Political Science 306 - Regulatory Policy and Administration

Research Assistance Page

Of course please stop by the reference desk on the third floor (reference desk hours) if you are working in the library and have questions.

How Do I Find Books?

To find books owned by the Cofrin Library, use the Cofrin Library Catalog.

To borrow books from other UW libraries, use Universal Borrowing.

To find books in libraries worldwide, use WORLDCAT.

Congressional Quarterly

CQ Researcher
Description : The CQ Researcher explores a single "hot" issue in the news in depth each week. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports.
Coverage: 1991-

CQ Weekly
Description : CQ Weekly is a weekly source of information on government, politics and public policy. CQ Weekly contains an unbiased and comprehensive roundup of all-important Capitol Hill activity from the previous week. CQ Weekly takes each legislative issue being debated and provides a clear explanation of its historical significance, how it’s evolving and what to look for in the future. Status of legislation, agendas of individual members and the appropriations process are all covered thoroughly and impartially.

Finding Magazine and Journal Articles

Academic Search Premier from EbscoHost Academic Search™ Premier contains indexing and abstracts for more than 8,200 journals, with full text for more than 4,500 of those titles. PDF backfiles to 1975 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for nearly 1,000 titles. Academic Search Premier from EbscoHostcontains unmatched full text coverage in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, psychology, religion & theology, etc.
JSTOR
Description: JSTOR database is unique because the complete backfiles of core scholarly journals have been digitized, starting with the very first issues, many of which reach back to the 1800s. The database now contains over 2 million pages and new titles and fields are being added constantly (approximately 100,000 pages are added to the database each month).
Coverage: varies from title to title, but approximately from the 1800s to 1994.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Description: WPSA provides citations, abstracts and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, public administration, and public policy.
Coverage: 1975 -

Legal Journals and Newspapers

Lexis Nexis Academic
Description : Academic Universe provides access to nearly 5,000 publication on a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.
Coverage: 1990 -
Proquest Newspapers
Description: Indexing, abstracting and full-text of over 300 state, national and international newspapers. Includes full-text coverage of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Madison Capital Times.
Coverage: 1989 -

Getting Started on Paper #2

Pick a final rule using the Federal Register. You can find the Federal Register in the Resource listed below. To get a topic idea you may want to first visit the Unified Agenda through GPO Access at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ua/

Lexis Nexis Congressional
Description : Allows you to search the following: Hearing transcripts and submitted testimony, Committee reports, Bills, Public laws, Selected committee prints, Congressional documents, Congressional Record, Federal Register, Current Code of Federal Regulations, and the current US Code.
Coverage: Varies from source to source
- There are 4 parts to the Federal Register - Rules (final), Proposed Rules, Notices, Presidential Documents (executive orders, proclamations, memos)
- We have access in print as well as online. The print version is good for browsing, but the online version is allows keyword searching and issues are online before we receive them.
  1. Lexis Nexis Congressional - [about]
  2. Federal Register from GPO - http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html
  3. For a great introduction to the Federal Register click here - http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/tutorial/tutorial_000.pd
Read the final rule.
- Make note of the summary and comments, these sections will explain the rule and give you some background and context to it.
- You may have to contact the agency sponsoring it for the full comments.
- Make note of references to proposed and interim versions.
- Make note of reference to specific legislation linked to the regulation.
Look at the proposed or interim versions of the rule.
- This normally will give you some of the reasoning behind why the regulation was proposed.
- Comparing these versions to the final version will also give you an idea of how the rule changed.
Look up the specific legislation linked to the regulation.
- Use one of the following to look up more recent legislation.
  1. THOMAS - http://thomas.loc.gov
  2. Congressional Universe -[about]
  3. GPO Access: Legislative - http://www.gpoaccess.gov/legislative.html
- The Congressional Universe version of the Federal Register contains link to most of related legislation, so as you read your Rules or Proposed Rules you will be able to link directly to the legislation.
- For older legislation you will need to use:
  1. United States at Large - REF GVP US AE 2.111:
  2. U.S. Code - REF GVP US Y 1.2/5:
Search for background information.
- Federal Regulatory Directory (REF JK 610 .F29 - current edition kept at Reference Desk) is used to identify key agencies and legislation.
- CQ Researcher (online)
- CQ Weekly Report (4th floor) gives information for current issues. (Indexed in Academic Search Premier from EbscoHost[about] through EBSCOhost.)
- CQ Almanac (REF JK 1 C66) is used for general background information on the activities of
  Congress and to understand the context of an issue during a particular year.
- Congress and the Nation (1945- )(REF JK 1001 .C6) cumulates four years of the almanac.
Look at any related government documents.
- Hearings and Committee Prints give various viewpoints on a topic or piece of legislation (GVP US Y4.#'s) and House and Senate Reports summarize recommendations regarding proposed legislation, fiscal impact. (GVP US Y1.1/8: and Y1.1/5: for current years, older ones are in the Serial Set GVP US Y1.1/2:)
- For newer publications use:
  1. GPO Access http://www.access.gpo.gov/
  2. Lexis Nexis Congressional -[about]
  3. Government Documents Catalog Service - [about]
- For older publications use:
  1. CIS US Congressional Committee Prints Index (REF J74 C6 1980x)
  2. CIS US Congressional Committee Hearings Index (REF KF40 C56 1981)
  3. US Serial Set Index (REF GVP US Y1.1/2-5x:)
Look for evaluations of effectiveness or impact of the regulation.
- Check GAO reports - http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gaoreports/index.html
  - These evaluate various government programs and their effectiveness. Older reports are in both paper and microfiche in the federal documents collection GA 1.13: Indexes for older reports are: GAO Reports and Testimony REF GVP US GA1.16/3:OR NESE Databank on table 8, 3rd floor.
- Check for journal articles using one of the following online databases:
  1. Academic Search Premier from EbscoHost(1990 - present) [about]
  2. Social Sciences Full Text (1983 - present) [about]
  3. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (1975 -- present) [about]
  4. JSTOR (coverage varies from title to title, but approximately from the 1800s to 2000) [about]
  5. Lexis Nexis Academic (1985 -- present) [about]

For more in depth information about researching laws and regulations, please refer to the library guide "The Legislative Research Process: Finding Laws & Regulations".

Other Useful Internet Sources

http://www.google.com/unclesam

Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget
http://www.whitehouse.gov/OMB/inforeg/