Research Guides: POLS 318: Contemporary Political Ideas amid Global Transformations (HC): Background Information

Background Information

The following sources summarize political and legislative issues and provide a good overview of the national policy debate on political participation, social justice, and other topics. They provide an excellent resource for quickly identifying relevant legislation, key players, terminology, and points of view. To find how to obtain the related congressional reports, hearings, laws and other materials, see the tab for Data and Other Source materials.

Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Researcher
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Offers full-text reports on current and controversial issues in public affairs. Each report includes background, highlights on special focuses, a bibliography of sources, list of involved organizations, and more research sources.
Relevant articles include:
• Climate Change and Health (2018)
• Global Protest Movements (2020)
• Inequality in America (2020)
• Pandemic Preparedness [in the United States] (2020)

Encyclopedia of political theory
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Examines the ideas of the major political theorists from before Plato to our own times; the main schools of political thought; and some of the main institutions and practices inspired by political thought. Note the selective bibliographies at the ends of articles for further reading.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
A peer-reviewed, open-access encyclopedia started by the Stanford University Philosophy Department in 1997. The encyclopedia consists of extended articles in all areas of philosophy. Entries are created and updated by experts in the field, and each contains extensive bibliographic references. Entries for some subject areas are still under development. Covers 1997-present, continually updated.
Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements
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Contains over 400 entries exploring social and political movements and related collective phenomena throughout the world.

Background Information: Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are a particularly useful resource when doing research. They address the issues involved in a particular question and the debates among scholars. They map out the intellectual terrain succinctly and give you the major landmarks in terms of key authors and significant titles for greater understanding.

Check here for literature reviews devoted in whole or part to issues related to your topic:

Annual Reviews

Better Government, Better Science: The Promise of and Challenges Facing the Evidence-Informed Policy Movement (2019) in the Annual Review of Political Science
Cities and Politics in the Developing World (2018) in the Annual Review of Political Science
Climate Change and Work: Politics and Power (2020) in the Annual Review of Political Science
Identity Politics and Populism in Europe (2020) in the Annual Review of Political Science
Race and Authoritarianism in American Politics (2019) in the Annual Review of Political Science
Realism about Political Corruption (2015) in the Annual Review of Political Science

Oxford Bibliographies Online: Political Science
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Annotated bibliographies by top scholars detailing key sources on a range of topics in various fields including political science. Check the items in the "Related Titles" box for additional information related to your interests. This series is under development and adds additional essays twice a year.
Environmental Justice: Approaches, Dimensions and Movements
Globalization, Health Crises, and Health Care Last updated 2016
Indigenous Rights
Race and Violence
Religion and International Relations
Dissertations and Theses
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Doctoral students go through an exhaustive research process and often include a literature review chapter in their dissertations. They also tend to work on new questions which may have received very little attention from scholars. You can obtain these dissertations and benefit from all the bibliographic treasures and new ideas. Check Dissertations & Theses to identify titles on your topic.
The database covers the Humanities and Social Sciences and offers over 2 million full-text dissertations. Theses not available full text can be checked on the Web or requested through Interlibrary loan.

Websites for Current Issues

FactCheck.org
Very current and reliable site for political issues. Sponsored by the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Media Manipulation Casebook
Website and research for those who who want to learn about "detecting, documenting, describing, and debunking misinformation." Present by the Technology and Social Change project that is led by Joanne Donavan from Harvard's Shorenstein Center.
PolitiFact
Pulitzer Prize-winning site that responds to Facebook Posts, politicians' statements and other current news. Began in 2007 and is now sponsored by the Poynter Institute.
Washington Post Fact Checker
Heroic record of political accounting using the Pinocchio scale.
Journalist's Resource
Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy provides these guides for investigative journalists. Authors summarize the issues, provide context, explain recent research tends and cite expert sources.
Journalist's Toolbox
Find web resources for fact checking, corona virus, elections/politics and many other issues. From the Society of Professional Journalists.

New York Times
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Full-text access to news articles, blog posts, videos, images, and multimedia features. Coverage from 1851-present. Our subscription to the current New York Times is unique in requiring that you register the first time you use it. Connect using the link "New York Times." After registering you will have access whenever you login for a full year.
When you register, sign up for news sent to your email. Choose from a range of themed newsletters.
If you are looking for articles in the NY Times more than 5 years old, use the "Proquest Historical Newspapers" link for a more advanced search interface.

ProPublica
Published independent, investigative journalism. A good site for under-reported stories.