LINKS FOR POLITICS, POLITICAL ECONOMY AND LABOR CLASSES

CHRIS HOWELL

Listed below are a few links to a few web sites that you may find useful for your work in this course. They comprise a tiny fraction of the useful sites out there, and I have given preference to "meta" sites which are themselves collections of links. I encourage you to e-mail me links to sites that you come across and find particularly interesting or useful. Remember to check the source for any information that you find on the web. It is difficult to tell an "official" site from that or an enthusiast or a highly partisan source. The latter can be very useful, often providing information and opinion that you won't find elsewhere. But you will need to double-check on the accuracy of data or information that you find. Look for footnotes giving the source. If you cite information from the web make sure you cite the complete URL, the date you visited the web site, and, to be careful, print yourself a copy of the page.

Europa This is the main official European Union site, with links to all the institutions of the EU, EU policies, documents, and news. You can follow links to the political parties represented in the European Parliament.

European Union Internet Resources This is a meta site, operating out of University of California at Berkeley, that has links to almost everything you might want to know about the European Union. It includes official EU sites, documents, and academic journals specializing in European politics.

European Political Resources This is a meta site. You choose one of the European countries listed on the opening page and then follow links to that country's parties, governmental institutions, elections, and so on.

OECD Washington Center Home Page The OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) is the organization of the world's 29 richest countries. This site has a great deal of statistical information about member countries.

French Embassy in Washington This is the site of the French Embassy in Washington (and so is in English). It gives you links to most of the elected political institutions and government departments.

German Embassy and German Information Center The German Embassy in Washington (so, again, the site is in English) has links to government departments, the German states, and other political institutions. You can sign up to receive "This Week in Germany" with political, economic and social news, by e-mail.

British Government Information Service This is the official governmental portal for Britain. It has a comprehensive listing of every British governmental institution, including government departments of every kind, the Houses of Commons and Lords, the British Monarchy web site, and so on.

Welcome to the 10 Downing Street Web Site The official site of the British Prime Minister has news and information (from the government's perspective), real audio of Tony Blair speaking, and a discussion area. You can take a virtual tour of the Prime minister's residence!

Yahoo! UK & Ireland - Government_Politics_Parties This is a pretty comprehensive listing of British political parties, social movements and political organizations of most kinds.

 

Area Studies_United Kingdom This is an astonishingly good academic site, operating out of the University of Keele, for information on British politics, with links to government departments, political parties, election data, party platforms, academic departments and think tanks.

Labour Left Briefing - links page An outstanding meta-site with links to every imaginable Left organization and publication in Europe, the United States and beyond.

CES The Center for European Studies is the main American center for the study of Europe. This site has information of academic departments specializing in European politics, conferences on European topics, grants, and publications.

 

Political Science - Home Page A general political science portal, run by Chip Hauss, Oberlin alum, with links to every conceivable area of politics, and online articles about current issues of political interest.

 

Social Science Information Gateway - SOSIG You can link from this site to a site devoted to politics. It has a wide range of online papers, databases, documents, and links concerning the study of politics.

The Official Paul Krugman Web Page Paul Krugman, everybody's favorite economist/public intellectual, has a web site which collects most of his regular columns for the New York Times and Slate, along with some of his academic papers. An advocate of free trade, with a more liberal take on taxation and other domestic policy. Krugman is more accessible than most economists.

The Institute for Gay and Lesbian Strategic Studies The IGLSS does research on gay and lesbian issues, with a focus upon public policy. From this site you can download an excellent study of income patterns for gay men and lesbians.

Census Bureau This is the US Census Bureau, and an extraordinary amount of information is available, down to local and regional levels.

 

Statistical Abstract of the U.S. Another remarkable source of data. This site gives you access to the annual statistical abstract of the United States for the current year, and several recent years. Everything from coal production and unemployment rates broken down by race and gender, to trade union membership, industrial accidents, and more...

 

THOMAS - Congress The official site of the US Congress, gives full information on all legislation passed or pending, links to every other state agency, and links to individual senators and representatives.

US Department of Labor This site have a wealth of labor-related information. The links to the Women's Bureau of the D.of L. and to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, are worth following.

THE MEDIA

Online Newspapers - The Paperboy This site has links to hundreds of newspapers around the world. Search you country or title. You should be able to find everything here.

BBC News Outstanding site for world and British news, with many of the news reports available in audio and video files. Includes broadcasts of the BBC's main political commentary programs.

 

Daily Telegraph Main right-wing broadsheet newspaper in Britain

Financial Times Main British financial newspaper, with excellent news reporting as well. Also a fine portal for European business.

Le Monde The main center-left French newspaper.

 

Liberation The somewhat more left-wing French daily newspaper.

 

 

New Statesman Center-left British weekly news magazine, closely associated with the Blairite wing the British Labour Party.

 

The Economist Center-right weekly news magazine, with strong business coverage.

 

The Guardian &_Observer The main site for the center-left Guardian and Observer (which appears on Sundays) newspaper. An excellent site with access to a great deal of background information and links. Superb soccer coverage!

 

The Times of London The main center-right newspaper in Britain.

 

The New York Times The New York Times web site.

 

Welcome to NPR The main National Public Radio site, allows you to find your local station, listen live to news programs, and so on.

Welcome to PBS ONLINEŽ The Public Broadcasting site gives you access to both PBS programs and a mass of background reports and special investigations.

Left Business Observer This is a fine leftist take on contemporary political economy, with a focus on the US. It is especially good on the financial markets and issues of equality and poverty. It has a good statistical database.

The American Prospect Home Page The American Prospect is the main liberal-left magazine in the US, run by Robert Kuttner, Oberlin alum, with a strong policy wonk bias. It is a fine place to fine analyses of the platforms, programs and policies of the two major parties. You can link from this site to the "Electronic Policy Network" (EPN) which has a wealth of information about social and economic policy in the US.

LABOR

 

International Labour Organization The ILO web site has links to national labor movements, documents, investigations of labor rights and labor standards, and the conventions of the ILO, to which many countries are signatories.

AFL-CIO Home Page The AFL-CIO is the umbrella organization of the US labor movement. The site has links to US unions, resources, and some neat features which allow you to see how much your boss is making, and how much the gender pay gap is.

Trades Union Congress The TUC is the umbrella organization of the British trade union movement. This site has a "virtual building" with press releases, documents, and links to other trade unions, both in Britain and abroad.

Cyber PicketLine This excellent web site has links to trade union and labor sites around the world, and labor-related resources of all kinds, including humor. It has a strike page which gives you information about ongoing strikes in the US.

LabourStart This is another outstanding web site with labor-related news from all over the world. It also has links to labor movements and resources world-wide.

NAFTA: The Harsh Reality This site is run by the United Steelworkers of America. It has accounts of the main free trade organizations and treaties, with its own criticism of them. The official position is "fair trade not free trade."

Union Jobs Clearinghouse This site has a pretty comprehensive list of available jobs with US labor unions. Most unions now post job listings to it.