Research Guides: Public Policy: Overview

Depending on your assignment, there are several kinds of information you may need in researching public policy:

Historical political or legal context of a policy
Theory of public policy
Research on the specific topic of your policy
Example policy proposals and research from organizations
Statistics, including public opinion
Governmental legislation or regulation, or for international public policy, an understanding of a country's government
Social behavior or economic consequences related to a policy

PAIS
This is the best place to start for national or international public policy research.

Library Search
Limit your searches to "Library Catalog" for books, which can be good for broad understanding and historical context. You may need to eliminate government documents by removing "United States" as an author in the Advanced Search.

Political Science Complete
Add "government policy" or "international relations" as a subject to focus your searches.
Hein Online
This database has national and international law review articles, a good choice for articles on the legal implications of a policy: its strengths and weaknesses as a law, the relationship of the law to court decisions, and the potential effects of the application of a policy.
JSTOR
Back issues of about 30 political science scholarly journals (among many others). Be sure to add a filter for "political science" to your searches.

Can be used for text mining. Data for Research is a free JSTOR service available to anyone interested in mining data for their research project.

Congressional Research Service(CRS) Reports
Reports on policy issues and legislative documents to support congressional committees and members of Congress. Hein Online Congressional Documents also includes CRS Reports.
Congressional Budget Office
Find information by topic about budgetary and economic issues that support the Congressional budget process. The filter on the left helps narrow the search.

Congress and the Nation
Find in-depth summaries of congressional trends, actions, political and policy controversies, organized by Congressional term and policy topic. This covers 1945-2016.
Congress in Context
Quick profiles with lists of major legislation, Supreme Court cases, timeline, and historical context for each Congressional session.

CQ Researcher Plus Archive
Substantive, non-biased, well-researched discussions of timely topics and issues, such as: immigration, climate change, marijuana decriminalization, and LBGTQ+ rights.

Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy - 5 Volume Set
Publication Date: 2020
A-Z entries on a range of national and international policy topics, including major policy areas.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History
Publication Date: 2012
Substative background information about the laws, institutions, and actors that have governed America throughout its history, covering topics like from presidents and Supreme Court justices to specifics of policy history, critical legislation, and party formation. This is a great source for gaining context about your topic.
Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy
Publication Date: 2001
Includes background information and context on foreign policy concepts and doctrines, policymaking, commerce and science, human rights and arms control.
The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy
Publication Date: 2006
Use this for gaining context on theoretical topics and the current state of scholarship in public policy.

Related Guides

U.S. Laws and Legislation
Find out how to discover laws for a specific topic, how to trace legislation, how to find analysis of the law. Includes historical law resources.
Newspapers
Find current, historical, and SMU newspapers.
Government Information
Find government documents from federal, state, and international governments.
Statistical Sources
Find statistics by subject or location. Learn how to evaluate statistics.
International Politics and Economy
Find resources for foreign relations, global security, political economy, and more.
American Politics
Find information on elections, interest groups, lobbying, polls, and political speech.