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Political Science: Reports, Documents, & Policy

Reports are detailed accounts of specific topics, often resulting from research, surveys, or investigations conducted by governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, and academic institutions. These documents provide data, analysis, and recommendations, making them invaluable for understanding complex issues, trends, and developments on the topic at hand.

Documents refer to official records and publications, including legislative texts, legal opinions, treaties, and other primary sources. These are crucial for studying the formation, implementation, and impact of policies, as well as for analyzing historical and contemporary political events.

Other policy materials include policy briefs, white papers, and strategy documents that outline proposed actions or stances on various issues. Produced by governments, policy institutes, and advocacy groups, these materials are critical for evaluating and understanding the decision-making processes and strategic directions of different political entities.

Google Custom Search Engines for Finding Government and Nongovernmental Publications

►Use these Google Custom Search Engines to search for current online documents, publications, and websites from organizations or governments:

Government & Policy Organizations
Regional Government Information

 

►Search tip: If you get too many results, try adding one of these words to your search terms:

  • "policy surveillance"
  • "policy tracker"
  • "policy brief"
  • "issue brief"
  • "bill analysis"
  • report
  • strategy
  • plan
  • statistics
  • directory
  • Geographic or administrative divisions - California, San Diego, etc.

►Bonus search tip: Google-powered searches can be limited to pages published during a specific timeframe by using before:[date] and/or after:[date]

International & General Policy Research Tools

There are a number of quality resources to search for public policy information including articles, reports, white papers, and government documents.

HathiTrust

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Government Responses to COVID-19