Welcome
This research guide is designed for students doing research in either Comparative or International Politics. Here are some general search tips for use in Primo and in our subject databases:
- Use phrase searching for any two+ word topics: "Nelson Mandela" or "South Africa" or "resource curse"
- Use truncation (*) with words with multiple endings: 'Mexic*' will find 'Mexico' AND 'Mexican'. Econom* gets you economy, economics, economies, etc.
- Be specific: A search for 'Hindu nationalism' is much better than one for 'authoritarianism'
- Use the various ways of limiting a search that appear on your results screen - most interfaces let you limit by publication date, subject, format and more. Use these to narrow your results list as much as possible.
If you run into any problems, or need more assistance, don't hesitate to use the calendar to request a personal research session. If you cannot find a time when I am available, feel free to find a time on one of the other social science librarians' calendars!
Books
Use our search interface Primo to find content across all sorts of formats and disciplines. You can limit to books in the left column after you have done a search. For more information on how to use Primo - check out our playlist on YouTube.
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!
- 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 This link opens in a new windowIncludes a collection of scholarly handbooks in History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Religion. Great starting point for background research.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Political Science This link opens in a new windowAuthoritative, 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.
- 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.
- World Politics ReviewGlobal news stories and analysis.
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 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 including international law and policy.
- 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 windowThe Military Collection provides full-text titles from around the world, including scholarly journals, trade and industry journals, magazines, technical reports, conference proceedings, government publications, and more.
- 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
- JSTOR Security Studies This link opens in a new windowContains journals, ebooks, and Open Access research reports in the field of security studies. This content looks at security studies through a broad lens, encompassing research on international security and peace and conflict studies from all corners of the globe.
Databases for International Policy and Issues
- Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowFor political communication, Internet and/or Social Media, news, rhetoric and more.
- 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 windowFor criminal justice, incarceration, international criminal justice, etc.
- EconLit This link opens in a new windowFor international economic research, political economy, foreign aid and development, etc.
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new windowEnvironmental policy, climate change, climate refugees, climate treaties, climate and trade, etc.
- ProQuest Sociology Database This link opens in a new window
