Roz Tedford
Welcome
This research guide is designed for students doing research in Constitutional politics, policy, law, and legal issues. If you run into any problems, or need more assistance, don't hesitate to use the calendar to request a personal research session. ~ Rosalind Tedford
Background/Context Sources
US Constitution Sources
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new windowThis has a Supreme Court Collection, The Supreme Court Compendium and other good content.
- State Constitutions This link opens in a new windowState Constitutions is a collection of the constitutions of the 50 states of the United States with related documents and resources. Containing the text of every constitution with the original, consolidated and current texts and an collection of documents from before statehood.
- Supreme Court CompendiumA serial publication that includes data and context on the SCOTUS, Judges, Courts and more.
- Founders OnlineCorrespondence and other writings of seven major shapers of the United States:
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams (and family), Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Over 184,000 searchable documents, fully annotated, from the authoritative Founding Fathers Papers projects. - LOC Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774 to 1789Contains 277 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.
Comparative Constitution Sources
- 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.
- The Constitute ProjectFrom the developers of The Founders Constitution, this site lets you research and compare world constitutions.
- Political Database of the Americas: ConstitutionsFor the study of constitutions in Latin America
Law and Other Scholarly Journal Articles
The following are databases that you can use to find scholarly journal articles about Constitutional Law in the US and other countries. I have listed them in the order I would use them, but depending on your topic, you might find them more or less useful.
- 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.
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new windowSearch for articles about the history and culure of the United States and Canada. Publications include peer-reviewed journals, magazines, dissertations, books, and more. Access is limited to six simultaneous users. Note: For world history topics, use the Historical Abstracts database. Coverage: 1964-
- 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-
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowA full-text database of archived issues of academic journals. Since JSTOR is a backfiles project, a typical coverage range is the beginning of a journal until three or five years ago. Supported in part by the Dail Endowment Fund. Coverage: Varies
- 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-
Court Rulings and Opinions
- Supreme Court Insight This link opens in a new windowContains full opinions US Supreme Court including per curiam decisions, dockets, oral arguments, joint appendices and amici briefs, with harmonized subject and organization indexing. Supreme Court Insight also includes Supreme Court Insight Certiorari Denied. Coverage: 1933-Present
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new windowFollow the link to the Supreme Court Collection for a variety of content.
- Supreme Court Arguments and OpinionsThe Supreme Court web site has links to arguments, briefs, opinions and more.
- 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.
- Nexis Uni (Formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new windowNexis Uni features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources, including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790.
- U.S. Supreme Court Library (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new windowContains comprehensive coverage of the U.S. Reports, an indexed compilation of the official full text of all decisions of the Supreme Court and the official record of its rulings, orders, case tables, and other proceedings. Also includes books, periodicals, CRS reports, rules of the Court, and court history.
- SCOTUSblogGood site for analysis of cases before, during, and after they come before the court.
Web Info On Amendments
- FindLaws Amendments PageList of amendments with lengthy information in the annotations of definitions, caselaw, background and other resources on the particular issue.
- Cornell School of Law PageAnother great page with annotations that provide additional information.
- National Archives Charters of Freedom PageA wonderful multimedia presentation of the constitution and the amendments. Links to additional primary sources and background information.
- The Founders ConstitutionOnline version of the book!
Primary Sources in American Politics
- American Presidency ProjectFull text of a wide variety of presidential documents including speeches, letters, radio addresses, press releases and more.
- A-Z Index of US Federal Departments and AgenciesOften the best place to get primary source material from the US Government Agencies is from their web sites.
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new windowSearch across CQ Press content including: Congress Collection, CQ Almanac, CQ Magazine, Encyclopedia of American Government, Politics in America, Public Affairs Collection, Supreme Court Collection, Voting and Elections Collection, Political Handbook of the World, and Supreme Court Compendium. Coverage: 1983-
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowAll things Congress- full text of: federal bills and laws (1776-present); voting records (1987-present); U.S. Serial Set and American State Papers (1817-present); published and unpublished Congressional hearings from (1824 to present); Congressional Record (1873-present) and its predecessor publications (1789-1873); Congressional Research Service reports (1916-present). Coverage: 1789-present
- Legislative Insight This link opens in a new windowLegislative histories, including complete text of enacted laws and the full text of associated congressional documents (Congressional Record excerpts, committee hearings, etc.). Coverage: 1929-2012
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowProvides hundreds of millions of pages of law and law-adjacent periodicals, essential government documents (federal, state, and international), international resources, case law, and more. Coverage: 1776-