Political Science 428/528
Compiled by Deborah Hollens
Hannon Library
Government Information Resources Coordinator
Finding Books
Finding Journal Articles
Government Publications - Hearings
GAO Reports
Congressional Budget Office
Congressional Research Service
Office of Management and Budget. Assessments
Websites-Federal Government
Websites-Oregon Government
Environmental Advocacy Groups
Miscellaneous
Finding Books
SOU Online Catalog
You can use either a keyword or a subject search to find a topic in the Hannon Library Catalog. A keyword search is broader because it retrieves books with your words in any order in the title, subjects, and in some cases, the table of contents, of a book. A keyword search may retrieve some books which are not about your specific topic. With a subject search, the words you type in must exactly match a subject heading which has been assigned according to a list created by the Library of Congress.You can find good subject headings by performing a few keyword searches to find appropriate books for your topic. Look at the subject headings that are posted at the bottom of the cataloging record and use these to perform a subject search.
Books on environmental policy can be found under a variety of subject headings. Some important examples:
"Environmental policy"
and many subdivisions:
----Citizen participation
----Decision-making
----Economic aspects
----Social aspects
A particularly important one: Environmental policy -- United States -- Citizen participation
Also the subdivision "Government policy" after environmental issues, eg.:
Endangered species -- Government policy -- United States
Grazing -- Government policy -- West (U.S.)
Mineral industries -- Government policy -- United States
Wildfires -- Prevention and control---Government policy--United States
To find ONLY government publications, use KEYWORD search and limit to location, Govt Publications--US or Govt Publications--OR (Oregon).
Summit: Orbis Cascade Alliance Catalog
Search Summit for books available from the ORBIS consortium. Summit is a library catalog that combines information from 34 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington into a single unified database. Well over 25 million books, sound recordings, films, videos, and more have come to Summit from the local catalogs. You can search Summit in the same way, with subject headings or with your own keywords.
Worldcat
Worldcat is a database that contains over 70 million records for materials cataloged in thousands of libraries all over the world. It is the database to use to find all books on a subject. A new record is added to Worldcat every 15 seconds.
Finding Journal Articles
Hannon Library Databases
Useful for Political Science Research
Academic Search Complete
Retrieves citations, most with abstracts and many with full text. Indicates SOU library holdings data for articles and reviews in selected popular magazines and scholarly journals. You will find much information indexed here on public policy and international issues.
LexisNexis Academic
Retrieves full-text articles and documents from: news, business, and legal research. Absolutely the best place to find full-text newspaper articles! Legal files include the full range of state and federal laws and court cases.
Business Source Premier
Retrieves citations, most with abstracts and many with full text, and indicates SOU library holdings data for articles in selected business, management, economics, banking, finance, and accounting magazines and scholarly journals. Also retrieves citations for the Wall Street Journal. Lots of Public Policy in this database.
Congressional Universe LexisNexis
Retrieves citations, summaries, and full-text of United States congressional bills, hearing testimony, and reports. Full-text documents have links to related bills, testimony, and other materials. Also retrieves legislative histories, the full text of the Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register, House and Senate committee membership, voting records of members of the House and Senate, and selected news coverage of Federal legislative news. The Hot Topics file is useful for perspectives on possible research paper topics. Results may be printed, downloaded to disc, or e-mailed.
CQ Researcher. 4 times per month. Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Online.
Great source for background information on current topics. Each report details history, current situation, and possible future of a topic, plus a good bibliography of additional sources.
LexisNexis Environmental Retrieves citations with abstracts from a variety of sources including journals, conference papers and proceedings, federal and state government reports, newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, newsletters, law reviews, environmental codes, case law, and regulatory agency decisions. Topics include energy, air pollution, toxicology, land use and pollution, water pollution, wildlife and biodiversity, population and sustainable development, global warming, waste management, and agriculture. Uses the Lexis-Nexis interface.
Agricola. Retrieves citations and SOU Library holdings information for selected journal articles in agriculture and forestry. Also includes citations of selected government documents (without SOU Library holdings information). Searches may be limited to SOU Library holdings. Uses the FirstSearch interface which includes a link for SOU Inter-Library Loan.
Finding Government Publications
Government Resources-SOU Hannon Library
Reference point for easy access to U.S. and Oregon State government information, statistics, subject searching, GPO Access, and more.
U.S. Congress
Senate and House Hearings
U.S. House of Representatives Committees
look under Subcommittees. Sometimes jurisdictions can be overlapping and quite surprising.
Hearings are held by Congressional committees on specific legislation, proposed or existing, or they can be an overview of a subject or topical area. They contain testimony from expert witnesses, recent statistics, photos, letters, and sometimes even magazine or journal articles on the topic under discussion. Hearings are classed Y 4. and are shelved in the documents stacks (behind reference---area at rear of Hannon Library). You will find most of the important ones cataloged in Hannon Library's online catalog. The various committees and their SUDOCS numbers are listed on the ends of the Y 4 stacks.
Or find them: Congressional Committee Materials Online via GPO Access
Hearings are a great way to find out what the various subcommittees are working on. They identify lobby groups and executive branch players. Examples of current hearings on environmental public policy:
The Endangered Species Act : hearing before the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, May 19, 2005. 2007
The need for multi-emissions legislation : hearing before the Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate Change, and Nuclear Safety of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, January 26, 2005. 2007.
Background material produced for Congress
Government Accountability Office
Government Accountability Office Reports (formerly General Accounting Office Reports) ONLINE.
GAO is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. It operates independently as a source of audits and investigations of government departments, agencies, programs, and operations. It makes recommendations for more effective programs and frequently uncovers incompetence and fraud in government entities. GAO reports are done at the request of Congressional Committees and are recognized as one of the most truthful and reliable sources in government. When the GAO speaks...everyone listens!
Many GAO reports are cataloged in the Hannon Library online catalog and all are available at the GAO website.
Clean Air Act: EPA Should Improve the Management of Its Air Toxics Program. 2006
Congressional Budget Office
CBO provides Congress with biannual forecasts of the economy and analyses of economic trends and alternative fiscal policies.
Congressional Budget Office Reports online at their website (organized by subject
Some recent examples:
The Potential for Carbon Sequestration in the United States . 2007
How Federal Policies Affect the Allocation of Water . 2006
Limiting Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Prices Versus Caps . 2005
Congressional Research Service
CRS provides confidential research and non-partisan analysis to Congress on all public policy issues of interest. CRS staff are experts in many disciplines and work to explain policy problems and options.
Congressional Research Reports (Many ONLINE at Open CRS)
Congressional Research Reports (from the University of North Texas) Search about 8,000 different reports by keyword, title, author, subject, and report number, and browse by subject.
Congressional Research Reports (from the National Council for Science and the Environment)
Executive Office of the President
Office of Management and Budget
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget is responsible for advising the President on budget and management policies. It oversees budget preparation and administration in the Executive branch and assesses agency programs to ensure that the programs are consistent with Administration policy. To date the OMB have assessed over 1000 programs of the federal government representing over $2.6 trillion of government spending.
OMB Assessments Browse by name of program or general topic.
Each assessment summary provides a program overview, some key findings about program performance, and the follow-up actions agencies are taking to address weaknesses.
Rules and Regulations
The Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations
The Executive branch agencies write the rules and regulations that implement laws enacted by Congress. Laws are written as broad policy statements with the expectation that specifics will be determined by the agencies that will administer the laws on a daily basis.
U.S. Office of the Federal Register. Federal Register. (Daily, Mon-Fri.) 1936- Available online at GPO. (Hannon Library holds the last 2 years in paper. Shelved at the beginning of the Oregon collection because we have the room there!)
The Federal Register contains regulations and proposed regulations, background information relating to regulations, announcements regarding agency actions, notices of meetings, grants, and executive order. The making of regulations is a very lengthy process:
1. Regulations are announced in the Federal Register by the Department that has purview over them.
2. Then a 60 day comment period is allowed.
3. Agency considers comments.
4. Public hearings may be held.
5. Final rule is published with effective date with summary of comments received and changes made.
You can find material from the Federal Register indexed in Congressional Universe LexisNexis under "Regulations."
Final Rules and regulations are organized into 50 titles in the Code of Federal Regulations (also accessible in Congressional Universe LexisNexis under "Regulations.")
We have the volumes of the Code of Federal Regulations in Government Publications:
U.S.
Office of the Federal Register. Code of Federal Regulations.
(annual) 1938- . We hold only the most current edition
(AE 2.106/3)
The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules
of the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It
is divided into 50 broad subject areas called "Titles."
Websites
U.S. Government Manual To ascertain the missions of the various departments of the government concerned with the environment, eg. Dept. of Agriculture, Interior, government corporations, etc.
Various U.S. Government entities with websites useful for environmental policy:
EPA: Environmental Topics
House Committee on Resources
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
White House: Council on Environmental Quality
U.S. Dept. of Energy "Environment"
USDA Forest Service
US Army Corps of Engineers
US Park Service
US Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Reclamation
National Marine Fisheries Service
Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Office of Surface Mining
US Fish and Wildlife Service
-
State of Oregon Environmental Links
Department of Environmental Quality
Department of Agriculture
Office of Energy
Department of Fish and Wildlife
Department of Forestry
Department of Land Conservation and Development
Department of Parks and Recreation
Department of Water Resources
Watershed Enhancement Board
Environmental Policy Advocacy Groups
National Environmental Directory More than 13,000 organizations in the United States concerned with environmental issues and environmental education. This online directory can be searched by region and STATE , as well as organization.
Political Advocacy Groups (from Washington State University) Political advocacy groups that focus on environmental policy.
World Advocacy A list of advocacy groups by subject. See headings under "Environment."
Miscellaneous
Almanac of Policy Issues: Environment. Background information, archived documents, and links on major U.S. public policy issues.
Electronic Green Journal "main goal of the Electronic Green Journal is to assist in international scholarly environmental communication by providing a quality, unbiased, and freely accessible forum for the exchange of environmental information as an alternative to costly, commercially produced scientific journals. The EGJ is published semiannually by the University of Idaho Library. "
November 7, 2007 (updated)