Political Science Resources

This page is designed to help Professor Wisnoski’s PLS 212 students find resources for their Policy Analysis project.

*All links will open in a new window.

How Our Laws are Made– detailed explanation of the process

Trusted Databases (Off-Campus Access instructions)

Westlaw Campus
click on the Law tab (on the left)
CQ Researcher
in-depth, unbiased reports and analysis of issues.
Congressional Universe
legislative history, bills, and laws; statistics links on the left of the page
Academic Search Complete
A one-stop source for journal and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social sciences, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles.
Factiva
News articles

Trusted Web Sites

THOMAS
Public laws, pending legislation, the Congressional Record, history of congress, the legislative process, etc.
- U.S. Code
- Code of Federal Regulations
Office of the Clerk to the U.S. House of Representatives
Information about House members and what’s happening in the House (use the tabs at the top of the page)

Senate Web site
Information about Senators & Senate activity (use the tabs for more information)

U.S. Congress Votes Database
Compilation of every vote in the U.S. Congress since the 102nd Congress (1991) & bibliographic information about Congressional members (Washington Post)
FindLaw
Free legal information (use the tabs at the top for specific information or browse topics listed below)

Off-Campus Access to Online Resources

To use library databases off-campus, you can log into it with your VCCS username and password.
Click on a database link and you will be asked to enter your VCCS username and password. This is the same password you use for Blackboard or MyVCCS.
Only registered students can access library databases from off-campus.
More information on remote access is available here.