Research Guides: Country Politics and Economy: Overview

Get Started with Country Profiles

Europa World This link opens in a new window
Select the country in the upper right drop menu, and be sure to click into the country profile for political history, constitution and government, regional and international relationships and more.

Political Handbook of the World
Publication Date: Published annually
Facts and analysis on each country's government, political and economic history, foreign relations, political parties, and current issues. This is a must-use resource when studying a country's politics, and is particularly strong for understanding political parties.

CIA World Fact Book
Get started here for basic country information. Select country from search box at the top right. Subjects include geography, transportation and more.
BBC Country Profiles
These profiles are particularly useful for media clips and photos and quick historical timelines.

Political Science Complete (and Military Collection)
It can be helpful to search for the country's name as a subject in the drop menu.

PAIS This link opens in a new window
This is the best place to start for articles, books, government information, and research reports on topics related to public affairs and public policy. Coverage is international. Be sure to click the blue "Other SMU Options" button to get the full text.

Foreign Affairs (1922-present)
News and analysis on global issues and policy, from the Council on Foreign Relations.
Foreign Policy (1990-present)
American news publication focused on global affairs, current events, and domestic and international policy
Current History (1914-present)
Scholarly journal dedicated to explaining global events and trends

ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
This is your best bet for articles about a country's government in relation to business. Search for the country's name as "location/LOC."
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
This is another database for topics related to government, politics, and business
View the Company Research and Industry Research tutorials for more insights.

OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
Get reports on economics, education, governance and more for specific countries. Reports include statistics and information to give context to the numbers. Browse by country and theme.

World Bank: Open Knowledge Repository
A collection of studies and documents from the World Bank. Click Collections to browse by resource type. Look for Country Strategy Documents and Economic and Sector Work Studies. Click Topics to browse or search for your topic.
Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance: Publications
Reports on topics related to democracy and elections
Election Guide
Search for election information by country, type of government, and year to find dates of elections, results, and voter turnout.
Wikipedia: Elections by Country
Links to elections by country. Find election results by party and background on electoral system.
Freedom House
Locate continent and country information about human rights and democracy efforts.
UN Human Development Index Reports
The Human Development Report Office releases five composite indices each year: the Human Development Index (HDI), the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), the Gender Development Index (GDI), the Gender Inequality Index (GII), and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

U.S. State Department: Country Reports
Use these for background on U.S. relationships with different countries. Click on "Countries/Areas" to find fact sheets on U.S. relations with individual countries and press releases from the State Department regarding that country. Fact sheets also include links to other resources.
U.S. State Department: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
U.S. Dept of State annual reports to Congress on the status of internationally recognized human rights practices per country. Online archive from 1999-present.
Trafficking in Persons Report
Information from the U.S. State Department, including an annual Trafficking in Persons Report with country profiles.
Country Reports on Terrorism
Reports on where terrorist acts have occurred, state sponsorship of terrorism and assessments of terrorist groups, from the U.S. State Department.
International Religious Freedom Reports
From the U.S. Department of the State, reports that describe the status of religious freedom, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations and individuals, and U.S. policies promoting religious freedom.