme Court (Northwestern U.)
- Supreme Court decisions (via Cornell)
- Selected Historic Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court - From before cases were routinely posted online (c.2002) (Cornell Legal Information Institute)
- Supreme Court Database - Statistics for cases back to 1953
- American Law Sources On-Line - Includes U.S. federal and state legal materials, and Canadian and Mexican sources as well
- Legal Information Institute (LII) - Full text of federal and state law, guides to various areas of the law (Cornell)
- Wex Legal Encyclopedia (Cornell)
- FindLaw - A portal for all kinds of legal information
- Hieros Gamos - U.S. and international law
- Internet Law Library - Formerly hosted at the U.S. House of Representatives' site
- Judicial Decisions - A guide to finding them (Law Library of Congress)
- Law and Politics: Internet Guide - U.S., Foreign, and International legal sources
- Law.com - Legal news
- Law Library of Congress:
- Guide to Law Online - Links to guides and primary texts for U.S. federal law, U.S. state law, law of other nations, international law
- Federal Statutes: A Beginner's Guide
- How to Trace Federal Legislation: A Research Guide
- How to Trace Federal Regulations: A Research Guide
- In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress - Blog
- LawGuru - Legal research databases, ask a lawyer, search legal questions and answers, etc.
- Nolo Press - Self-help legal publisher:
- Tracking Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Basic Sources (Congressional Research Service report 98-461)
- The Virtual Chase - "Teaching legal professionals how to do research." This site by a law librarian covers more than just legal research, including researching companies, finding people, and finding factual information in many areas.
- Find a Lawyer, Attorney, or Law Firm - From West Legal Directory/Findlaw (formerly LawOffice.com)
- Lawyers.com (Martindale-Hubbell)
- U.S. Copyright Office (Library of Congress)
- Extension of Copyright Terms (Circular 15t)
- New Terms for Copyright Protection (Factsheet SL-15)
- Copyright Tools - Advice for librarians and educators (American Library Association)
- Copyright Website - Helps you register a copyright and gives info on copyright law (Benedict.com)
- U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - Search patents and trademarks
- Bureau of Justice Statistics
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):
- FBI's Most Wanted List - Save a trip to the post office and check out the posters here
- Most Wanted Terrorists
- Crime Statistics
- Uniform Crime Reports
- FBI Records: The Vault - FBI documents opened to the public
- Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (University at Albany)
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service - Research (full text and abstracts) in criminology; also experts are available to answer questions
Primary Sources
Primary Sources: Statutes
See also
Primary Sources: Regulations
Primary Sources: Executive Orders
See also
Primary Sources: Supreme Court Decisions
Secondary Sources, Legal Research:
Find a Lawyer:
Intellectual Property:
Crime and Punishment:
Criminal Justice Index:
U.S. Politics
See also
- Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues [procon.org]
- C-Span - Broadcasts many government proceedings live; political discussions at other times
- CNN Politics - Political news from CNN (formerly known as All Politics)
- Cook Political Report
- National Journal
- Politico - Lots of news
- RealClear Politics
- Altercation - Eric Alterman's comments on the news
- The American Prospect - Liberal magazine
- Center for American Progress
- Crooks and Liars
- Daily Kos - Collaborative blog
- Firedoglake - Another collaborative blog
- The Huffington Post - Famous and not-so-famous writers from the left side of the spectrum
- Liberal Oasis
U.S. Political News:
U.S. Political Commentary on the News:
See also
Harold Meyerson:
The most insightful political commentator writing today.
- Mother Jones - The magazine for the rest of us
- The New Republic
- Open Left - Various commentators
- Slashdot Politics - "Politics for nerds. Your vote matters."
- Talking Points Memo by Joshua Micah Marshall
- Washington Monthly
- Politics-Line - Links to commentators on the left and right
- The 'Compleat' Revised Guide to Liberal and Progressive News and Politics on the Web - Daily Kos, April 5, 2009
- Democratic Underground - News and commentary in support of the Democratic Party and liberalism generally
- Democrats.com - "The Aggressive Progressives"
- MoveOn.org - Perhaps the best known Web site for promoting liberal causes
- Turn Left - The home of liberalism on the Web
- Democratic Party [Democrats.org]
- Green Party
- Libertarian Pary
- Republican Party [GOP.com]
- U.S. Election Statistics: A Resource Guide - Sources of information about both federal and state elections (Library of Congress)
- Campaigns and Elections - Site for the magazine on the subject
- Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Also includes Senate, House, and Gubernatorial elections
- Federal Election Commission - Monitors campaign finance
- Follow the Money - Campaign contributions in all 50 states
- MapLight - "Revealing money's influence on politics," specifically Congress
- Open Secrets - Reports on contributions to U.S. politicians
- Political MoneyLine - Another source of data
- Project Vote Smart - Check the candidates' records
- FactCheck.org - Annenberg Foundation site giving the facts behind the political ads
- Fact Checker - From the Washington Post
- PolitiFact - From the St. Petersburg Times
- Center for American Women in Politics (Rutgers U.)
- Her Hat Was in the Ring - U.S. women who ran for political office before 1920
- Women in Congress (U.S. House of Representatives)
- Daily Kos Elections
- Five Thirty-Eight - Latest polling on elections. (538 is the total number of electoral votes in presidential elections)
- Gallup Organization - The premier U.S. polling agency
- Huffington Post Polls
- Polling Report - Polls on elections and issues
- PredictWise Politics
- Princeton Election Consortium (Sam Wang)
- RealClear Politics: Latest Polls
- Sabato's Crystal Ball (University of Virginia Center for Politics)
Web Directories of U.S. Political Commentary:
More Partisan Sites:
Political Parties:
Official sites
Elections and Campaigns:
Political Fact Checking
Women in Politics:
Polling Data and Predictions:
State and Local Governments
Official State and Territorial Government Web Sites:
Other Sites on States:
Other Sites on State Government:
State Law:
State Ballot Measures:
Local Governments:
State Maps with Counties (Census):
California Politics and Government:
See also
- Official Legislative Information - Current legislation, California codes, your legislators
- California's Legislature - Official publication on the Legislature and other branches of state government
- California Online Directory - Telephone directory for state government offices
- Archive of the California Government Domain CA.gov (Archive-It)
- Secretary of State's Office:
- CRB Reports
- Studies in the News - New reports of interest to state government staff