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Political Science

A guide to selected resources for political science research.

A Selection of Websites

Wisconsin

Election Information, Voter Education, and Political Party Websites

Voter Education

Political Parties

National (U.S.)
Wisconsin
  • Who Are My Legislators? (Wisconsin State Legislature) - Search by address or municipality. Note that because of redistricting after the 2000 Census, some legislators serve areas only until January 2003. For example, Whitewater will be part of U.S. Congressional District 2 for the Fall 2002 elections (previously Whitewater was in U.S. Congressional District 1, and continues to be represented by Paul Ryan until January 2003).
  • Wisconsin Democracy Campaign -Site of a "nonpartisan political watchdog that tracks money in Wisconsin politics and advocates for campaign finance reform." Information on campaign expenditures is provided, as well as news releases.
  • Wisconsin Vote (Wisconsin Public Television, Wisconsin Public Radio, University of Wisconsin-Extension)

Google Search Tips

Andersen Library has created a guide on Google: Search Tips.

For example, to limit all search results to government web sites, add site:.gov to your search.

Websites

You've all searched for web sites with search engines like Google before, but don't just take the first few results! Take the time to evaluate each site.

Some web sites are more authoritative than others, such as government sites (.gov). Others, such as those ending with .org, .com, or .net need to be used with care.

  • .org : An advocacy web site, such as a not-for-profit organization.
  • .com : A business or commercial site.
  • .net: A site from a network organization or an Internet service provider.;
  • .edu : A site affiliated with a higher education institution.
  • .gov: A federal/state/local government site.
  • .wi.us : A state/local government site, this may also include public schools, community colleges, and public libraries, e.g., http://www.co.rock.wi.us/ is Rock County's site and http://www.janesville.k12.wi.us/ is the Janesville School District.
  • .uk (United Kingdom), etc. : A site originating in another country (as indicated by the 2 letter code).
  • More listed and explained at http://icannwiki.com/index.php?title=GTLD

Limit Google results to specific domains such as government sites by adding site:.gov to a search.

There are also some ways of adding precision to a web search, e.g., put phrases in quotes (""). For more help with Google, see the Google Search Tips guide.

Think Tanks' Web Sites

Think before you use these! Read: "What to think about think tanks?" (National Public Radio) and "FAIR Study: Think tank spectrum 2012" (Fariness & Accuracy in Reporting).