National Debt

FACTS.com

• Key Issue: Budget and the National Debt. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services. Last updated June 2011.
• Focus On: The U.S. Federal Budget and National Debt (Research Feature)." World News Digest. Facts On File News Services, May 2011.
• Reuters News (Today). Reuters. World News Digest. Facts On File News Services.

CQ Researcher

• Clemmitt, Marcia. "National Debt: Are higher taxes needed to reduce the debt?" CQ Researcher 18 Mar. 2011.
  Washington is wracked this year by intense budget politics. Spurred by the conservative Tea Party movement, Republican lawmakers point to the federal government's $14 trillion debt as an emergency that demands big cuts in domestic programs, including Social Security, plus tax cuts they say will spur economic growth. But Democrats say government spending is needed to sustain the economy while the private sector struggles back to health. They call for government investment in infrastructure and education, plus tax increases to strengthen programs such as Social Security for future generations. A decade ago the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted that the federal government would run a $796 billion surplus in 2010, but that rosy future never materialized. Over the past 10 years, a severe recession, tax cuts and spending on two wars put the federal government, and also the states, deeply in the red. From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.
  
  
• Clemmitt, Marcia. "The National Debt: Has it gotten too big?" CQ Researcher 14 Nov. 2008.
  With the national debt now more than $10 trillion — twice what it was eight years ago — the country faces a dire financial future, some analysts argue. Over the past eight years, the Bush administration has run larger and larger annual deficits, adding to the national debt and restricting the government's ability to respond to a new crisis. Now, with the U.S. and global financial meltdown ushering in a potentially catastrophic economic slowdown, the next president — newly elected Sen. Barack Obama — will be under pressure to use government fiscal policy, such as tax cuts and government spending, to bolster the economy, even though those actions will raise the debt further. Besides wrestling with that dilemma, the new president also must face the question of how to pay for spiraling Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefits for the nation's 77 million baby boomers.
  From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Articles

EBSCOhost
SU ( debt* or budget deficit* ) and ( federal or national or public ) and GE united states

ProQuest
SU(National debt or budget deficits) AND SU(federal budget) AND GEO(united states)

Reference

Gale Virtual Reference Library: Entries related to national debt or budget deficits from several scholarly encyclopedias covering law, social sciences and history.

Ebrary

Figgie, Harry E. & Gerald J. Swanson. America the Broke : How the Reckless Spending of the White House and Congress Are Bankrupting Our Country and Destroying Our Children's Future. Doubleday Publishing, 2004.

Rivlin, Alice M. & Isabel V. Sawhill. Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2005 : Meeting the Long-Run Challenge. Brookings Institution Press, 2005.

Rivlin, Alice M. & Isabel V. Sawhill. Restoring Fiscal Sanity: How to Balance the Budget. Brookings Institution Press, 2004.

Rivlin, Alice M. & Joseph R. Antos. Restoring Fiscal Sanity 2007 : The Health Spending Challenge. Brookings Institution Press, 2007.

Shaviro, Daniel N. Do Deficits Matter? Univ. of Chicago, 1997.

Wright, Robert E. One Nation Under Debt : Hamilton, Jefferson, and the History of What We Owe. McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Yarrow, Andrew L. Forgive Us Our Debts : The Intergenerational Dangers of Fiscal Irresponsibility. Yale UP, 2008.

Search Ebrary directly for more titles on national debt or budget deficits.

Web

United States. House of Representatives. Committee on Rules. Budget Control Act (Amended version reflecting announcement of July 31, 2011).

United States. Congressional Budget Office. "CBO Analysis of August 1 Budget Control Act." Summary. 1 Aug. 2011. Links to entire document and blog post.

United States. House of Representatives. Committee on Rules. "Section-by-Section Analysis of the Budget Control Act of 2011 as Announced on July 31, 2011."

Redistricting Debates

Jost, Kenneth. "Redistricting Debates: Will new reforms limit gerrymandering?" CQ Researcher 25 Feb. 2011: 169-192. The once-every-decade process of redrawing legislative and congressional districts is getting under way in state capitals around the country. To start, Sun Belt states will gain and Rust Belt states will lose seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. But win or lose, states have to redraw lines to make sure that legislative and congressional districts have equal populations and give fair opportunities to minority groups. The process is intensely political, with parties maneuvering for advantage and incumbents seeking to hold on to friendly territory. Republicans are in a good position after gaining control of legislatures in a majority of states last November. But demographic trends, especially the growth of Latino populations in some states, may limit the GOP's opportunities. In addition, California and Florida will be operating under new rules pushed by good-government groups that seek to limit “gerrymandering,” line-drawing for purely partisan reasons. After redistricting plans are completed, many will be challenged in court, where outcomes are difficult to predict.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Other articles:

EBSCOhost: (redistrict* or gerrymander*) and "united states"


ProQuest: (redistrict* or gerrymander*) and united states

Lies, Politics and Lying Politicians

Clemmitt, Marcia. "Lies and Politics: Do Politicians Lie More Today?" CQ Researcher 18 Feb. 2011: 145-68.
When Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted “You lie!” during one of President Obama's early addresses to Congress, the outburst was unprecedented. Yet, in the charged political climate of the past two years, hot partisan rhetoric has continued, and accusations of lying have been rife. Historians say that false charges by competing candidates and lies by government officials to hide their actions from the public are a staple of politics going back to the 1800 presidential campaign between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Some legal scholars point out that the First Amendment broadly protects political speech, even when it's false. Some blame a lazy media — and clearly partisan media outlets like Fox News and MSNBC — for allowing more misinformation to flourish today. And some point out that political speech can be misleading without being flat-out lying.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Other articles:

EBSCOhost: (falsehood or deception) and politic* and united states

Nyhan, Brendan and Jason Reifler. "When Corrections Fail: The Persistence of Political Misperceptions." 2010. Political Behavior 32(2): 303-330.

Books

Ebrary: (lies OR lying OR deception) AND Subject (politics OR political OR politicians) - ebooks include:

Cliffe, Lionel. Politics of Lying. New York: Macmillan, 2000.

Web

Factcheck.org - Project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania to reveal the "factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases."

Immigration - United States

Greenblatt, Alan. "Immigration Debate." CQ Researcher 1 Feb. 2008: 97-120.
(Updated: December 10, 2010)

Karaim, Reed. "America's Border Fence." CQ Researcher 19 Sep. 2008.
Will it stem the flow of illegal immigrants? America is rushing to build 670 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexican border by the end of the year. The fence — or wall, as critics along the border call it — is to include 370 miles of fencing intended to stop illegal immigrants on foot and 300 miles of vehicle barriers. To speed construction, the Bush administration is using unprecedented authority granted by Congress to waive environmental-, historic- and cultural-protection laws. No one claims that building physical barriers along roughly a third of America's 2,000-mile Southern border will stem illegal immigration by itself, but supporters believe it is an essential first step in "securing the border," providing a critical line of defense against illegal migration, drug smugglers and even terrorists. Opponents see it as a multi-billion-dollar waste that will only shift illegal immigrants toward more dangerous and difficult routes into the country, while doing environmental, cultural and economic damage.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Facts.com:
Research Feature: Immigration Debate (Note the Key News Events links on the left)
Key Issue: Immigration

ProQuest:
(border) AND SU(immigra*) AND (fence*) (550+ articles)

EBSCOhost:
(immigra* OR alien*) AND illegal AND (employer* OR job* OR labor) AND united states
(Limited to Full Text and CBC Title Collection)
direct link to search results (450+ articles)

CBC Library Catalog: sample searches
“united states immigration” (200+ books as of Jan. 2011)

"open immigra" (9 books as of Jan 20, 2011)

LeMay, Michael C. U.S. Immigration: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA : ABC-Clio, 2003.

Gale Virtual Reference: immigration AND "United States"

Daily Life Online: immigration and united states

Opposing Views on the Web:
(Note: These are just a few examples.)

Anthony Gregory, "In Defense of Open Immigration", Freedom Daily, January 21, 2005.

Stephen Cox, "The Fallacy of Open Immigration," Liberty, October 1, 2006.

Steven A. Camarota, "Immigration Is Hurting the U.S. Worker," Americas Quarterly,Spring 2007.

Daniel T. Griswold, "Immigration Law Should Reflect Our Dynamic Labor Market", The Dallas Morning News, April 27, 2008.

updated by y.y.

American Political Parties

Katel, Peter. "Democrats' Future:"Will they lose their congressional majorities? CQ Researcher. Oct. 29, 2010. Triumphant only two years ago, the Democratic Party could lose its House majority, and possibly its Senate dominance as well. To stave off defeat, it is refashioning its campaign and policy strategies in a political season marked by the rise of hardcore conservatives in Republican ranks. Along with President Obama's election, Democrats won majorities in both houses of Congress. Back then, some commentators were predicting a Democratic “realignment” on the model that Franklin D. Roosevelt built in the 1930s, and which lasted (with some interruptions) for decades. But continuing high unemployment and economic uncertainty gave an opening to the conservative Tea Party upsurge among Republicans. In a year marked by hard-fought congressional elections and the beginning of preparations for the 2012 presidential race, Democrats are debating whether their party has been too liberal in its stimulus approach to the economic crisis, or not liberal enough. And some have faulted Obama himself for poor leadership. From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

More Articles:

EBSCOhost Search: congress* and elect* and GE united states

ProQuest Search: congress* and major* and GEO(united states)

Books: CBC Library Catalog: political part* AND "united states"

ENGL101-Merrill

The Movie
Frost/Nixon(IMDB Record)
The Frost/Nixon Interviews Site

Gale Virtual Reference
"Richard Nixon"
"Cambodia Bombing"
"Khmer Rouge"
(Note: Try searching Gale Virtual Reference Library with different keywords to find more results.)

Books
CBC Library Catalog searches:
(Nixon AND Richard AND Milhous AND 1913)[in Subject]

clothing fashion

ebrary Book: Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority

Articles
CQ Researcher
Legacy of the Vietnam War: Did the war erode Americans' trust in government?

EBSCO Sample Search:
SU "VIETNAM War, 1961-1975" and SU "protest*" (searched these terms as subjects)

Web
The Nixon Era Times: official publication of the Nixon Era Center at Mountain State University

The World According to Frost. David Frost interviewed by Mark Corcoran of ABC News, 17/02/2009

12/27/2010 y.y.

Rich Benjamin on Race, Politics, and Society

Presentations: June 7, 2010

• "The Color of Tomorrow: Race and Racial Issues in the 21st Century," - 12:30 PM, HUB Congress Room
  
  
• "ObamaNation Versus Whitopia: The Social and Political Divides Threatening America." - 6:30 PM, HUB Main Stage

Written by Rich Benjamin:

• Searching for Whitopia : an improbable journey to the heart of white America. New York : Hyperion, 2009.


• Yes, I love taxes; Call me old-fashioned, but I think it's unpatriotic to demonize the funding of our government. USA TODAY. Apr 15, 2010. p. A.11


• What Tiger could learn from Obama. USA TODAY. Dec 11, 2009. p. A.21


• 2010 Census: Barack Obama Could Check "Black" Or "2 Races." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Washington: Oct 7, 2009.


• Refugees of Diversity. American Prospect. Oct 2009. p. 18. "This article is adaptedfrom his first book, Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America, published by Hyperion © 2009."


• King stood with, not above, the people. USA TODAY. Jan 12, 2007. p. A.11


• What King Really Dreamed. Written with Jamie Carmichael. Boston Globe. Jan 15, 2006. p. K.11

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Whitopia - a 4.28 minute video in regular and HD formats.

U.S. Census

Billitteri, Thomas J. Census controversy: should undocumented immigrants be counted? CQ Researcher, May 14, 2010. Now under way, the 2010 census has sparked bitter partisanship. Some conservative Republicans, for example, have criticized the census as an unconstitutional intrusion on privacy; others warn that census participation is important for maintaining GOP power, since the count is used to apportion congressional seats and allocate federal money to cities and states. Liberal Democrats have been more supportive of census procedures, which for the first time will count same-sex couples. To raise response rates, the Census Bureau sent every household the same brief 10-question form and dropped use of the “long form” — a lengthy questionnaire seeking data on housing, transportation, education and income. The long form has been replaced by a separate, ongoing monthly survey that will provide timelier data, but from a smaller sample of households. Researchers generally hail the change but say it will cause some problems, at least initially.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

More Articles


CQ Researcher

Jost, Kenneth. Census 2000: What is the best way to get an accurate count? CQ Researcher May 1, 1998.

Gavin, Jennifer. Redistricting: Are minority groups fairly represented in Congress? CQ Researcher Feb. 16, 2001.

EBSCOhost - subject term searches:

census AND immigrant*

census AND United States

demographic surveys AND United States

apportionment AND United States

ProQuest

SUB(aliens) AND(census of population)

SUB(census of population)

SUB(apportionment) AND SUB(census of population)

Ebooks

Choldin, Harvey M.Looking for the Last Percent: the Controversy Over Census Undercounts. Rutgers University Press, 1994. [NetLibrary]

Web

United States. Bureau of the Census.Census Bureau Home Page.

U.S. Voters & Political Movements

Katel, Peter. "Tea Party Movement." CQ Researcher. March 19, 2010. The Tea Party movement seemed to come out of nowhere. Suddenly, citizens angry over the multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus and the Obama administration's health-care plan were leading rallies, confronting lawmakers and holding forth on radio and TV. Closely tied to the Republican Party — though also critical of the GOP — the movement proved essential to the surprise victory of Republican Sen. Scott Brown in Massachusetts. Tea partiers say Brown's election proves the movement runs strong outside of “red states.” But some political experts voice skepticism, arguing that the Tea Party's fiscal hawkishness won't appeal to most Democrats and many independents. Meanwhile, some dissension has appeared among tea partiers, with many preferring to sidestep social issues, such as immigration, and others emphasizing them. Still, the movement exerts strong appeal for citizens fearful of growing government debt and distrustful of the administration.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Greenblatt, Alan. "Changing U.S. Electorate: Are demographic trends reshaping U.S. politics?." CQ Researcher 30 May 2008.

More Articles:

ProQuest

(SU(DEMOGRAPHICS) OR SU(SOCIOLOGY, DEMOGRAPHY)) AND SU(VOTER BEHAVIOR)

TITLE(tea party) AND AT(cover story or feature or editorial or commentary) - 250+ articles

EBSCOhost

SU (political movements or political participation or political change or political activists) and GE united states - 3200+ full text articles

• AND Tea Party - 28 full text articles

(SU (demonstrations or protest) AND GE (united states)) - 2000+ full text articles

demograph* and SU ( vot* or election* or political part*) and GE (United States) - 200+ full text articles

Books:

CBC Library catalog - search for kw, phr=party affiliation or kw=voting and kw,phr=united states

Ebrary - Search (protest* OR demonstrations OR radicalism OR extremis*) AND united states

Reference

Woliver, Laura R. "Political Protest, U.S." New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Vol. 5. Detroit: Scribner's, 2005. 1835-1838. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Haines, Michael R. "Demography and Demographic Trends." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Scribner's, 2003. 554-562. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

12/27/2010

Sex Scandals

Articles

CQ Researcher
Greenblatt, Alan. "Sex Scandals: Do the media pay too much attention to adultery?." CQ Researcher 20.3 (2010): 49-72.

From Thomas Jefferson to Tiger Woods, sex scandals have been a recurring feature of American life. Today, text messages and surveillance cameras have made it harder to keep affairs secret, and the proliferation of Web sites and cable TV shows means that a politician or celebrity who cheats is more likely than ever to be exposed. Politicians and clergy who preach “family values” have had their personal hypocrisy revealed. In the wake of scandal in recent years, governors have resigned, a president has been impeached and senators have been caught using prostitutes and soliciting in an airport men's room. Nevertheless, questions remain about the ethical and journalistic propriety of publicizing private acts. Does the public have a right to know about private affairs — especially when they are not related to official duties? Should the news media focus on more “serious” issues?From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Main Search Keywords:
media
sex*
scandal*
politician* or celebrit*

other possible keywords:
priva*
ethic*

EBSCOhost (three sample searches)
politician* and sexual behavior
(media* or press) and celebrit* and scandal*
media and sex* and scandal*

ProQuest
(sex*) AND (politician*) AND (scandal*) AND (media*)

Book
Scooped! : media miss real story on crime while chasing sex, sleaze, and... Google Book Preview (See Chapter 5)

yy

Liberal & Conservative

Definitions

Liberalism. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Macmillan, 2008. p425-427.

Charvet, John. Liberalism. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Scribner's, 2005. p1262-1269.
Revisionist liberalism believes in "...government intervention in the economy to protect the interests and promote the welfare of workers. Government resources, obtained through general taxation, are used to provide for the basic needs of the population." Further, that "normal adult human beings [only develop] the capacity to exercise their freedom in their own interests [under] suitable economic, educational, and social conditions... If individuals cannot provide these conditions for themselves, then fellow citizens must do so through state action."

Conservatism. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. Macmillan, 2008. p83-87.

Aughey, Arthur. Conservatism. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. Scribner's, 2005. p452-457.
"Conservatives believe that government can be authoritative only when it is limited, modest, and continuous. If it were possible to identify a distinctive desire uniting all forms of conservatism, it would be the desire to be left alone to enjoy the benefits of a well-ordered society."

Sample Magazine & Journal Titles

Liberal
American Prospect
Mother Jones
New Republic
The Progressive
Utne Reader

Conservative
American Spectator
Commentary
National Review
Policy Review
Washington Monthly

Conspiracy Theories

Katel, Peter. "Conspiracy Theories: Do they threaten democracy?" CQ Researcher 23 Oct. 2009.
President Barack Obama is a foreign-born radical plotting to establish a dictatorship. His predecessor, George W. Bush, allowed the Sept. 11 attacks to occur in order to justify sending U.S. troops to Iraq. The federal government has plans to imprison political dissenters in detention camps in the United States. Welcome to the world of conspiracy theories. Since colonial times, conspiracies both far-fetched and plausible have been used to explain trends and events ranging from slavery to why U.S. forces were surprised at Pearl Harbor. In today's world, the communications revolution allows conspiracy theories to be spread more widely and quickly than ever before. But facts that undermine conspiracy theories move less rapidly through the Web, some experts worry. As a result, there may be growing acceptance of the notion that hidden forces control events, leading to eroding confidence in democracy, with repercussions that could lead Americans to large-scale withdrawal from civic life, or even to violence.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Books

Ebrary

Search by Subject: Conspiracy OR Conspiracies - 7 titles including:
Fenster, Mark. Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture. University of Minnesota Press, 2008.

Articles

EBSCOhost

Subject: Conspiracy Theories and (psych* or paranoia or belief) - 25+ full text articles

SU Conspiracy Theories and KW (united states or america*) - 150+ full text articles

ProQuest

(conspiracy theor* or truthers) AND (9/11 or "september 11") - 900+ full text articles

(conspiracy theor* or birthers) AND (obama) - 400+ full text articles

Web

Snopes.com - collects and classifies "urban legends but also common fallacies, misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip."

Factcheck.org - "..monitor(s) the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases."

Presidential Campaign 2008

Jost, Kenneth. "The Obama Presidency: Can Barack Obama deliver the change he promises?" CQ Researcher. January 30, 2009.
As the 44th president of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama confronts a set of challenges more daunting perhaps than any chief executive has faced since the Great Depression and World War II. At home, the nation is in the second year of a recession that Obama warns may get worse before the economy starts to improve. Abroad, he faces the task of withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, reversing the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan and trying to ease the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Still, Obama begins his four years in office with the biggest winning percentage of any president in 20 years and a strong Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. In addition, as the first African-American president, Obama starts with a reservoir of goodwill from Americans and people and governments around the world. But he began encountering criticism and opposition from Republicans in his first days in office as he filled in the details of his campaign theme: "Change We Can Believe In." From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Washington State. Secretary of State. November 4, 2008 General Election.

Facts.com Guide to the 2008 Presidential Election

ProQuest - Newspaper Articles - Obama, Barack OR McCain, John - over 14,000 full-text articles from November 2006 through January 2009.

NPR.org - 2008 Election Map.

CQ Researcher

Price, Tom. "Political Conventions": Have they outlived their usefulness? CQ Researcher August 8, 2008.

Katel, Peter. "Race and Politics." CQ Researcher July 18, 2008.

Billitteri, Thomas J. "Campaign Finance Reform." CQ Researcher June 13, 2008.

Jost, Kenneth. "Women in Politics." CQ Researcher March 21, 2008.

Jost, Kenneth. "Electing the President:" Will the early start be good for the campaign? CQ Researcher April 20, 2007.

Oxford Reference Online: "election campaigns, Presidential" The Oxford Guide to the United States Government. John J. Patrick, Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. Oxford University Press, 2001.

netLibrary:

Campbell, James E. American Campaign: U.S. Presidential Campaigns and the National Vote. College Station, TX: Texas A&M UP, 2000.

Henderson, Harry. Campaign and Election Reform. New York: Facts on File, 2004.

ProQuest searches:

president* AND campaign* and (fund* or financ* or money)

president* and primaries

president* and (primar* or caucus*) and Washington - in Washington State newspapers

Web:

United States. White House Blog. President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address. January 21st, 2009.

Obama, Barak. "Election Night Speech in Grant Park." Posted by Christopher Hass 5 Nov. 2008 on http://www.barackobama.com. Video and text.

McCain, John. Remarks by John McCain, November 5, 2008. Text.

Commission on Presidential Debates. "Debate Transcripts."

Washington State. Secretary of State. "2008 Presidential Primaries." Results, information, statutes.

Democratic Party

Republican National Committee

Religion & Politics '08. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Compare the presidential candidates on several issues; public opinion & analysis; news.

Project Vote Smart. 2008 Presidential Candidates.

CQ Politics. Campaigns: White House. Election timeline, candidate profiles, and related news.

Electoral College

Reference:

Gale Virtual Reference Library - articles with the title Electoral College from West's Encyclopedia of American Law and more.

Oxford Reference Online: Patrick, John J., Richard M. Pious, and Donald A. Ritchie. "Electoral College." Oxford Guide to the United States Government. Oxford UP, 2001.

Articles:

EBSCOhost - Electoral College (in Subject) - over 170 full text articles

ProQuest - (Editorials OR Commentary) AND Electoral College - over 180 full text articles

Facts on File Issues and Controversies in American History - also includes reference material and primary source documents:

• 2000 Presidential Election. April 25, 2006.


• 1876 Presidential Election. May 17, 2007.

Books:

Ebrary - Edwards, George C. Why the Electoral College is Bad for America. Yale UP, 2004.

CBC Library Catalog - Electoral College (Keyword)

Web:

United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Office of the Federal Register. Electoral College.

National Popular Vote - bill to "guarantee the Presidency to the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states (and the District of Columbia)."

Washington State Democratic and Republican Party Platforms

Political Parties in Washington State - introductory note and directory, from the Washington State Secretary of State's office.

2008

Washington State Democrats. Washington State Democratic Party Platform. 14 June 2008.

Washington State Republican Party. 2008 Washington State Republican Party Platform. 29 May 2008.

2006

Washington State Democrats. Platform of the Democratic Party of Washington. 3 June 2006.

Washington State Republican Party. 2006 Washington State Republican Party Platform. 26 May 2006.

2004

Washington State Democrats. Washington State Democratic Party 2004 Platform. 5 June 2004.

Washington State Republican Party. 2004 Washington State Republican Party Platform. 29 May 2004.

Earlier Years - Search the Internet Archive Wayback Machine for archived pages

Washington State Democrats - includes platforms back to 1996

Washington State Republican Party - includes platforms back to 1998

Women in U.S. Politics

Articles

Jost, Kenneth. "Women in Politics." CQ Researcher. 21 Mar. 2008.
The number of women holding political office in the United States has grown substantially over the past two decades. But even with a record number of 86 women in Congress today, men still outnumber women by more than 5-to-1. Historically, women faced significant disadvantages in running for office and winning voter approval. Experts say those barriers are lower today, but perhaps not completely gone. Within Congress, female lawmakers have helped bring greater attention to some issues affecting women, families and children, but partisan divisions have thwarted some of their initiatives. Meanwhile, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady, is waging the most formidable presidential campaign by a female candidate in U.S. history. But many of her supporters say her campaign has been hurt by still prevalent sexism in media coverage of the race. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

EBSCOhost:
women AND politic* AND united states

ProQuest:
Bowling, Cynthia J., et al. "Cracked Ceilings, Firmer Floors, and Weakening Walls: Trends and Patterns in Gender Representation among Executives Leading American State Agencies, 1970-2000." Public Administration Review 66.6 (2006): 823-836.

Carroll, Susan J. "2004 Elections and Women: An Analysis of Statewide and State Legislative Election Results." Spectrum 78.1 (2005): 23-25.

Books

Search the catalog: Women and (suffrage or politic?) and united states

Reference:
Kromkowski, Charles A., David Fellman, Milton M. Klein. "Suffrage." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. Vol. 8. 3rd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 4-12. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Aging Infrastructure

Clemmitt, Marcia. "Aging Infrastructure." CQ Researcher 17.34 (2007): 793-816.

Is neglected maintenance putting Americans in danger? The deadly collapse in August of Minneapolis' Interstate I-35 West bridge over the Mississippi River tragically underscored the condition of the nation's highways, dams, wastewater treatment systems, electrical transmission networks and other infrastructure. Many facilities and systems are 50-100 years old, and engineers say they have been woefully neglected. Decades ago taxpayers, lawmakers and private companies found it relatively easy to ante up the huge sums needed to build vital infrastructure, but money for repairs and maintenance has been far tougher to come by in recent years. Federal and state lawmakers today often prefer to spend public dollars on high-profile convention centers and sports arenas, and anti-tax groups often fight tax hikes or utility-rate increases to pay for maintenance. But now lawmakers are debating whether aging infrastructure merits higher taxes or other measures, such as turning more highways into privately run toll roads.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Articles:

EBSCOhost Search: SU ( bridges or roads or transportation ) and SU maintenance and GE united states

ProQuest Search: GEO(united states) AND SU(highway* or transportation or infrastructure) AND (funding or finance or tax* or toll* or privatiz*)

American Political Values

Articles:

Greenblatt, Alan. "The Partisan Divide." CQ Researcher 14.16 (2004).

ProQuest Search -
(conservat* or liberal* or republican* or democrat* or neocon*) AND politic* AND united states - 1850+ full text articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals

Books:

CBC Library Catalog Search - (conservati? OR liberalis? OR neocon? OR neoliberal?) AND "united states"

Reference:

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Maryanne Cline Horowitz, ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. 6 vols.

• Conservatism
• Liberalism
• Neoliberalism

Dictionary of American History. Stanley I. Kutler, ed. 3rd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 10 vols.

• Conservatism
• Liberalism
• Neoconservatism

Websites:

Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007. Pew Research Center for The People & The Press. MARCH 22, 2007.

Pragmatic Americans Liberal and Conservative on Social Issues. Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. August 3, 2006. "Americans cannot be easily characterized as conservative or liberal on today's most pressing social questions."

"Typology Groups". Beyond Red vs. Blue Republicans Divided About Role of Government - Democrats by Social and Personal Values. Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. May 10, 2005.