LibGuides: ACRL/EBSS Library Resources for Communication Studies (LRCS): Political Communication

About

This page is an overview of political communication research resources to guide librarians, faculty, and students. Other sources are available in the Journalism and Speech Communication guides.

Current Page Editor: Molly Strothmann

Databases

See General Communication Databases to get started.

Alt-Press Watch (fee-based) Full text database of over 130 independent and alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals. Many of the articles are in-depth on topics such as arts, the media, and popular culture, hunger, abuse, the environment, global news and more. 1995-
Alternative Press Index (fee-based) A bibliographic database of journal, newspaper and magazine articles from hundreds of international alternative, radical and left periodicals. 1991-present
Alternative Press Index Archive (fee-based) A companion database to the Alternative Press Index covering 1969-1990.
CQ Press Library (fee-based) Specialized databases on American government, politics, and policy.
International Political Science Abstracts (fee-based) Provides non-evaluative abstracts of articles in the field of political science published in journals and yearbooks around the world. Produced by the International Political Science Association.
The Left Index (fee-based) The Left Index is a complete guide to the diverse literature of the left, with an emphasis on political, economic, social and culturally engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Other topics covered include the labor movement, ecology & environment, race & ethnicity, social & cultural theory, sociology, art & aesthetics, philosophy, history, education, law and globalization. 1976-
PAIS Index (fee-based) Indexes journal articles, books, statistics, yearbooks, directories, conference proceedings, pamphlets, reports, government documents, and microfiche covering the full range of political, social, and public policy issues. Includes research in economics, political and social issues, business, finance, law, international trade and relations, public administration, government, political science, and potential legislation. Coverage is 1972-present.
Policy File Index(fee-based) Offering access to U.S. foreign and domestic policy papers and gray literature, PolicyFile is updated weekly with abstracts and links to the latest reports, papers, and documents from think tanks, research institutes, and agencies.
Political Science Complete (fee-based) Political Science Complete contains full text for more than 500 journals, and indexing and abstracts for over 2,900 titles. The database has a worldwide focus, reflecting the globalization of contemporary political discourse.
Politics Collection (fee-based) Provides access to databases such as PAIS Index, PolicyFile, and Worldwide Political Science Abstracts. ProQuest.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (fee-based) Provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and related fields, including political communication and public opinion.

Journals

Fact Checkers

Factcheck.org A nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
International Fact-Checking Network Housed at the Poynter Institute, the Network promotes a code of principles. This page provides the code and a list of signatories.
PolitiFact.com Provides analysis of candidates' speeches, TV ads and interviews to determine whether the claims are accurate.

Opinion Polls

FiveThirtyEight Focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging.
Harris Polls Online The Harris Poll® is one of the longest running surveys in the U.S.
Pew Research Center - Politics and Policy Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan organization whose research includes public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.
PollingReport.com An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion.
Polling the Nations (fee-based) Polling the Nations is an online database of public opinion polls.
Roper iPoll (fee-based) Search US public opinion polls conducted since 1935 from survey organizations such as Gallup, Harris Interactive and Pew Research associates. Searchable datasets are also provided for statistical analysis. You may need to create a personalized account to download datasets or have advanced display options.

Presidential Debates, Documents, Video

American Presidency Project The American Presidency Project provides access to the Public Papers of the presidents, inaugural addresses, Saturday Radio addresses, Fireside Chats, Presidential Nomination Acceptance Speeches, presidential candidate debates and more. The archives currently contain over 52,000 documents related to the study of the American Presidency. The web site includes a searchable database.
C-SPAN Executive Branch View video of the current president's recent events, press daily briefings, and coverage of cabinet members.
Commission on Presidential Debates Established in 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) sponsors and produces debates for the United States presidential and vice presidential candidates and undertakes research and educational activities relating to the debates. The site includes historical material beginning with the debate between Lincoln and Douglas.
The Great Debates An exhibit of the Museum of Broadcast Communications, this resource includes history and video clips from presidential debates as well as curricular materials for classroom use.

Congressional Documents, Video

C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle Complete coverage of House of Representatives and Senate sessions, individual legislators, committee meetings, and more.

Speeches

Wake Forest University’s Political Speeches Links to political speeches including presidential speeches, convention speeches, political debates, individual presidential sites, specific genre speech sites, and miscellaneous speeches

See also the list of political speeches on the Public Speaking page.

Historical Advertising and Memorabilia

America Votes: Presidential Campaign Memorabilia from the Duke University Special Collections Campaign buttons, photographs, posters and other memorabilia from 1796-2000 presidential campaigns.
Cornell University - Political Campaign Memorabilia Includes approximately 5,500 items of American political campaign memorabilia and commemorative items dating between 1789 and 1960. Additionally, Cornell University Library conserved, digitized, and cataloged approximately 1500 other similar items covering Presidential campaigns from 1960 to 1972, and 393 individual pieces of printed campaign literature dating from 1800 to 1964 from the rare book collections.
The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2020 Video collection from the Museum of the Moving Image. Commercials are indexed by year, candidate, type of commercial, and issue.
Presidential Elections, 1860-1912 from HarpWeek.com HarpWeek features political cartoons from leading journals and the Library of Congress Collection of American Political Prints, 1766-1876. It provides explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era’s major issues, and other valuable information.

ACRL/EBSS Library Resources for Communication Studies (LRCS)