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

About This Page

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).

Suggest a Link

Teach Political Analysis

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

Companions for SPSS, Stata, Excel & R. Practice with software of your choice.

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

Review Terms for 5 Minutes - Pick chapters or just press play for quick study

Run Live R Demos in Browser - Excellent for online teaching

Links to More Resources for Teaching Political Analysis

Watch & Learn


Social Science in the Public Interest
YouTube Channel for the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research


One-Way ANOVA with the Data Analysis ToolPak
Nice illustration of underlying data, from Jeffrey Knutsen (4:19)

MORE VIDEOS: Lecture Videos for The Essentials of Political Analysis

Learn How-To Do It with Video Tutorials for R, Stata, SPSS, and Excel

More Q. Than A.

Racial Segregation in American Prisons: How Widespread?
Racial segregation seems to be standard practice in prison. Prisoners are assigned to cells or...

MORE QUESTIONS: Why Only 50% of Findings Can Be Replicated: Exploratory Thoughts

Why Did State Legislatures Give Up Power to Pick Presidential Electors?

Blogs, Podcasts & Journals

Weeds Podcast, The: .Vox's podcast for politics and policy discussions on important national issues, including healthcare immigration, and housing.

Journal of Political Science: .Published annually by the South Carolina Political Science Association

Publius: The Journal of Federalism: .Publishes latest developments, trends, and empirical and theoretical work on federalism.

Congress & the Presidency: .(Taylor & Francis) An interdisciplinary journal of political science and history that features articles on Congress, the President, the interaction between the two institutions, and national policy-making.

Ballpark, The: .LSE US Centre's regular online audio show on US politics, policy, and research.

See All Political Science Journals

American Politics Data Sites

Cosponsorship Network Data: .This page contains links to data on Cosponsorships in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives for the 93rd to 108th Congresses.

Legislative Effectiveness Project: .precise research methodology to calculate a Legislative Effectiveness Score for each member of the House of Representatives

NC Center for Public Policy Research: .Publishes among other things, legislator and lobbyist effectiveness rankings.

Charles Stewart's Congress Data Page: .Great resource on Congressional Committees

Texas Politics Project, The: .Publishes three to four statewide public opinion polls each year to assess the opinions of registered voters on upcoming elections, public policy, and attitudes towards politics, politicians, and government.

See All American Politics Data Sites

New Articles with Replication Data

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