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Political Science *

Below are links to databases and scholarly web sites that support the study of political science and its related sub-disciplines.

Welfare Policy Research Resources

Below are links to databases and electronic resources that support the study of welfare policy and related areas of research.

MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Databases that offer multidisciplinary coverage of welfare policy literature from scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

  • CQ Researcher -- in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Reports are published weekly 44 times a year.
  • Google Scholar -- the scholarly part of the Google empire. To set up Google Scholar with access to full-text journals and databases, go here.
  • JSTOR -- a multidisciplinary archive of scholarly journal articles covering most major disciplines in the social sciences and humanities. Useful for identifying historical research on a topic.
  • Policy Commons -- platform for objective, fact-based research from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. The database provides advanced searching across millions of pages of books, articles, working papers, reports, policy briefs, data sets, tables, charts, media, case studies, and statistical publications, including archived reports from more than 200 defunct think tanks.
  • ProQuest -- comprehensive, multidisciplinary database of newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles updated daily. Content is more focused and manageable than Google Scholar.

SPECIALIZED RESEARCH RESOURCES

Key Database

  • PsycINFO -- database with more than three million records devoted to peer-reviewed literature of journal articles, chapters, books, dissertations and reports in psychology, the behavioral sciences, and mental health.
  • Social Services Abstracts -- provides coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development, evaluation research, policy planning and forecasting, support groups/networks, and welfare services.
  • Social Work Abstracts -- summarizes articles in more than 450 English language journals in all areas of social work, including theory and practice, areas of service, social issues, social problems, child and family welfare, legislation, and community organization. Coverage is from 1966 to the present. Facilitates access to research that investigates the relationships between criminal justice and issues of child welfare and community development.
  • Welfare Rules Database  -- a comprehensive searchable resource for comparing cash assistance programs between states, researching changes in cash assistance rules within a single state, or to locate the most up-to-date information on the rules governing cash assistance in one state. The database is maintained by the Urban Institute.

Related Research Resources

  • Abstracts in Social Gerontology -- provides access to research studies covering essential areas related to social gerontology and geriatrics, including the psychology of aging, elder abuse, society and the elderly, and other key areas of relevance to the discipline. Coverage dates back to 1966 and includes abstracts from books, journals, magazines and trade publications.
  • Child Welfare Information Gateway -- a portal to print and electronic publications, websites, databases, and online learning tools covering topics on child welfare, child abuse and neglect, out-of-home care, adoption, and more. A service of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the site provides access to resources for the purpose of improving child welfare practice, including resources that can be shared with families.
  • Family Studies Abstracts -- this database includes bibliographic records covering essential areas related to family studies, including marriage, divorce, family therapy, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. May be useful in identifying research on the relationships between criminal justice and family dynamics.
  • HeinOnline Law Journal Library  -- provides access to more than 3,000 searchable, pdf formatted legal and other disciplinary journals. Coverage is from the first issue published for all periodicals. Excellent resource for searching the legal literature on any aspect of law.
  • Public Administration Abstracts -- provides information on public administration-related publications worldwide covering such areas as administration and economy, administration and politics, administration and society, administrative structures and organization, public and social services, public service personnel, and theory and method.
  • Sociological Abstracts -- primary resource for accessing the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database draws information from an international selection of over 2,600 journals and other serials publications, plus conference papers, books, and doctoral dissertations.
  • Violence and Abuse Abstracts -- provides access to articles related to violence and abuse, including family violence, sexual assault, emotional abuse, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.

GROUP PERSPECTIVE

Databases that offer the opportunity to understand and contemplate the implications of policy decisions through the eyes of those who may be most impacted by those decisions.

  • AgeLine -- provides access to aging-related content from the health sciences, psychology, sociology, social work, economics, and public policy. Sources include scholarly journals, books, book chapters, reports, dissertations, consumer guides, and educational videos from 1966-present.
  • Chicano Database -- bibliographic index focuses on the Mexican-American and Chicano experience, and the broader Latino experience of Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans and Central American immigrants since 1992. Covers Chicano/a art, education, folklore, health. history, labor, language and literature, music, politics, public policy, religion, sociology, and women's studies.
  • Child Development and Adolescent Studies -- provides citations to current and historical social and behavioral sciences literature related to growth and development of children through the age of 21, including book reviews, abstracts from hundreds of journals, technical reports, books, book chapters, and theses and dissertations.
  • Ethnic NewsWatch -- includes current and archival coverage of newspapers, magazines and journals from ethnic and minority presses. Very important database for gaining a perspective and an understanding of civic engagement from underrepresented groups and minorities.
  • GenderWatch -- a full-text database that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. Publications include academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, NGO and special reports.
  • LGBT Life -- the premier resource to the world\'s literature regarding Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual issues with coverage that includes traditional academic, lifestyle, and regional publications, as well as non-periodical content such as non-fiction books, bibliographies and dissertations.

DATA AND STATISTICS

  • California Child Welfare Indicators Project -- a collaborative venture between the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) and the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), this site provides agency staff, policymakers, researchers, and the public with access to critical outcome information on California’s child welfare system, focused on providing trend data over time.
  • CMS Program Statistics – includes detailed summary statistics on Medicare populations, utilization, and expenditures, as well as counts for Medicare-certified institutional and non-institutional providers. Statistics are organized into sections which can be downloaded and viewed separately. Additionally, Medicare Monthly Enrollment has been developed as an interactive online tool presenting monthly enrollment figures and yearly trends at several geographical areas, including national, state/territory, and county. CMS Statistics Reference Booklets provide summary information from 2003 to 2016 about enrollment and expenditures within the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
  • Green Book – since 1981, the Committee on Ways and Means has published the Green Book, which presents background material and statistical data on the major entitlement programs and other activities within the Committee's jurisdiction. Its central feature is a selection of Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports made available for this purpose by the Committee. Each chapter includes an introduction and overview, selected CRS reports, a set of tables and figures, a legislative history, and links to additional resources. The Green Book website features the current edition and also includes an archive of previous versions, going back to 1996.
  • HHS Poverty Guidelines -- there are two different versions of the federal poverty measure. Poverty thresholds are updated each year by the Census Bureau. Poverty guidelines are the other version of the federal poverty measure and are issued each year in the Federal Register by the Department of Health and Human Services. The poverty guidelines are used as an eligibility criterion by Medicaid and a number of other Federal programs.
  • Census Bureau Poverty Data -- gateway to poverty data collected by the Bureau of the Census from several major household surveys and programs. Information includes working papers, reports, facts about how poverty is measured by the Bureau, poverty measurement studies, and microdata files that can be used to create customized tabulations.
  • Social Security Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics -- is responsible for conducting policy relevant research and evaluation, conducting in-depth analyses of Social Security solvency proposals, sponsoring special-purpose survey data collections and studies to improve data for research and statistics related to social security issues, and developing links between administrative record data and survey data for use in Social Security research and policy analysis.

Descriptions of resources are adapted or quoted from vendor websites.

Government Agencies

FEDERAL

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES COUNTY AND CITY

Organizations

Below is a select list of national welfare advocacy organizations. To locate descriptions of additional organizations, special interest groups, and research centers, search the Gale Directory Library database.

NATIONAL ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS

  • AARP Public Policy Institute -- uses research and analysis to develop creative policy solutions to address the common need for financial security, health care, and quality of life. PPI publishes policy analyses and provides updates on a range of topics, including current AARP priorities and emerging issues that will affect older adults in the future.
  • Center for Family Policy and Practice -- examines the impact of national and state welfare, fatherhood, and child support policy on low-income parents and their children. The Center is a progressive policy think tank that uses technical assistance, policy research and analysis, and public education and outreach to advocate on behalf of low-income families and develop public awareness of their needs, particularly from the perspective of very low-income and unemployed men of color.
  • Center for Law and Social Policy -- national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advancing policy solutions for low-income people. CLASP works to develop and implement federal, state, and local policies (in legislation, regulation, and on the ground) that reduce poverty, improve low-income people’s lives, and creates pathways to economic security.
  • Center for Social Development -- mission is to create and study innovations in policy and practices that enable individuals, families and communities to formulate and achieve life goals, and contribute to the economy and society. Through innovation, research, and policy development, it makes intellectual and applied contributions in social development theory, evidence and policy.
  • Center for the Study of Social Policy -- a national, non-profit policy organization that connects community action, public system reform, and policy change in order to promote public policies grounded in equity, support strong and inclusive communities, and advocate with and for all children and families marginalized by public policies and institutional practices.
  • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities -- a nonpartisan research and policy institute that pursues federal and state policies designed both to reduce poverty and inequality and to restore fiscal responsibility in equitable and effective ways. The organization applies expertise in budget and tax issues and in programs and policies that help low-income people and that help inform debates and achieve better policy outcomes.
  • Child Welfare League of America -- coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies that since 1920 advocates policy and programs for improving child welfare. The site outlines the organization’s programs, policy efforts, and publications and includes information on recent federal and state policy on child welfare.
  • Children's Defense Fund -- advocates for the needs of poor children, children of color and those with disabilities by supporting policies and programs that lift children out of poverty; protect them from abuse and neglect; and ensure their access to health care, quality education, and a moral and spiritual foundation.
  • National Center for Children in Poverty -- a public policy center dedicated to promoting the economic security economic security, and well-being of America’s low-income families and children, with an emphasis on covering early childhood education, public benefits, paid family leave, immigration, disability, and mental health. The site has useful data tools, demographic profiles, and more. Includes a data tracker and a State Policy Tracker dating back to 2011.
  • National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare -- a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization devoted to protecting, preserving, promoting, and ensuring the financial security, health, and the well being of current and future generations of maturing Americans.
  • National Council for Adoption -- a nonprofit advocacy organization that supports global advocacy, education, research, legislative action, and collaboration for adoption and foster care. The site includes research reports and policy documents related to both domestic and international adoption.
  • Poverty Solutions -- an initiative that aims to prevent and alleviate poverty through action-based research that informs policymakers, community organizations, government entities, and practitioners about what works in confronting poverty based on boosting economic opportunity, expanding educational attainment, and improving health.
  • Social Programs That Work -- seeks to identify those social programs shown in rigorous studies to produce sizable, sustained benefits to participants and/or society, so that they can be deployed to help solve social problems. The specific purpose is to enable policy officials and other readers to distinguish credible findings of program effectiveness from the many others that claim to be. The site also focuses on whether such studies show sizable, sustained effects on outcomes of clear policy importance (e.g., high school graduation, workforce earnings, teen pregnancies) and not just intermediate outcomes that may or may not lead to important outcomes.

Descriptions of resources are adapted or quoted from vendor websites.