Welcome
This research guide is designed for students doing research in Latin American Politics. Use the tabs along the top edge of this box to locate directions for the various resource types. If you run into any obstacles, don't hesitate to contact me. ~ Rosalind Tedford
Latin American Gov't and Research Organizations
- Political Database of the Americathe PDBA offers centralized and systematized information about institutions and political processes, national constitutions, branches of government, elections, political constitutional studies and other subjects related to the strengthening of democracy in the region. With more than 1,500 pages of information, the PDBA is one of the most preferred sources of political information on the Internet reaching more than 600,000 users per month.
- Overseas Development Institute (ODI)The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is a leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.
- Organization of American StatesRegional IGO. Today, the OAS brings together all 35 independent states of the Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical, and social governmental forum in the Hemisphere.
- Inter-American DialogueThe Inter-American Dialogue engages our network of global leaders to foster democratic governance, prosperity, and social equity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Together, we work to shape policy debate, devise solutions, and enhance cooperation within the Western Hemisphere.
- Center for World Indigenous StudiesThe Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) is an independent, non-profit [U.S. 501(c)(3)] research and education organization dedicated to wider understanding and appreciation of the ideas and knowledge of indigenous peoples and the social, economic and political realities of indigenous nations.
- UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the CaribbeanECLAC, which is headquartered in Santiago, Chile, is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was founded with the purpose of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and reinforcing economic ties among countries and with other nations of the world. The promotion of the region's social development was later included among its primary objectives.
- World Resources InstituteWRI is a global research organization that works to turn big ideas into action to sustain our natural resources. Our work focuses on six critical issues at the intersection of environment and development: climate, energy, food, forests, water, and cities and transport.
Video Resources
- Filmakers Library Online This link opens in a new windowStreaming video collection of award-winning documentaries with relevance across the curriculum--race and gender studies, human rights, globalization and global studies, multiculturalism, international relations, criminal justice, environment, bioethics, health, political science and current events, psychology, arts, literature, and more. Coverage: Details not available
- Films on Demand - Master Academic Package This link opens in a new windowContains videos in business, economics, health, medicine, humanities, social sciences, science and mathematics. Includes Oscar, Emmy and Peabody award winning documentaries, interviews, instructional and vocational training videos, historical speeches and newsreels.
- PBS Video Collection This link opens in a new windowMore than 1,200 streaming videos providing a range of content including video documentaries and series from PBS. Covers subjects from science, history, art, Shakespeare, diversity, business & economics, and more.
- Kanopy Video This link opens in a new windowStreaming video platform for libraries that offers films, TV shows, and documentaries across mutliple subject areas.
- Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new windowAcademic streaming library of feature films, documentaries and foreign films from the largest movie studios, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, NBCUniversal, Columbia Pictures, Lions Gate, MGM, Miramax and many more. ZSR subscribes to the 1000 most popular titles and has licensed a few others for campus.
NY Times Americas Feed
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Individual Country Information
- Europa World Plus This link opens in a new windowEuropa has recent historical and economic histories of every country in the world. Also contains data on each country, and allows for comparison across countries.
- World Constitutions Illustrated This link opens in a new windowThis collection includes the current constitution for every country in its original language format and an English translation, as well as substantial constitutional histories and scholarly work on constitutions and constitutional law for each country.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online This link opens in a new windowBritannica has entries for each country that provide historical, economic, demographic, and comparative information. Search by country name.
- Global Road Warrior This link opens in a new windowInformation about countries geared towards those traveling (personally or professionally) or researching current issues. Contains informaiton on travel, cuisine, government, society, and more. Coverage: Details not available
- Foreign Law GuideBasic information on the government structure, laws, and legal systems of every country. Choose your country from the drop downs on the main page.
- Political Handbook of the World 2022-2023The Political Handbook of the World provides facts and analysis on each country’s governmental and political makeup. Covers all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system.
- Freedom House's List of Countries (Political Rights & Civil Liberties)Freedom House rates people’s access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories through its annual Freedom in the World report.
Background Information Sourcs
If you need somewhere to begin your research, here are some of the best bets for finding context for your research topic!
- Gale In Context: Global Issues This link opens in a new windowCombines overviews, viewpoints, reference, news, and scholarly material into one search platform for researching a wide variety of global issues.
- Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowOverviews of research and trends and background information in the Social Sciences and Humanities. WFU access includes the following subject collections: Asian Studies; Communication, Journalism, Media & Culture; Environment & Sustainability; Law; Philosophy; Politics; Religion; Security Studies; and Sociology.
- Oxford Handbooks Online: Political Science This link opens in a new windowEach handbook takes an aspect of its discipline, explains the key issues, the classic and contemporary debates on those issues, and describes how those debates might evolve. The handbooks offer authoritative and trustworthy guides to the scholarship that defines the field.
- Oxford Bibliographies: Latin American Studies This link opens in a new windowOxford Bibliographies Online are authoritative, scholar-developed research guides covering a variety of subject areas. They combine features of an annotated bibliography and a subject encyclopedia, guiding researchers to the best available scholarship on the topic.
Books and more in Primo
Books will always be your most comprehensive look at countries, political systems, literatures, history, etc. Use the library's online catalog to locate books, films, microforms, and other materials in the library. Try searches like the following to find what you need:
- Chile AND democra* (the asterik truncates the word and give you results with all possible endings like democracy, democratic or democratization)
- Latin America AND elections
- Peru AND indigenous peoples
- Brazil AND music
Call Number Ranges for Latin American Politics
- JL1300 - JL3899: Political Institutions and Public Administration Central and South America -- 4th Floor Reynolds Wing
- KG - Latin American Law
Call Number Ranges for Latin American Peoples and History
- F1201 - F3799: History, Latin America
Call Number Ranges for Latin American Arts and Literatures
- ML199 - Music of Latin America
- N6500s - Art of Latin America
Call Number Ranges for Latin American Economics
- HC120s - HC240s - Economics of Latin America
Scholarly Journal Databases in Political Science (and related disciplines)
The databases below are the ones most frequently used by students doing political science research. The list starts with the politics-specific databases but also lists the many databases we have in related disciplines that often contain relevant sources. Politics is a very interdisciplinary thing, so looking at other databases is often very useful!
Databases for General International Politics and Government
- ProQuest Latin America & Iberia Database This link opens in a new windowProvides ongoing full-text academic journals that are locally published by scholarly publishing organizations and educational institutions in Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, and also Spain and Portugal.
- ProQuest Political Science Database This link opens in a new windowContains hundreds of leading political science and international relations journals, full-text doctoral dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings, country profiles, political news and other sources. This link cross searches ProQuest Political Science Database, PAIS Index, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. Coverage: 1985-
- HeinOnline Law Journal Library This link opens in a new windowContains more than 2,000 law and law-related periodicals. Coverage generally begins with the first issue published, so contains over a century of law and legal scholarship.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowProvides indexing and abstracts for journal articles, books, and dissertations covering the history of the world from 1450-- except the U.S. and Canada. For similar coverage of the U.S. and Canada, use America History and Life. Access is limited to six simultaneous users. Coverage: 1954-
Databases for International Military and Security Issues
- ProQuest Military Database This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text titles on military issues from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications, and more. Coverage: 1987-
- Military and Government Collection This link opens in a new windowProvides full text from military and general interest publications including government offices, journals, think tanks and more. Designed to bring current news to all branches of the military. Coverage: 1985-
- Homeland Security Digital Library This link opens in a new windowFocused on strategy and policy in the various subject areas of homeland security research. Sources of information include governmental departments and agencies, academic institutions, think tanks, conference sites, non-governmental organizations, institutes and organizations, and other entities. Coverage: Details not available
Databases for International Policy and Issues
- Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowContains scholarly literature on all aspects of communication studies, including discourse, linguistics, media studies, and rhetoric. Coverage: 1915-
- Contemporary Women's Issues (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowprovides access to current full text and backfile content covering topics including civil rights, health, education, professional development, and entrepreneurship. Coverage: 1992-
- Criminal Justice Database This link opens in a new windowContains supporting research on crime, its causes and impacts, legal and social implications, and litigation and crime trends. It also includes correctional and law enforcement trade publications, crime reports, crime blogs, and other material relevant for researchers or those preparing for careers in criminal justice, law enforcement, and related fields. Coverage: 1995-
- EconLit This link opens in a new windowContains citations to, and selected abstracts of, the field of economics from international journal articles, dissertations, and books, books chapters and articles and conference proceedings. Coverage: 1969-
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowProvides coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, urban planning, and more. Coverage: 1901-
- ProQuest Sociology Database This link opens in a new windowThis database covers the international literature of sociology and social work, including culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, social psychology, substance abuse and addiction and more. This collection provides full-text coverage of many core titles included in Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts. Coverage: 1985-
Search Across Multiple NGOs and IGOs
Use these links to search across multiple NGO, IGO, Think Tank and Research Organizations.
- NGO Custom Google SearchSearch across hundreds of known non-governmental organizations at once.
- IGO Custom Google SearchSearch across dozens of known intergovernmental organizations at once.
- Think Tank Custom SearchA Google Custom Search of more than 1200 think tanks and research centers.
- Columbia International Affairs Online - CIAO This link opens in a new windowA source for NGO, IGO, ThinkTank, research institute, and grey literature on politics, international affairs, security studies, global finance, diplomatic practice, humanitarian law, global governance, development studies, and environmental studies. Contains working papers, research reports, proceedings, and more. Coverage: 1991-
Subject Guide
Kathy Shields
Kathy Shields
she/her
Subjects: African American Studies, African Studies, American History, Area Studies, East Asian Studies, Ethnic Studies, History - General, Latin American & Latino Studies, Medieval & Early Modern Studies, Middle East & South Asia Studies, Primary Sources, Psychology, Russian & East European Studies, Social Sciences - General, World History