PUBPOL 301: Legislative

Background and Influences: Members of Congress

For detailed descriptions of sources, see Interest Groups tab

Politics in America
also in print in Perkins (1945-present)
Profiles of members of Congress, with biography, district description, key votes

Project Vote Smart
Includes biographical info, voting records, interest group ratings, campaign finance

Vital statistics on Congress
Now free from Brookings and AEI with downloadable datasets
Print 1980-2010. Latest Perkins Ref., earlier Perkins stacks JK1041 .V58
Characteristics of members, elections, campaign finance, committees, expenses, workload, voting alignments

Vital Statistics on American Politics
Print and online editions of each two-year congress

America's News
Useful for news and editorials about a politician from their home state and district

National Journal
See esp.: Blogs/Influence Alley; Congress; Magazine
Use Advanced Search for best results

CQ Researcher

Legislative Branch

ProQuest Congressional

Useful for finding...

• Congressional documents, hearings, and committee prints on all legislative topics
• CRS Reports (Congressional Research Service) --*see also below
• Member profiles, committee members, demographics of Congress

Strategies:

• See Help? for tips, including How Do I...?. Expand ProQuest® Congressional Help on the left, then click on Publication Types. Click on each type for an overview of what it is and where it fits in the legislative process.
• Use Advanced Search -- leave all document types checked, but limit by date
• Example: Enter search terms: “budget” in Subject AND [topic word] in All Fields Except Full Text
• From the top of the results list, choose CRS Reports, hearings, etc.

CQ Congress Collection

Useful for tracking legislation, key votes, and voting alignments of members of Congress.

Data with nonbiased commentary is organized under four sections: Public Policy Legislation, Members of Congress (includes biographical, political, and electoral data), CQ Key Votes, and Legislative Branch (provides encyclopedic information, statistical data, legislative analysis, and Supreme Court case summaries).

Congress.gov
The official website of Congress. Useful for the most current information on bills and legislative activities.

US Senate
Keeps a list of Active Legislation with links to both House and Senate bills; click on the Legislation & Records tab.

U.S. House of Representatives
Especially useful for committee information, rules and procedures and information on current legislation

GovTrack.us: Tracking the U.S. Congress 
Follow the latest action in Congress, research members' votes, and set up your own feeds to track specific legislation.

CRS Reports (congress.gov)
another way to find CRS Reports; CRS reports have recently been made available on this public website.