NEWTON GRESHAM LIBRARY

ASSIGNMENT GUIDE

POL360 DR. MAHONEY - FALL 2003

In order to successfully complete your assignment for this course, we encourage you to use a variety of resources. The resources you use might include books, journals, databases, and Websites. Your Library fees have enabled the Library to purchase and subscribe to a number of resources. This guide will provide you with a starting point and suggest resources.

Get a good understanding of what a public policy is. Take a look at your lecture notes and your textbook. Then, if you want clarification or a different way of looking at it, try one or more of the print resources listed below:

Bealey, Frank. The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science: a Users' Guide to its Terms. 1999. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Located in Reference, the call number is JA61 .B43 1999.

Utter, Glenn H. American Political Scientists: a Dictionary. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. 2002. Located in Reference, the call number is JA61 .A525 2002.

Notice that the first part of the call numbers are the same. If you browse through the books with that call number, you will find additional print resources. Or, use the Library's online catalog to look up additional titles. To access the streaming video Virtual Instruction Series unit on using the on-line catalog, click here.

Your paper requires that you analyze a specific policy in terms of interest groups, political parties and their interaction with the policy making process.

Getting Started: Decide on the policy you want to analyze.
  Describe the policy.
  Think about the type of information you will need.

 

Dr. Mahoney has given you a number of questions to address in your paper. In addition you may want to address the following:

What was happening in the U.S. or the world that made this policy important? Or useful?
Who are the stakeholders, that is, who has an interest in this policy? Who is effected either negatively or positively?
How did this policy come into being? For example, was it be legislation? Was it an administrative or regulatory decision? For example, if you were doing occupational health, what decisions have been made about what inspectors have time to look at? Do those decisions change the policy?
Who was directly involved with it becoming a policy. For instance, if legislation, who introduced the bill? To which committees was it assigned? And if administrative or regulatory, which agency was involved.
Why was the policy created?
Who or what groups were in favor of this policy? Why?
Who or what groups were opposed to the policy? Why?

 

Let's take a look at some of the Library resources you have available for the individual part of your assignment. Depending on the policy you select, many of the resources will differ. However, there are a number that can be used regardless of the policy you choose.

You can locate books using the Library's on-line catalog. Remember that you can search the catalog by entering your topic or you can do a search using topic and policy as keywords.

 

Ainsworth, Scott H. Analyzing interest groups : group influence on people and policies. 2002. New York: Norton. Located on the 4th floor, the call number is JK1118 .A56 2002

CCH Congressional Index. This print resource is located in the Reference Department on the 2nd floor. The call number is J69 .C6

Code of Federal Regulations - This print resource is located in Government Documents on the 1st floor. Gov. Docs. AE2.106/3:

CQ Researcher. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. Current issues are located in Ready Reference (behind the Reference Desk) and older issues are located in Reference. The call number for both is H35 .E35.

CQ Weekly Report. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. Current issues are located in Ready Reference and older issues are on microfiche. The call number is JK1 .C15.

Federal Register - Current issues of this print resource is located in Government Documents on the 1st floor. AE2.106:

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications - This print resource is located in Government Documents on the Library's 1st floor. The call number is GP 3.8/8.

Ness, Immanuel. Encyclopedia of interest groups and lobbyists in the United States. 2000. Armonk, NY : Sharpe Reference. Located in Reference, the call number is JK1118 .N47 2000.

Thomas, Clive S. Political parties and interest groups : shaping democratic governance. Boulder : L. Rienner Publishers, 2001. On the 4th floor, the call number is JF2051 .P569 2001

U.S. Code Annotated - This print resource is located in the Reference Department on the 2nd floor. The call number is KF62 .U5.

United States Code Congressional and Administrative News - This print resource is located in the Reference Department on the 2nd floor. K48 .U5.

United States Statutes at Large - This print resource is located in the Reference Department on the 2nd floor. KF50 .U5.

Zuckerman, Edward. Almanac of Federal PACs. Includes a description and financial accounting for every political action committee that contributed $50,000 or more to candidates seeking election. Published every two years. Located in Reference, the call number is JK 1991 .A744.

A number of databases have a great deal of information relevant to your paper. Some contain citations and/or full text of articles, others contain information about a topic, and still others include statistical data. All of these will be useful as you work to complete this assignment. Below is a selected list. If you want to go to that database, click on the link.

Academic Search Premier - provides full text for over 1,260 academic, social sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural journals. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for over 2,880 journals.

Lexis-Nexis Academic - Provides access to full-text articles from hundreds of newspapers, journals and magazines, and financial information for companies, including: SEC Reports, Standard & Poor's Corporate Descriptions, Disclosure Reports, NAARS -Annual Reports 84-95 and more.

Lexis-Nexis Congressional - Federal legislative research database that provides a searchable electronic version of the CIS/Index for legislative research from 1970 forward and the full-text of publications from the U.S. Congress, current Code of Federal Regulations and the current U.S. Code.

Newspaper Source -Provides full text for 139 regional U.S. newspapers, eighteen international newspapers, six newswires, and nine newspaper columns, The Christian Science Monitor and The Los Angeles Times, for a total of 174 full text newspapers and other sources.

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) - Includes articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs.

Polling the nation - is a compilation of more than 14,000 surveys conducted by more than 700 polling organizations in the United States and more than 80 other countries.

In addition to the databases listed above, there are a number of reputable Websites that may be useful to you. There are a large number of Websites authored by political parties and interest groups. Remember that the information they choose to publish supports their position and agenda. That doesn't mean that the information is bad or inaccurate, just that the authors were selective. Verify facts and figures in other resources. Bias isn't inherently bad - but it must be recognized and acknowledged.

http://thomas.loc.gov/ Provides access to National legislative information, including bills, roll call votes, the Congressional Record, etc.

http://www.firstgov.gov/ is the official U.S. gateway to all government information. It includes links to all departments and agencies within the government as well as the three branches.

http://www.democrats.org/ is the official Website of the Democratic National Committee.

http://www.rnc.org/ is the official Website of the Republican National Committee.

http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Politics/Parties/ This Yahoo directory lists a number of American political parties.

http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Politics/Interest_Groups/ This Yahoo directory lists many interest groups and PACs.

http://www.fec.gov/ The Federal Election Commission Site contains a wealth of information about candidates, campaigns, PACs, etc.

As you use these research tools to gather the information you need, remember that librarians and library staff are available to answer your questions during the hours the library is open. The telephone number at the Reference Desk is 936-294-1599. If you'd prefer to contact us by e-mail, click on Ask a Librarian on the Library's Homepage. You are also welcome to call me, Linda Meyer, at 936-294-3551 or reach me by e-mail at lib_lsm@shsu.edu