Political Science: U.S. Politics

The official website for the current president's administration contains information on the administration; issues and the president's stance on these issues; addresses, speeches, and nominations from the Briefing Room; photos released by the White House Photographer; historical information about the White House building; and basic information about the U.S. government.

The official site contains information on the representatives, party leadership, committees, legislative activities, schedules and calendars, live video streams of committees and floor proceedings, and basic information about how the House works.

The official site contains information on the senators; committees; nominations; legislative records; Capitol Building history; and committee hearing, publication, and bill numbers information.

Using this resource from Congress.gov, you can search for past or present Congressional members by name, position, state, party, or year.

This website is the U.S. Government's official web portal. Here you can find information on Government Agencies; State, Territorial, Local, and Tribal Governments and Elected Officials; and Government Services, like financial assistance, government auctions, health insurance and nutrition, food safety, immigration and citizenship information, education, mortgages and housing markets, passports and travel, and unclaimed money and taxes.

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government. Publications you can find on the GPO website include: the Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993 to present), the Economic Report of the President (1995 to present), the Budget of the U.S. Government (1996 fiscal year to 2015 fiscal year), the U.S. Government Policy and Supporting Positions (Plum Book) (1996 to present), and more. You can also search all government publications using the FDsys [Federal Digital System], which is linked on the site.

The CGP is a database of records for all electronic and print publications produced by Federal agencies, not just those printed or produced at US Government Printing Office. Documents of all sorts, from brochures and pamphlets to books, magazines and electronic publications from all levels and divisions of the federal government are searchable in this catalog. Some records will also include links to the full text of the publication.

On this site, you can find information on the Electoral College from the Office of the Federal Register and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In addition to current election information, you can find historical election results, information on the electoral college, and voting and election resources.

Since 1920, the Clerk of the House has collected and published the official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories. Statistics from 1920 to 2010 for both Congressional and presidential elections are available in PDF format.

Every two years, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) publishes Federal Elections, a compilation of the official, certified federal election results obtained from each state’s election office and other official sources. The site includes PDF links to the primary, runoff and general election results for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives and, when applicable, U.S. President. On other parts of the FEC site, you can find: the Campaign Finance Disclosure Portal; agendas, sunshine notices, and audio recordings of FEC meetings and hearings; information on laws & regulations governing campaign finances; and more.

This resource from the Washington Post documents every vote and member of the House and Senate since 1991. Data is pulled from several sources, including the House clerk, the U.S. Senate and the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress. For the 112th Congress, users can analyze members and votes by various metrics, including caucus affiliations, 2010 margin of victory, and members endorsed by Tea Party Express or Freedom Works during the 2010 campaign

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) was established in 1987 to ensure that debates, as a permanent part of every general election, provide the best possible information to viewers and listeners. Its primary purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the United States presidential and vice presidential candidates and to undertake research and educational activities relating to the debates. On the CPD site, you can find the following on presidential debates hosted in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012: debate transcripts, debate videos, and news articles. Also available is debate overviews from 1858 to 2012.