Who Governs in American Politics? We Use Data to Find Answers

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Resources for political science research on American politics. Topics include US political institutions, political elites (e.g. Trump and conservative media), state and local politics, US political history, and American political culture. Also see law, courts & justice (for resources on US Supreme Court) and political behavior (for behavior not uniquely American).

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Teach Political Analysis

Theory & Concepts:
The Essentials of Political Analysis, 6th Edition. Classic introductory text, clear writing, helps students learn, great ancillaries. More info.

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MORE FOR TEACHERS: Sample Course Syllabi featuring our textbooks, varied software, with/without paper assignments

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Links to More Resources for Teaching Political Analysis

Watch & Learn


Three Causes of Polarization
Featuring Jane Mansbridge (3:17)


Is the Number of Unauthorized Immigrants Living in the U.S. Declining?
From the Pew Research Center (4:06)

MORE VIDEOS: See Video Channels for more political science videos!

LEARN HOW: Watch Lecture Videos for Essentials of Political Analysis, Video Tutorials for R, Stata, SPSS, and Excel

More Q. Than A.

Investigating the Economic Value of a Law School Education: A Regression Analysis Approach
Researching the real economic value of a law school education offers valuable insights into whether...

MORE QUESTIONS: A Critical Analysis of the Militia Perspective on the Right to Bear Arms in the Second Amendment

Blogs, Podcasts & Journals

State Politics & Policy Quarterly: .The official publication of the State Politics and Policy Section of the American Political Science Association

Politics Guys, The: .Weekly podcasts from Michael Baranowski, Jay Carson, Trey Orndorff, Will Miller, Kristin Matheny, and Ken Katkin.

National Conference of State Legislatues Podcasts: .Learn about the people, policies and politics of America's state legislatures with NCSL's three podcasts.

American Politics Research: .Academic journal or the dissemination of the latest theory, research and analyses in American political science.

National Civic Review: .Learn about the latest developments in collaborative problems-solving, civic engagement, local government innovation and democratic governance.

See All Political Science Journals

American Politics Data Sites

American Presidency Project: .Established in 1999 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, archives contain 103,280 documents related to the study of the Presidency.

Earl Babbie Research Center: .Supports research that addresses global concerns including human rights, social justice, peaceful solutions to social conflicts and environmental sustainability.

GovTrack.us: .The site helps ordinary citizens find and track bills in the U.S. Congress and understand their representatives' legislative record.

State Policy Index: .State and Local Public Policies in the United States is an ongoing research project and data compendium. On this website you can download spreadsheets containing data on state policies.

President in Congress, The: .Explores the impact of the president on legislators' voting and position taking, on their communications with constituents, on their legislative strategies, and ultimately, on the substance of legislation.

See All American Politics Data Sites

Replication Datasets for New Articles

No Right to Be Wrong: What Americans Think About Civil-Military RelationsRobert Ralston, +1 more author (2023 est.) POP, more info.
Stata files: 1, datasets: 2, text files: 1, other files: 1