Politics Resources at Princeton University Library

Resources for Foreign & Comparative Politics

• Background Notes
  URL: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn
  Factual publications prepared by the staff of the U.S. State Department that contain information on all the countries of the world with which the United States has relations. Each report contains information about the country's people, history, government, political conditions, economy, foreign relations, relations with the U.S., travel, and business. These reports are updated periodically.
   
• EIU Country Reports & Profiles (PU only)
  The Economist Intelligence Unit is considered to be a definitive source of business intelligence. The EIU annual country profiles are updated by monthly country reports to provide detailed information on political and economic trends for 180 countries worldwide. Each includes annual and quarterly economic indicators, economic forecasts, information on domestic politics, international relations, economic growth, and foreign trade. 1996 forward are available online, earlier profiles and reports in paper are held in Firestone, check the catalog for more information.
   
• Political Handbook of the World.
  Publisher: Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications. Annual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: 7560.729
  Library Has: 1928-1970
  Call Number: JF37 .P6
  Library Has: 1975-present
  Current Volume: SSRC Ready Reference
  The Handbook provides essential political information about every country in the world, including heads of government, cabinet members, leaders and programs of political parties, representation in national legislatures, news media, and membership in international organizations. Its primary focus is on government and development of the country's political climate.
   
• Political Resources on the Net
  URL: www.politicalresources.net/
  Provides listings of political web sites sorted by country, with links to political parties, organizations, governments, media and more.
   
• The Statesman's Yearbook.
  Publisher: New York: St. Martin's Press. Annual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JA51 .S7
  Library Has: 1876-
  Current Volume: SSRC Ready Reference
  Similar to the Political Handbook, the Yearbook also provides detailed information about all the countries of the world. Its focus is on social and development indicators. Each entry includes a small map for quick geographical orientation, as well as a list of references for further reading.
   
• World Factbook
  URL: www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency. Annual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: G122 .U56a
  Library Has: 1981-present
  Current Volume: SSRC Ready Reference
  This annual publication of the Central Intelligence Agency provides profiles of countries throughout the world. Each country profile begins with a brief historical background and includes information about geography, population, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
   

• United Nations and Decolonization
  URL: www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/
  More than 80 nations formerly under colonial rule have joined the United Nations as sovereign independent states since 1945. This web site provides some historical background and links to relevant primary documents. The UN recognizes 16 remaining non-self-governing territories: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Western Sahara.
   
• IMHS - Decolonization
  URL: www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook51.html
  Chapter of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook covering decolonization and globalization. The IMHS is intended to serve the needs of teachers and students in college survey courses in modern history by making available online collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts.
   
• Decolonization.
  Publisher: New York: United Nations Dept. of Political Affairs, Trusteeship and Decolonization.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JV1.A2 U55a
  Library Has: 1974-1993
  Although no longer published, this journal provides.
   
• Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History (PU only)
  Publisher: Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. 3 times a year.
  Library Has: 2000-present (online only)
  This is an interdisciplinary journal that covers the tenth century to modern times and deals with aspects of colonialism and imperialism in their broadest sense. Each issue contains in-depth articles and book reviews. Every year, the Fall issue provides a bibliography of relevant articles and books published over the previous year.
   
• Key Concepts in Post-colonial Studies.
  Publisher: New York: Routledge, 1998.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: JV22 .A84 1998
  This book attempts to explain the most important terms and concepts in English in post-colonial theory by providing an insight into their genesis and offering an account of the range of meanings with which they have been deployed.
   
• Postcolonial Studies.
  Publisher: Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Carfax Publishing. 3 times a year.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JV2 .P67
  Library Has: 1988-present
  Current Volume: Current Periodicals Room (PR)
  This is an interdisciplinary journal aimed at publishing work that explores the various facets— textual, figural, spatial, historical, political and economic— of the colonial encounter, and the ways in which this encounter shaped the West and non-West alike. Also available online via Meta Press.
   

• Administration and Cost of Elections Project
  URL: www.aceproject.org/
  The ACE Project is the result of a collaboration between the International Foundation for Election Systems, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The main purpose of the Project is to widen the range of choices available to electoral administrators, provide complete and systematic information to those who are faced with designing and implementing electoral procedures, and support those who furnish advisory assistance to election management bodies worldwide.
   
• Comparative Study of Electoral Systems
  URL: www.umich.edu/~cses/
  CSES is a collaborative program of cross-national research among election study teams in over fifty countries. Their web site provides access to survey data for researchers conducting cross-level and cross-national analyses addressing the effects of electoral institutions on citizen attitudes and behavior, the presence and nature of social and political cleavages, and the evaluation of democratic institutions across different political regimes.
   
• Democracy and Governance
  URL: www.usaid.gov/democracy/index.html
  Home page of the United States Agency for International Development's program to promote democracy worldwide. USAID's four democracy sectors cover rule of law, elections, civil society and governance. Their web site provides access to many technical publications.
   
• Electionworld.org (Elections Around the World)
  URL: http://www.electionworld.org/
  Edited by Wilfried Derksen of the Netherlands, Electionworld provides a comprehensive database on the most recent election results, political parties, and parliaments on a country basis. Links to many additional sites related to elections and parliaments are provided.
   
• Electoral Studies.
  Publisher: Oxford, UK: Pergamon. Quarterly.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JF1001 .E43
  Library Has: 1991-2002
  Current Volume: Online (1995- )
  This international journal focuses on the behavior of voters, the effect of electoral systems, and the rules pertaining to elections. Of special interest are the "Notes on Recent Elections" and "National Elections" features.
   
• International Encyclopedia of Elections.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2000.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: JF1001 .I57 2000
  A very useful encyclopedia that explains many key electoral concepts. Articles are written by notable experts, many ending with bibliographic references. The appendix "Basic Features of Parliamentary Elections" provides information on parliamentary elections covering 144 countries. "Basic Features of Presidential Elections" provides information on presidential elections for 88 countries.
   
• International Foundation for Election Systems
  URL: www.ifes.org/
  IFES works to encourage national and international democracy by providing expert technical assistance in all areas of election administration and election management. They supply world governments with election observation and analysis and are one of the world's leading centers of election information and resources. IFES seeks to bolster democracy by developing programs that strengthen rule of law, good governance and civil society. See the ElectionGuide.Org section, which provides an election calendar, information on electoral structures, parties and candidates, and previous elections. IFES publications include the journal Elections Today and several white papers.
   
• International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
  URL: www.idea.int/
  International IDEA is an intergovernmental organization headquarted in Sweden with 18 member states and 4 international NGO associate members that exists to sustain and promote democracy around the world through a variety of in-country and thematic projects and programs. See their Voter Turnout section for turnout data on different countries.
   
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)
  URL: http://www.ipu.org/
  The IPU is the international organization of Parliaments of sovereign States, established in 1889. The Union is the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue and works for peace and co-operation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.
   
• Lijphart Elections Archive
  URL: http://dodgson.ucsd.edu/lij/
  Housed at the University of California, San Diego, the Archive is a research collection of district level election results for approximately 350 national legislative elections in 26 countries. The objective of the Archive is to systematically collect election statistics in as much detail as possible. The catalog of holdings details archive holdings of both print and online data as well as access to data when it can be freely disseminated.
   
• Transparency International
  URL: www.transparency.org/
  Transparency International is a civil society organisation dedicated to curbing both international and national corruption. TI developed a "national integrity system" by which anti-corruption activists adopt a holistic approach to anti-corruption reform. TI's publications include the Corruption Fighters' Tool Kit, Global Corruption Report, and Conflict of Interest: Legislators, Ministers and Public Officials. See the Corruption Online Research and Information System (CORIS).

• Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector
  URL: www.iris.umd.edu/default.asp
  Located at the University of Maryland, College Park and founded by the late Distinguished Professor Mancur Olson in 1990, the IRIS Center is an internationally recognized source of research and advisory expertise for addressing economic growth and governance issues in transitional and developing countries. Browse their publications section, which includes many working papers in PDF format.
   
• Human Development Report.
  Publisher: New York: Oxford University Press. Annual.
  Location: United Nations Collection (UN)
  Call Number: HD72 .H85
  Library Has: 1990-present
  Produced by the United Nations Development Programme, the HDR series advocates a shift in the development debate away from a sole concern with economic growth toward a balanced concern for equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment. The report's Human Development Index (HDI), offers an alternative to GNP as a measure of development. In addition to the global report, there are national, subnational, and regional reports for 135 countries. See the UNDP's Human Development Report page for more details.
   
• International Institute for Sustainable Development
  URL: www.iisd.org
  IISD works to advance policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and indicators, and natural resource management to make development sustainable. See their Linkages Page, a mulitmedia resource for environment and development policy makers. Their Publications Center also provides access to publications on a wide variety of development topics.
   
• Journal of Development Economics (PU only)
  Amsterdam, Netherlands: North-Holland. Semiannual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: HB1.A1 J6 (1974-2002)
  Online (1974- )
  This journal publishes papers relating to all aspects of economic development, including immediate policy concerns and structural problems of underdevelopment with an emphasis on quantitative and analytical work.
   
• Journal of Human Development (PU only)
  Basingstoke, Hants, UK: Carfax Pub., Taylor & Francis. 3 times a year.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: HD72 .J688 (2000- )
  Online (2000- )
  An interdisciplinary journal that offers a multi-dimensional view of development that cuts across economic, social and political issues at global, national and local levels.
   
• Journal of International Development (PU only)
  New York: Wiley. 8 times a year.
  Online (1997- )
  Published in association with the Development Studies Association, this journal presents research on development issues with a focus on economics, politics, international relations, sociology and anthropology.
   
• PRAXIS Resources for Social and Economic Development
  URL: www.ssw.upenn.edu/~restes/praxis.html
  PRAXIS is the international development homepage of Prof. Richard J. Estes of the University of Pennsylvania. PRAXIS provides access to a vast array of archival resources on international and comparative social development.
   
• United Nations Development Programme
  URL: http://www.undp.org/
  This is a web site.
   
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
  URL: http://www.unctad.org/
  Create summary. Be sure to include UNCTAD Bulletin & Trade and Development Report. See UN Sales Pub II.D. for other UNCTAD publications.
   
• United States Agency for International Development
  URL: www.usaid.gov
  USAID is an independent federal government agency that works to support long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting economic growth, agricultural and trade, global health, democracy, conflict prevention, and humanitarian assistance in four regions of the world: Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Eurasia. See the Development Links page for links to various sites related to development, including government agencies, non-governmental and private voluntary organizations, international and regional organizations, and reference information resources.
   
• World Development Report.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: World Bank. Annual.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HC59.7 .W6
  Library Has: 1978-present
  This annual report discusses the state of the world economy and prospects for the next decade. Recent volumes have been dedicated to particular themes such as the environment, health investment, and poverty. The statistical appendix, World Development Indicators, provides tables of economic data that allow the researcher to compare countries, see WDI Online.
   

• Amnesty International
  URL: www.amnesty.org
  Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. Amnesty International campaigns to free all prisoners of conscience; ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners; abolish the death penalty, torture and other cruel treatment of prisoners; end political killings and "disappearances"; and oppose human rights abuses by opposition groups.
   
• Human Rights Watch
  URL: www.hrw.org
  Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide that conducts fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in all regions of the world. Human Rights Watch then publishes those findings in dozens of books and reports every year, generating extensive coverage in local and international media.
   
• INCORE (Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity)
  URL: www.incore.ulst.ac.uk
  INCORE was set up in 1993 by the University of Ulster and the United Nations University to undertake research and policy work for the resolution of ethnic, political and religious conflicts. Research focuses mainly on post conflict issues, issues of governance and diversity, and research methodology in violent societies. INCORE has a Policy and Evaluation Unit to ensure more effective utilisation of conflict research by policy makers and practitioners, and addresses the issue of best practices in evaluating conflict interventions. INCORE produces a Conflict Data Service that provides current and historical information on all major on-going conflicts, theme sites on a variety of issues relevant to conflict, and information on conflict resolution institutions throughout the world.
   
• International Crisis Group (ICG)
  URL: http://www.crisisweb.org/
  The ICG is a private, multinational organization that conducts field research with the objective of strengthening the capacity of the international community to anticipate, understand, prevent and contain conflict. ICG reports cover diverse regions, including Africa, Asia, the Balkans, Latin America and the Middle East.
   
• International Relations
  URL: www.library.ubc.ca/poli/international.html
  This is an extensive list of web resources from the University of British Columbia Library. See the section on Nationalism, Ethnic or Religious Conflicts.
   
• Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
  URL: www.osce.org/
  Headquartered Vienna, the OSCE is made up of 55 participating states from Europe, Central Asia and North America. It is active in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.
   
• United States Institute of Peace
  URL: www.usip.org
  Established in 1984, the United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created and funded by Congress to strengthen the nation's capacity to promote the peaceful resolution of international conflict through an array of programs, including grants, fellowships, conferences and workshops, library services, publications, and other educational activities.
   
• WWW Virtual Library on Migration and Ethnic Relations
  URL: http://www.ercomer.org/wwwvl/
  Part of the World Wide Web Virtual Library project, the WWW Virtual Library on Migration and Ethnic Relations provides an easy to use guide that catalogues quality web resources on ethnic relations and migration topics.

• Constitutions of the Countries of the World (PU only)
  This service contains the full text of the constitutions of 192 nations. Constitutional scholars who are familiar with the legal system, judicial language and official language of each foreign jurisdiction provide the authoritative translations into English. Complementing these official documents are Introductory and Comparative Notes that examine recent amendments and highlights of pertinent historical, political and economic information. The database includes selected historical versions of constitutions where available.
   
• Foreign Government Resources on the Web
  URL: www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/foreign.html
  Compiled by John Downey, International Documents Librarian at the University of Michigan, this site provides links to a wealth of foreign government information resources via the web.
   
• Guide to Official Publications of Foreign Countries.
  Publisher: Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1997.
  Location: SSRC Ready Reference
  Call Number: Z7164 .G7 G83 1997
  Produced in cooperation with the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table, this guide provides selective listings of official publications covering a variety of topics, including bibliographies and catalogs, government directories, laws and regulations, statistical yearbooks, legislative proceedings, budgets, censuses and court reports. Also provides information on the availability of these documents.
   
• Political Resources on the Net
  URL: www.politicalresources.net/
  Provides listings of political web sites sorted by country, with links to political parties, organizations, governments, media and more.
   
• World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1998.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSSRC)
  Call Number: JF511 .W67 1998
  Enter annotation.
   

• Flags of the World
  URL: www.fotw.net/flags/
  Read about and view more than 18,500 flags from countries all over the world.
   
• Information Please Almanac - Flags From Around the World
  URL: www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0201477.html
  Convenient reference showing images of national flags.
   
• National Anthems of the World
  URL: www.geocities.com/TheTropics/8106/Anthems/
  Listen to audio clips of national anthems in MIDI format..
   
• Yahoo! Government>National Symbols and Songs
  URL: dir.yahoo.com/Government/National_Symbols_and_Songs/Countries/
  Useful web directory that provides links to many web sites featuring images of flags and other national symbols, as well as audio files of national songs, arranged by country.

URL: http://firestone.princeton.edu/politics/comparative.html
Send suggestions and comments on this page to:
jhernand@princeton.edu