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POL 350 - Campaigns and Elections

Polling Sites

Real Clear Politics Home Page
RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an independent, non-partisan media company that bills itself as a trusted source for the best news, analysis, and commentary, covering all aspects of the U.S. political process.

Real Clear Politics Latest Polls

Real Clear Politics Poll Averages

Gallup Poll

Latino Decisions

New York Times Politics section

Internet Sources

The following are web sites for agencies and watchdog groups concerned with collecting, reviewing and/or disseminating data and information about political candidates, campaigns, and their financial backers. Some claim to be non-partisan, others are admittedly right or left leaning.

CNN Politics
CNN is a non-partisan news organization. This link takes you to their U.S. Politics page, which includes articles and commentary on the Presidential race.

FactCheck.org: A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center
FactCheck.org is a non-partisan, non-profit “consumer advocate” for voters monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said in political TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases.

Federal Election Commission
United States federal agency charged with administering and enforcing federal campaign finance laws.

Five Thirty-Eight: Nate Silver’s Political Calculus
Nate Silver's blog analyzing/presenting polling data began the spring before the 2008 presidential election; it was subsequently acquired by The New York Times Online. (The number 538 refers to the number of electors in the Electoral Congress.)

Media Matters Action Network
Media Matters Action Network is a progressive research and information center dedicated to analyzing and correcting conservative misinformation.

Open Secrets: Center for Responsive Politics
OpenSecrets.org is a non-partisan guide to money's influence on U.S. elections and public policy.

Pew Research Center
The Pew Research Center is a non-partisan "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take positions on policy issues.

Public Citizen
This watchdog organization "serves as the people’s voice in the nation’s capital." Public Citizen is a non-profit organization that does not participate in partisan political activities or endorse any candidates for elected office. They are working to overturn Citizens United.

Rasmussen Reports
Described as a conservative leaning polling group, this organization produces data from polls of likely voters. Includes daily updates of presidential approval ratings. Free content available.

Newspaper Web Sites

Los Angeles Times

New York Times

San Francisco Chronicle

Wall Street Journal

Washington Post

Research Databases

CQ Researcher - A collection of detailed, full-text research reports on current and controversial topics, including some that discuss election and campaign issues.

EBSCO - Contains full text articles from both the popular press (newspapers and magazines) and scholarly journals.

LexisNexis - Contains the full text of current news articles from international and national newspapers and magazines.

Finding Background Information and Defining Terms

These reference databases each contain hundreds of reference works on topics including American history, law, philosophy, and political science.

Credo Reference

Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Finding Information in Print and EBooks

Bowman Library Catalog - Search by keyword or subject heading to find books in the Bowman Library collection. Below are some sample subject headings that may be useful for this assignment.

• Political campaigns - United States
• Political participation - United States
• Political leadership - United States
• Politicians - United States
• Public Opinion - United States
• Presidents - United States - Decision making
• Presidents - United States - Election

Page Last Updated: February 14 2013