PSCI 0103 Intro to Comparative Politics A Library Guide for Political Science 103
Background sources provide concise introductions to the political, economic, and social systems and often give basic statistical indicators.
For brief discussions and facts,
For a book length study on an individual country,
For additional information, World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures
Reference JF511 .W67 1998 2 volumes
Oxford Companion to Politics of the World
Reference JA61 .O95 2001
Political Parties of the World
Reference JF2051 .D39 1996
European Political Facts of the 20th Century
Reference JN12 .C643 2001
Europa World Year Book
Excellent source for lengthy descriptions of recent economic and political history.
Reference JN1 E85
Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
Also available in print - Reference JF37 .U5
World Development Report (Print & Online)
New York: Oxford University Press/World Bank.
Reference HC59.7 W6 (Latest ed. in Reference; earlier years in stacks)
Human Development Reports (Print & Online)
New York: Oxford University Press/UN Development Programme.
Reference HD87 H8 (Latest ed. in Reference; earlier years in stacks)
World Development Indicators
Online access to the full version of the World Bank's World Development Indicators (social and economic statistics).
CountryWatch
Provides access to country specific geopolitical intelligence on each of the 192 countries of the world. Includes the Country Reviews, Country Wire, CountryWatch Data, CountryWatch Map Gallery, and CountryWatch@School.
UN Common Database
Provides over 300 statistical series from 30 specialized international data sources for all available countries and areas. Provides a diverse range of topics including socio-economic, environmental, health, etc. statistics. In most cases time series are available from 1970 or 1980. NOT ACCESSIBLE FROM OFF-CAMPUS.
FAOSTAT (UN Food & Agricultural Organization)
Stats on agriculture and other resources (forests, water, etc.) Select an appropriate module (ex. Resources)
OECD Statistical Databases
Select statistical databases from OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), including: Main Economic Indicators - International Development Statistics - International Direct Investment Statistics - Monthly International Trade - Measuring Globalisation Statistics - Revenue Statistics of OECD Members - Taxing Wages Statistics
Additional sources of statistics
Lexis-Nexis
A full-text information service offering over 1000 U.S. and foreign newspapers, magazines, wire services, and more. Click on News, then click on World News. Also includes business and legal information, including EU law. The foreign language news link includes news in French, German, Italian, and Spanish.
World News Connection
Translations of the foreign press, radio and tv broadcasting, and important speeches. Coverage is mainly 1994 to present.
Online Newspapers (from the Internet Public Library )
Arranged by region of the world, then country.
Facts on file (Weekly summaries of news)
Reference D410 F3
Keesing's Record of World Events
Reference D410 .K4 (latest year in Ref, earlier years in stacks)
Books provide more indepth analysis of topics. Most also include bibliographies that will lead you to other resources.
- MIDCAT (Library online catalog)
- Search in MIDCAT by subject and/or keyword.
- Sample subject headings for comparative politics:
comparative government
india politics and government
developing countries politics and government
kenya economic conditions
kenya economic policy
italy foreign relations
|
economic assistance (term used for foreign aid)
environmental policy
foreign economic relations
international trade
international economic relations |
- WorldCat
- If you need to identify materials in other libraries (to order via Interlibrary Loan), use this union catalog of over 40 million books, documents, report and media.
When doing research using the internet, you will likely run across a whole range and variety of resources. Many of these sources may not be of sufficient quality for academic research. For help with judging the usefulness and authority of webpages, click on this link. The webpages provided show examples of the criteria that should be used when evaluating webpages.
See the Annotated Bibliographies Handout (PDF)
Example of an abstract (written by the author) from Expanded Academic Index.
See the Style and Citation Guides page
Please send suggestions for changes or additions to: bellis@middlebury.edu