POLT 105: The New President's Prospects for Success
Note: This is an archived course guide which is not being updated.
Obama in the News
Search articles in newspapers and magazines, as well as tv and radio transcripts, in these full text databases:- LexisNexis Academic
- Factiva
(includes Wall Street Journal)
- see also Staying Current [WORD doc]
Presidential Statements & Actions
A searchable database of presidential documentation (past and present) by UC Santa Barbara.
Compilation of Presidential Documents
Official U.S. government source.
See the Briefing Room and Issues sections for information on activities (includes White House Blog)
Nominations, Appointments & Confirmations
- The New Team coverage by the New York Times
- Presidential Nominations: a searchable database from Thomas
- Head Count: Tracking Obama's Appointments by the Washington Post
- White House Transition Project "Since 1997, the White House Transition Project has combined the efforts of scholars, universities, and policy institutions to smooth out the American presidential transition."
Actions by Federal Agencies & Departments
Monitor the web sites of specific agencies and departments for announcements of new initiatives, etc.
The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.
Monitoring Campaign Promises
- The Promises Audit (by National Journal)
- Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises (by Politifact)
- Obama Tracker by NPR -- day by day progress on domestic, economic, and foreign policy issues
Tracking Congress
- Thomas
- Congressional Schedules and Calendars
- Daily Digest of the Congressional Record
- CQ Weekly Congressional Quarterly's Magazine on Government, Commerce and Politics
- NationalJournal the leading source of nonpartisan reporting on the current political environment and emerging policy trends
- LexisNexis Congressional full-text database of all publications by Congress
Lobbyists & Political Action Committees
- OpenSecrets Lobbying Spending Database by the Center for Responsive Politics
- Lobbying Disclosure, Office of Clerk, House of Representatives
- LDA
Reports (Lobbyists Disclosure Act Databases), Senate
- Encyclopedia of Interest Groups and Lobbyists in the United
States
Main Reference JK1118 .N47 2000 (this is the latest edition)
- Almanac of Federal PACs
Main Reference JK1991.A744 2008-2009
Public Opinion & Analysis
- iPoll databank @ the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
- Polling the Nations
- PollTrack by NationalJournal.com
- Gallup Poll: The Presidency not all data available to non-subscribers
- PollingReport.com: President Barack Obama an independent, nonpartisan resource
- RealClearPolitics: Opinion, News, Analysis, Videos and Polls
- Think Tanks Directory & Search by Harvard Kennedy School Library
A searchable database of poll data from academic, commercial and media survey organizations such as Gallup Organization, Harris Interactive, Pew Research Associates, and many more, starting in 1935
A database of polls from all over the world on a wide variety of subject.
Blogs, etc.
- The Obama Blog by Organizing for America
- Obama's Challenge by Robert Kuttner
- The American Prospect
- The Huffington Post