Research Guides: Master of Legal and Forensic Psychology: Policy

Congressional News - Tracking Emerging Issues

The Hill Reporting since 1994 "on the intersection of politics and business, connecting Capitol Hill, K Street, Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue for non-partisan coverage of all factors in legislative decisions."
Roll Call "The Source For News On Capitol Hill Since 1955 ... Roll Call provides essential intelligence and grassroots advocacy resources. As the premier source of timely news, objective facts and analysis, and coverage of elections and the politics of legislation, we keep our fingers on the pulse of the legislative process ..."

Congressional Research Reports

UNT Digital Library - Congressional Research Service Reports Collection
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"The Congressional Research Service (CRS) does not provide direct public access to its reports, requiring citizens to request them from their Members of Congress. Some Members, as well as several non-profit groups, have posted the reports on their web sites. This site is not affiliated with the Congressional Research Service, but aims to provide integrated, searchable access to many of the full-text CRS reports that have been available at a variety of different web sites since 1990."

CRS Reports (1916-)

Congressional Research Service (CRS) - ProQuest* 1916-
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The Congressional Research Service (CRS) works for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation.

Think Tanks Defined

Think Tanks, by Stella Ladi. International Encyclopedia of Political Science*
"The term think tank has been used to describe both private and public organizations that provide advice to governments. A generally accepted definition would describe think tanks as organizations that are distinct from government and whose objective is to provide advice on a diverse range of policy issues through the use of specialized knowledge and the activation of networks."
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Ladi, S. (2011). Think tanks. In B. Badie, D. Berg-Schlosser, & L. Morlino (Eds.), International encyclopedia of political science. (pp. 2608-2611). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412959636.n604

Policy Institutes & Major Resources

TTCSP GLOBAL GO TO THINK TANK INDEX REPORTS
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The Global Go To Think Tank Index is the result of an international survey of over 1,950 scholars, public and private donors, policy makers, and journalists who helped rank more than 6,500 think tanks using a set of 18 criteria developed by the TTCSP.
American Policy Directory (University of Oregon)
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An index to analysis and advocacy on US national public policy.
ProPublica
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"ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Its work focuses exclusively on stories with moral force. We do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them."
Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
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The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank. We are dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research.
Think Tank Search (Harvard Kennedy School)
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"Think Tank Search is a custom Google search of more than 600 think tank websites. For the purposes of this search, think tanks are defined as institutions affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity."

Policy Resources

* = UC Irvine access only

Academic Search Complete*
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Search all EbscoHost databases by selecting "Choose Databases" from the Academic Search Complete home page.
CQ Researcher*
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CQ Researcher is often the first source that librarians recommend when researchers are seeking original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news.
PAIS International*
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PAIS contains references to over 460,000 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey lit, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, Internet resources.
Worldwide political science abstracts*
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Provides access to citations and abstracts of journal articles and dissertation appearing in more than 1000 political science journals (1969-present)

Economics Resources

* = UC Irvine access only

EconLit
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EconLit is a comprehensive indexs of the world's economic literature, produced by the American Economic Association.
National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
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The National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works.
SourceOECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
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SourceOECD is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Online Library of Statistical Databases, Books and Periodicals

Federal Legislation & Influence

Congress.gov
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Congress.gov is the Library of Congress' search platform for bills and other congressional records. (Replaces Thomas.gov).
GovInfo
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Govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
GovTrack.us
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GovTrack tracks the United States Congress. Follow the status of federal legislation or learn about your members of Congress -- GovTrack has information on all bills and votes going back over a decade, etc. ...
MapLight
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"Revealing Money's Influence on Politics -- MapLight is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that reveals money's influence on politics. Elected officials collect large sums of money to run their campaigns, and they often pay back campaign contributors with special access and favorable laws. This common practice is contrary to the public interest, yet legal..."
Open Secrets
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"Mission: Inform, Empower & Advocate.
The Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the organization aims to create a more educated voter, an involved citizenry and a more transparent and responsive government."
ProQuest Congressional *
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All federal congressional documents from the birth of the United States Congress to the present are now searchable full text on a single research platform at UCI.