LibGuides: COMM 315 Presidential Campaign Communication (Spring, 2016): Home

Background Information on Legislation or Policy Issues

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Current Events, U.S. History, Law, Political Science

CQ Researcher provides original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news.

Founded in 1923 as Editorial Research Reports, CQ Researcher is noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Reports are published weekly in print and continuously online by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc.

Format: Full Text Journal
Dates of Coverage: 1991-Present
Update Schedule: Weekly
Database Producer: CQ Press, a division of SAGE Publications.
ProQuest Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
Particularly important for Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports.
Off Campus Access: Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Law, Political Science, U.S. History, Current Events

Previously known as Lexis-Nexis Congressional, ProQuest Congressional Publications offers access to a variety of information by and about the United States Congress.

ProQuest Congressional provides access to:
- Congressional publications from 1824 to the present
- CIS Legislative Histories for public laws going back to 1970
- Bills as they move through the House and Senate
- The Congressional Record and Federal Register
- Information about members and committees
- The National Journal
- Access to testimony in full text from Congressional Hearings, covering the years 1824 to present

Format: Archival Resources
Update Schedule: Daily
Database Producer: ProQuest
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Can search in The New York Times and/or The Washington Post, among many other news publications.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Nexis Uni provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, medical, and reference information from nearly 5,000 sources, most of them available in full text.

The service covers newspapers, magazines, wire services, federal and state court opinions, federal and state statutes, federal regulations, and SEC filings. News information is updated daily and wire services several times daily.

Subject Areas: General, Law, Political Science, Current Events

Format: Newspaper and Journal Articles
Update Schedule: Daily
Database Producer: LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions.
Legislative Insight (Proquest) This link opens in a new window
A good resource if you're looking for primary source material, such as Congressional hearing testimony or committee reports.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Government, History, Political Science, International Studies

ProQuest Legislative Insight is a federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full-text publications relevant to enacted United States public laws. ProQuest Legislative Insight Major Laws is a subset of ProQuest Legislative Insight with content selected to support entry-level study of U.S. History, Political Science, and Government.

ProQuest legislative histories are comprised of fully searchable PDFs of full-text publications generated in the course of congressional lawmaking. These include the full text of the Public Law itself, all versions of related bills, law-specific Congressional Record excerpts, committee hearings, reports, and prints. Also included are Presidential signing statements, CRS reports, and miscellaneous congressional publications that provide background material to aid in the understanding of issues related to the making of the law.

Format: Full text Resources
Update Schedule: Daily
Database Producer: ProQuest

Polling

IPoll databank @ the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research This link opens in a new window
US public opinion data from the comprehensive archives of the Roper Center for Public Opinion, 1935 to present.
Off Campus Access: Authenticate with your MyDenison login.

Subject Areas: Communication, Political Science, Sociology & Anthropology

Search and retrieve US public opinion data from the comprehensive archives of the Roper Center for Public Opinion. A full-text retrieval system, iPOLL is organized at the question-level, providing the tools to sift through nearly a half million questions asked on national public opinion surveys since 1935.
In order to create a personal login with this database, please follow the instructions found here.

Format: Statistical Resources, Archival Resources
Dates of Coverage: Varies
Update Schedule: Regularly
Database Producer: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy
The center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research.
Real Clear Politics
For the latest presidential election polls.

Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on the Issues

ProCon.org | 2016 Election
Includes compilations of where the 2020 presidential candidates stand on the issues.
Project Vote Smart
Provides a wealth of information on elected officials and candidates for Congress, statewide office, and the state legislature: biographical, voting record on key issues, issue positions (response to candidate questionnaire), interest group ratings, endorsements, and campaign finances.

Presidential Campaign Ads

Political TV Ad Archive
A project of the Internet Archive, the site provides a searchable, viewable, and shareable online archive of 2016 primary election political TV ads.
Living Room Candidate
Presidential campaign commercials dating back to the 1950's.

"Watchdogs"

Ever watch a campaign commercial, or hear a candidate make an assertion, and wonder, "Is that true?" If you have, then you'll probably want to check out these two sites, which monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players, including the presidential candidates.

FactCheck.org

PolitiFact

Fact Checker (Washington Post)

Current and Past Presidents - In Their Own Words

American Presidency Project
The American Presidency Project is the only online resource that has consolidated, coded, and organized into a single searchable database:
- Messages & Papers of the Presidents: 1789-1913
- The Public Papers of the Presidents: 1929-2007 & 2010
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents: 1977-2009
- Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents: 2009-2012
FDsys
The Government Publishing Office's (GPO) Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides public access to government information, including Congressional bills, hearings, reports, and other documents.

Other Useful Sites

C-SPAN
Search the Video Library by people to access video of current and pastpresidents' speeches and other public appearances.
Capitol Words
Internet Archive - Wayback Machine
Find earlier iterations of a given Web site. (Note: You'll need to know the URL.)
P2016 Race for the White House