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Government
Teacher and Student Web Resources
General Government (all topics)
- http://www.politicalindex.com (32 indices with links government-related topics)
- http://www.rvc.cc.il.us/faclink/pruckman/PSLinks.htm (“Ultimate Political Science”)
- http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/romans/fdtf/ (All the information and sites related to the federal government)
- http://www.govengine.com (good state and local government info)
- http://www.govspot.com (GovSpot.com is a non-partisan government information portal designed to simplify the search for the best and most relevant government information online.)
- http://www.gpoaccess.gov (Government Printing Office site—official information from all three branches of the Federal Government.)
- http://ccollege.hccs.cc.tx.us/instru/govecon/Govt2301.htm (Houston Community College Department of Government and Economics link to internet activities involving various government units)
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Underpinnings to the United States Constitution
- http://www.epistemelinks.com (index to early political philosophers)
- http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/ (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- http://www.constitution.org (The Constitution Society—great website on rationale behind the principles and ideas of the Constitution, contains the complete works of important political philosophers that influenced the framing, including the text of the actual debates at the Constitutional Convention, and has links to Framers and founding documents)
- http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/ (Chronology of US Historical Documents)
- http://constitutioncenter.org (Great site with explanation of Constitution principles and its history, also contains teacher resources)
- http://www.usconstitution.net (another great site with info on the Framers, Constitutional Convention, Confederation Period & Constitution)
- http://www.archives.gov (National Archives and Records Administration- click on to “Exhibit Hall” and you will find the “The Charters of Freedom”)
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Federalism
- http://www.csg.org (Council of State Governments website, contains news from each state with state responses to federal issues)
- http://www.gmu.edu (George Mason University website, type in “federalism” in “Mason Search”)
- http://www.statelocalgov.net (State and Local Government on the Web)
- http://www.closeup.org/federal.htm (Close-Up Foundation special topic page on history and development of federalism- includes a link to federalism and historic Supreme Court cases)
- http://www.thirteen.org/federalist/ (PBS series on federalism that aired in 1997, “Liberty and Limits: The Federalist Idea 200 Years Later”, a great site on contemporary federalism issues)
The Bill of Rights: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
- http://www.aclu.org (American Civil Liberties website- will find issues and news involving civil liberties and rights)
- http://www.civilrightsunion.org(American Civil Rights Union—conservative site formed in response to the ACLU)
- http://www.aclj.org (American Center for Law and Justice—conservative civil liberties and rights site)
- http://www.freedomforum.org (Freedom Forum- great site for 1st Amendment issues)
- http://www.findlaw.com (Click on “cases and codes” and you can access every Supreme Court case involving civil liberties and rights)
- http://www.americancivilrightsreview.com (Pro and con rights positions on issues)
- http://shr.aaas.org/dhr/ (AAAS Directory of Human Rights Resources on the web, click on “Topics”)
- http://www.eeoc.gov (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—government agency website on discrimination)
- http://www.hrc.org (Human Rights Campaign Fund- nation’s largest gay and lesbian political organization)
- http://www.ngltf.org (National Gay and Lesbian Task Force website)
- http://www.gocwi.org (Child Welfare Institute website)
- http://www.ncjrs.org (National Criminal Justice Reference Service—lots of links)
- http://www.glencoe.com/ps/cj/intro/links/ (Glencoe Criminal Justice Online Study Center- hundreds of topics and links)
- http://www.handguncontrol.org (The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence)
- http://www.gunfree.org (The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence)
- http://www.nra.org (National Rifle Association website)
- http://www.englishfirst.org (English First website)
- http://www.now.org (National Organization for Women website)
- http://www.aarp.org (American Association of Retired Persons website)
- http://www.prodeathpenalty.com
- http://www.amnesty.org (Amnesty International website, click on “Campaigns”)
- http://www.naral.org (National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League)
- http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0408.html (a collection of pro-life links)
- http://www.naacp.org (Nat’l Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
- http://www.lulac.org (League of United Latin American Citizens)
- http://www.lc.org (Liberty Counsel- religious freedom information)
- http://www.epic.org/privac/ (Electronic Privacy Information Center- lots of info regarding privacy and the internet)
- http://www.cfa-inc.org (Citizens Flag Alliance, Inc. - website dedicated to protecting the Pledge of Allegiance and the American flag)
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Demographic and Statistical Information
- http://www.fedstats.gov (access any statistical data you are seeking)
- http://www.census.gov (United States Census Bureau website)
- http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/ (United Nations Global Learning and Teaching Project- has statistical data on all world countries, click on “InfoNation”)
- http://www.census.gov/statab/www/ (Statistical Abstract of the United States)
- http://txsdc.utsa.edu (Texas State Data Center)
- http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us (Texas Legislative Research Council- great demographic info on cities, school districts, Texas legislative and US Congressional districts)
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Political Ideology and Public Opinion Information
- http://www.people-press.org (The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, has a nice political attitude online survey called “Where Do You Fit?”)
- http://www.aapor.org (American Association for Public Opinion Research)
- http://www.policyattitudes.org (Center on Policy Attitudes- click on “links” and you will have access to every major polling agency in the United States!)
- http://www.publicagenda.com (Public Agenda Online- click on “issues”)
- http://www.pollingreport.com (An online journal of public opinion polling)
- http://www.umich.edu/~nes/nesguide/nesguide.htm (National Election Studies Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior- this is a must site for the students to see, has down loadable tables, charts, and graphs, thousands of public opinion polls)
- http://www.zogby.com (Zogby International- another great polling site)
- http://www.ncpp.org (National Council on Public Polls)
- http://survey.rgs.uky.edu/nnsp/ (National Network of State Polls)
- http://www.selectsmart.com/home.html (Select Smart website- has several polls on political ideology and beliefs that your students can take to see where their beliefs line up with various political ideologies and public officials)
- http://www.turnleft.com (can access every liberal organization, publication, and think-tank on the web)
- http://www.townhall.com (every conservative organization, publication, and think-tank on the web, click on “The Right Pages” )
- http://www.usorthem.org (news analysis and political commentary from a liberal v. conservative perspective)
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Interest Group Information
The number and type of interest groups who have web pages is unlimited; use a search engine and simply type in the name of the organization or type of group you are seeking.
- A number of organizations are listed in the “The Bill of Rights: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights” section.
- By going to http://www.politicalindex.com and selecting indices 9 and 10, you can access every major political activist group that has a web page.
- For campaign finance and PAC information see the section below “Campaigns and Elections”.
- See http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/about.html (A comprehensive list of all national "cause lobbyist" organizations. Just click on “all groups A-Z”.
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Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections Information
- http://www.politicalindex.com (select indices 8 and 9 to access every major political party registered in the United States maintaining a web page)
- http://www.rnc.org (Republican Party)
- http://www.democrats.org (Democratic Party)
- http://www.reformparty.org (Reform Party)
- http://www.greenpartyus.org (Green Party)
- http://www.lp.org (Libertarian Party)
- http://www.fec.gov (Federal Election Commission- great information on FECA and other campaign financing laws)
- http://www.fec.gov/pages/ecmenu2.htm (FEC site that explains the Electoral College)
- http://www.opensecrets.org (Center for Responsive Politics- this is a must site- contains the best information on campaign financing, with tables and graphs that can be printed)
- http://www.lwv.org (League of Women Voters- good website with election information)
- http://www.fairvote.org (The Center for Voting and Democracy- great website with info on redistricting and election races around the United States)
- http://www.thegreenpapers.com (“The Green Papers”, very detailed site with primary, caucus, convention, and 2004 election info, has excellent charts and graphs!)
- http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/ (CNN website that is excellent!)
- http://www.vote-smart.org (Project Vote Smart- detailed information on candidates, issues, and campaign financing)
- http://www.commoncause.org (Common Cause- dedicated to campaign finance reform, good information on the abuses of money and politics)
- http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/ (Great site of National Archives and Records Administration- contains a primer on the EC)
- http://www.debates.org (Commission on Presidential Debates- great site for presidential campaign information and history of elections!)
- http://www.pbs.org/30secondcandidate (The: 30 Second Candidate: The Democracy Project- PBS site that has great information on political advertising and campaigning)
- http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us (American Museum of the Moving Image site- contains The History of Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2000- students can actually view presidential campaign ads!)
- http://faculty.kutztown.edu/richards/220/ad-archive.html (Campaign advertising websites with ability to view campaign ads- great site for the kids!)
- http://www.4president.org (select the election year to see an example of the Official Campaign Logo used by a candidate during that year's campaign. Learn about each election by downloading a candidate’s issues brochure, printing campaign stickers or materials for a mock election, or by looking at major campaign speeches, popular vote and Electoral College data.)
- http://www.idea.int/vt/index.cfm (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)), documents voter turnout from 1945 to date in electoral democracies around the world. Pick a country and see how the U.S. stacks up.
- http://www.politics1.com (election information, also explains the primary and caucus system)
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The Media and Politics Information
These are web pages from news organizations that contain excellent information and links on politics, government, and policy making. Many also contain political cartoons.
- http://www.washingtonpost.com
- http://www.washtimes.com
- http://www.nytimes.com
- http://www.c-span.org
- http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/ (Time Magazine and CNN News website)
- http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/
- http://www.drudgereport.com (Great links to other news agencies!)
- http://www.mediachannel.org
- http://www.rollcall.com (Roll Call online newspaper)
- http://www.cq.com/home/home.jsp (Congressional Quarterly online news magazine)
- http://www.hillnews.com (The Hill online newspaper about Congress)
- http://www.newsmax.com/cartoons/ (Complete listing of political cartoons with links)
- http://www.politics1.com (Founded in 1997, Politics1 is published as a non-partisan public service to promote fully informed decision-making by the American electorate.)
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Political Institutions (Congress, Presidency, Executive Branch, and Courts) Information
- http://www.house.gov
- http://www.senate.gov
- http://www.loc.gov
- http://www.archives.gov
- http://thomas.loc.gov (information on all legislation)
- http://congress.org
- http://www.congresslink.org (“CongressLink” provides information about the U.S. Congress -- how it works, its members and leaders, and the public policies it produces. The site also hosts lesson plans and reference and historical materials related to congressional topics. The Dirksen Congressional Center, a non-profit, nonpartisan research and educational organization, designed the site as a service for teachers of American government, history, and civics.)
- http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/ (Washington Post project, "Votes Database"), This site lets you browse every vote in the U.S. Congress since 1991
- http://gis1.tlc.state.tx.us (site with maps showing all 2004 Congressional districts)
- http://www.house.gov/house/Educat.html (site that explains the legislative process)
- http://www.whitehouse.gov (can access all federal agencies from this site)
- http://www.americanpresident.org
- http://www.info.gov (Federal Consumer Information Center)
- http://www.fedworld.gov (United States and world government information)
- http://www.uscourts.gov (Great site—check out “Understanding the Federal Courts”)
- http://www.nlcpi.org (National Legal Center for the Public Interest- contains links to other federal court sites)
- http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topic.htm (Supreme Court cases by topic)
- http://oyez.nwu.edu (U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia Database- good info on history, cases, justices, and procedure)
- http://www.abanet.org/media/factbooks/judifact.pdf (facts about the American judicial system)
- http://www.courts.net (This site has been developed to provide
access to web sites maintained by courts nationwide)
- http://www.yourcongress.com (YourCongress.com is the only site that combines irreverent articles, behind-the-scenes information, and the revolutionary Congress-Watch tracking services to give everyone an easy and entertaining way to find out what's going on in Congress)
- http://www.lib.msu.edu/vincent/presidents/ (Vincent Voice Library- recorded movie and voice clips of modern-day presidents)
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Policy Making Information
- http://www.publicagenda.org/index.htm
- http://www.policyalmanac.org
- http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/
- http://www.pipa.org (The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) carries out research on public opinion on foreign policy and international issues by conducting nationwide polls, focus groups and comprehensive reviews of polling conducted by other organizations.)
- http://www.cagw.org (Citizens against Government Waste- the CCAGW mission is to advocate the elimination of waste and inefficiency in government through nonpartisan public education programs and lobbying activities. Check out the Congressional Pig Book!)
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