Politics Junior Paper Workshops

Resources for JP #13:
Politics of China & Southeast Asia

• China Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the People’s Republic.
  Publisher: Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2005.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: DS777.6 .C49 2005
  Containing over 200 entries written by scholars working in various disciplines in both the U.S. and China, this two-volume resource provides information on the politics, economics, society, and culture of both the People's Republic and Taiwan since 1949.
   
• Dictionary of the Modern Politics of South-East Asia.
  Publisher: New York: Routledge, 2001.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: DS526.7 .L45 2001
  Provides key facts and background information on political events since 1945 in Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Kampuchea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
   
• Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, its History and Culture.
  Publisher: New York, Facts on File, 1999.
  Location: General and Humanities Reference Center (DR)
  Call Number: DS705 .P47 1998
  This up-to-date and comprehensive reference contains more than 1,000 cross-referenced, A-to-Z entries exploring such areas as geography, population, lifestyle, religion, popular culture, arts, literature, history, current politics, foreign relations, economics, and trade.
   
• 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.
   
• Europa World (PU only)
  The online version of the indispensable Europa World Year Book published since 1926. Europa provides detailed up-to-date surveys of over 250 countries and territories, a comprehensive listing of over 1,650 international organizations, directory information, and current analysis. Includes essential names and addresses and other information covering such areas as a country's constitution, government, legislature, political organizations, diplomatic representation, religion, media, finance, trade, industry, transport, and tourism.
   
• A Political Chronology of Central, South and East Asia.
  Publisher: London: Europa Publications, 2001.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: DS327.5 .P65 2001
   
• A Political Chronology of South-East Asia and Oceania.
  Publisher: London: Europa Publications, 2001.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: DS525.7 .P65 2001
  These two titles are part of the Political Chronologies of the World series that provides a record of the political, social, cultural, geographical, and economic events that have helped to shape world history. Each volume charts the region's progress, in areas such as elections, wars, disputes, invasions, deaths and assassinations, coronations, diplomatic activities, economic crises, and more.
   
• 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 Parties of the World.
Publisher: London: John Harper, 2002.
Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
Call Number: JF2051 .D39 2002q
Arranged by country, this book provides brief background information on each country, including its capital, population, and recent political history, followed by entries describing the country's major and minor political parties. Party information includes the official party name (generally in English), contact information (if available), party leadership, and a historical profile.
 
• 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.
   

In addition to using keywords to search the Main Catalog, you should also try a subject heading approach. Since you will most likely be researching a specific Southeast Asian country, you can use the name of the country as a subject heading in the Basic Search. For example, type Indonesia and select Subject Heading from the pull-down menu. The resulting list of subject headings will outline the kinds of material held in Princeton's collection that relate to Indonesia. Click on a subject heading to see a list of titles that deal with that topic.

Remember that traveling down the list of headings will take you to subjects that are further sub-divided and, therefore, more specific. Traveling up the list gets you subjects that are more general. Here are some sub-headings that should be useful:

Although most of your research will likely be concerned with one or a few Southeast Asian countries, you could also approach your search in the catalog from a regional perspective using the following subject headings:

For most of your topics, you should be able to find many useful journal articles, book chapters, working papers, etc. by doing some very careful searching in the main Politics databases we've already discussed. For those of you working specifically on topics relating to China, you should also see the Chinese Studies databases page. Also, be sure to consult the East Asian Library page for further help. Here are some additional databases that should be of help as well:

• ABI Inform (PU only)
  A comprehensive index to worldwide business periodicals. Provides in-depth coverage of business and economic conditions, management techniques, theory and practice of business, advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, and taxation.
   
• Bibliography of Asian Studies (PU only)
  The online version of the Bibliography of Asian Studies references principally western-language articles and book chapters pertaining to East, Southeast, and South Asia published worldwide from 1971 to the present. Contains over 610,000 records on all subjects, though especially in the humanities and the social sciences.
   
• CIAO - Columbia International Affairs Online (PU only)
  CIAO publishes online a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, NGO occasional papers, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, books, journals, and policy briefs.
   
• EconLit (PU only)
  Provides citations and selected abstracts of journal articles, books, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings and book reviews dating back to 1969. Covers topics including regional and international economics, urban economics, economic development, fiscal and monetary theory, business and public finance.
   
• Historical Abstracts (PU only)
  This database has long been recognized as the leading bibliography providing unmatched coverage of world history (excluding North America) dealing with time periods from 1450 to the present. It covers approximately 2,000 journals, as well as books and dissertations published worldwide since the mid 1950s in history and related areas, including anthropology, genealogy, multicultural studies, political science, and sociology.
   
• JOLIS Library Catalog
  URL: http://jolis.worldbankimflib.org/uhtbin/webcat
  JOLIS is the joint library network catalog of the 13 World Bank and International Monetary Fund libraries in Washington, DC, and provides detailed coverage of literature in the fields of international economics, development, and finance. This catalog includes references to books, journal titles, journal articles, working papers, conference proceedings, and technical reports, with links to full-text items when available.
   
• JSTOR (PU only)
  JSTOR is a special collection of academic journals that have been made available in full text online. The titles covered in JSTOR range back to the very first issue, but only go forward to about 3-5 years ago. You can browse and search across different subject areas and journal titles. Note: While JSTOR is a very useful collection of journals, it is not by any means comprehensive. Be sure to also search for your topic in the other article databases listed here.
   
• Policyfile (PU only)
  Provides indexing and abstracts of research publications addressing the complete range of public policy research. PolicyFile draws its content from public policy think tanks, university research programs, research organizations, and trade publishers. The database consists of over 50,000 abstracts dating from 1990 to present, with some full-text where available and links to organizational home pages.
   
• Social Sciences Citation Index (PU only)
  Multidisciplinary index to more than 1,725 journals in the social and behavioral sciences. This database covers works published 1956-present, and is very useful for tracing the chain of citations in social science literature. Use SSCI to find references to articles that were cited in a given article, as well as other articles that cite that article.
   
• Sociological Abstracts (PU only)
  Indexing and abstracting of the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines, both theoretical and applied. Covers 2,500 journals, conference papers, dissertations, and book reviews. Includes materials in 30 languages and covers works published 1963-present.
   
• StratFor (PU only)
  Founded in 1996, StratFor (short for “Strategic Forecasting”) provides up-to-date geopolitical analysis and forecasts focused on international political, economic, and security issues.
   

News sources can be very useful for finding primary coverage of specific events, as well as feature articles and editorials related to your topic. For additional resources, be sure to consult the Newspaper Indexes page.

Contemporary News (mid-1980s to present):

• Lexis Nexis Academic (PU only)
  Provides full text access to news from across the U.S. and around the world. Coverage of most newspapers goes back to the mid 1980s, but varies widely. Also provides access to business, legal, and medical journals, as well as corporate financial information.
   
• NewsBank Full-Text Newspapers (PU only)
  Provides full-text of many major national and regional newspapers from the United States and around the world.
   
• Factiva (PU only)
  Database from Dow Jones & Reuters that provides full text access to various newspapers and news wire services.
   
• ProQuest Newspapers (PU only)
  Provides indexing and full text of the Wall Street Journal (1984- ) and the New York Times (1980- ) and abstracts only of USA Today (1989- ).
   
• Google - News
  URL: http://www.google.com/news
  Google News pulls together related headlines and photos from approximately 4,500 news sources worldwide, automatically arranging them to present the most relevant news first. Google News enables you to see how different news organizations around the world report the same events. Stories are updated continuously throughout the day, making this an especially useful source for breaking news.
   

Historical News (back to mid-1800s):

• Historical New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the New York Times going back to the first issue (1851-2004) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Historical Wall Street Journal (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the Wall Street Journal going back to the first issue (1889-1990) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Historical Washington Post (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the Washington Post going back to the first issue (1877-1991) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Reader's Guide Retrospective (PU only)
  This retrospective online version of the ever-popular Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the U.S. between the years 1890-1982.
   

Foreign News (1975-present):

• Finding World Newspapers at Princeton
  URL: http://libweb.princeton.edu/help/research/history/guides/world_news.php
  This is a very helpful guide compiled by our History Librarian Elizabeth Bennett that offers some guidance on locating foreign newspapers of interest.
   
• ABYZ News Links
  URL: http://www.abyznewslinks.com
  ABYZ News Links is a portal to online news sources from around the world. It is primarily composed of links to newspaper pages but also includes links to many broadcast stations, internet services, magazines, and press agencies. Be aware that the actual news sources you will ulimately find are likely not to be in English.
   
• Foreign Broadcast Information Service Electronic Index (PU only)
  Provides indexing to the Daily Reports of the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. These reports include translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world. Search by keyword, region and date.
  Note: This index only covers reports from 1975-1996, which are mostly available in microfiche with some in paper. Ask for help locating these reports at the Social Science Reference Center. For earlier material, contact me. For more recent material, see the World News Connection below.
   
• World News Connection (PU only)
  Continues coverage of the FBIS reports mentioned above from 1996 to present, and with full text. The search functions are similar (by keyword, region, and date) with a "latest headlines" feature for monitoring current news.
   

• ASEAN
  URL: http://www.aseansec.org
  Founded in Bangkok in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional intergovernmental organization made up of 10 member states: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The purpose of ASEAN is to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development; and to promote regional peace and security through respect for justice and the rule of law.
   
• Asian Development Bank
  URL: http://www.adb.org
  Established in 1966, ADB is a multilateral development finance institution dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific. The ADB is currently owned jointly by 64 member countries, of which all the ASEAN members, except for Brunei, are members. Japan and the U.S. are the two biggest shareholders.
   
• Asia Regional Information Center
  URL: http://aric.adb.org/index.asp
  Sponsored by the Asian Development Bank and the Australian Agency for International Development, the Asia Regional Information Center (ARIC) provides an array of regularly updated information about the economic performance and prospects of 16 Asian nations.
   
• Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
  URL: http://www.iseas.edu.sg
  Headquartered in Singapore, ISEAS is a regional research center dedicated to the study of socio-political, security, and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider environment. ISEAS publishes many useful reports and working papers as well as the ASEAN Economic Bulletin.
   

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

Page last updated: October 12, 2005