Public Policy Formation (34:833:510)
Policy Analysis
Some of the sources you might want to use when analyzing public policy include newspaper articles, scholarly journal articles, oversight or implementation hearings, reports by think tanks or research centers, or government reports.
Helpful Tip for Hearings
HELPFUL TIP: Try searching for Congressional Hearings post-enactment of your public law. These hearings, sometimes called "oversight" hearings provide Congress with information regarding implementation, problems and solutions. Use Congressional Publications: Select only Hearings from the facets on the left and enter the title of your law or keywords in the search box; adjust the dates covered range as well. Search example: (oversight or implementation) AND "energy policy act of 2005"
Government Analysis/ Research Reports
Some data on this page may be at risk of removal in light of recent federal actions. Data rescue efforts are ongoing. To view a comprehensive list of data (including CDC, HUD, CRS, OHHS data, and more) that has been preserved, visit the Data Rescue Project's Google Doc.
For more on the Data Rescue Project, visit their website (https://www.datarescueproject.org/).
- Government Accountability Office (GAO)The GAO supports the work of Congress by performing audits and evaluations of government programs and activities. See the Reports and Testimonies tab.
- Congressional Budget OfficeThe CBO provides objective, nonpartisan economic analyses of pending legislation. Under "Topics", you can browse by subject.
- Homeland Security Digital LibraryOn landing page, enter your search terms, and select CRS reports from pulldown menu on the right.
- CRS-Federation of American ScientistsSearchable source of CRS reports-Enter "crs and your topic." Also, many relevant reports will be listed on the "Miscellaneous Topics" page.
- CRS-University of North Texas LibrariesAnother searchable collection of Congressional Research Service Reports. We also have a microfilm collection of CRS reports-in the Library Catalog, enter the terms "congressional research service and your topic."
- Catalog of Government Publications"This official source is the online counterpart to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications. It covers electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government beginning with 1976." Useful for finding reports produced by federal departments and agencies charged with implementing a policy.
Think Tanks, Policy Research Centers, etc.
A sampling...
- Think Tanks DirectoryHarvard Kennedy School Library & Knowledge Services
- Center for American Progress: Immigration"The Center for American Progress is an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action."
Journal Articles
(A more complete list is here.) See the Getting the Article page of this guide for more info on searching for scholarly journal articles.
- Social Sciences Premium Collection (ProQuest)This resource abstracts and indexes over 10,000 titles in the social sciences, while also providing access to over 1,800 scholarly journals. Includes both PAIS INDEX and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.
- HeinOnlineA legal research collection that features full-text searching of scholarly legal and criminal justice periodicals and related materials such as the Code of Federal Regulations, a Federal Register Library, U.S. Attorney General Opinions, a U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, and U.S. Statutes at Large.
- Web of ScienceMultidisciplinary-Indexes major journals in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
- ScopusA citation and abstract database of peer-reviewed literature in the areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities.
- Google ScholarSearches peer-reviewed papers, dissertations, books, preprints, reports from academic publishers, professional societies, universities and other scholarly organizations.
- QuickSearchSearches the library catalog
Newspaper Databases
- New York Times-DigitalFirst-time users, please select “Create Account” to create an NYTimes.com personal account. After creating your account, you may use it to log into NYTimes.com and The New York Times app from any location on any device.
Student accounts remain valid through December of the graduation year you select in the signup process. Faculty/Staff accounts created between June 2020-June 2021 remain active for 1 year. After 1 year, you will need to re-activate your account by re-authenticating via the link on this page. Once you have re-activated your account, it will remain active for 4 years. New faculty/staff accounts created after June 2021 remain active for 4 years. After 4 years, you will need to re-activate your account by re-authenticating via the link on this page. - Access World NewsNJ Star Ledger and other local papers, as well as national and global publications.
- Westlaw Campus ResearchCurrent New York Times and Washington Post can be searched in this database, as well as many other news publications.
- FactiviaThe current Wall Street Journal is available through this database. New York Times and Washington Post are also accessible via Factiva. See this guide to using Factiva.
Public Opinion
- Roper iPollThe Roper Center iPOLL is a compilation of over 500,000 questions from public opinion polls on a broad range of topics, 1935 to present.
- Gallup Poll BriefingWeekly summary/analysis of latest Gallup Poll findings. 2002+
- Pew Research Center for the People and the Press"The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press is an independent, non-partisan public opinion research organization that studies attitudes toward politics, the press and public policy issues." Public opinion surveys back to 1997. See Topics tab.
- Polling the NationsPolling the Nations is a compilation of the full-text of the questions and responses from over 14,000 national, state, and local surveys conducted since 1986 by more than 1,400 polling organizations in the United States and more than 100 other countries.