Political Science Research Guide: Government and State Databases

The area known as Sovereign State deals with issues related to how Governments in specific geographic areas operate.  This area includes:

Many Interdisciplinary Databases will provide you with information on these topics. In particular you should consider:

• Canadian Reference Center
  Lists Canadian Publications including those that deal with Politics in Canada
   
• EBSCOHost Academic Search Premier
  Interdisciplinary full-text database indexing many Political Science journals. Also has indexing for Newsmagazines which makes it useful for current events.
   
• JSTOR
  Searchable collection of periodicals in the Humanities and Social Sciences.  Coverage is retrospective (3-5 years and older)

History Databases - on  the other hand - should be consulted if the Government in question is in the past (e.g. Nazi Germany).  Databases of relevance to these topics include:

• America: History and Life
  Use to study previous Governments in Canada and the United States
   
• Historical Abstracts
  Use to study previous Governments outside of North America

For Journal Articles dealing with:

• How Governments  interact with various Social  and Interest groups  consult the Political Rights Databases listed in the box below. 
   
• Political Rights and Political Participation of citizens consult the Political Rights Databases listed in the box below. 
   
• Comparative Political Systems check out the Political Theory and Political Philosophy Databases listed in the box below.
   
• Ethical issues pertaining to Governing and Politics, check out the Political Theory and Political Philosophy Databases listed in the box below.
   
• The Role of Law and Public Administration, consult the Public Administration Databases Box listed below.

Some Databases that will provide inforamation about the political rights and political participation of different groups include:

• LBGT Life
  Coverage: Full-text database focused on Sexual Orientation and Gender Studies. Useful for topics dealing with equality, rights, women's groups, Gay and Lesbian Groups, and gender and politics. 
   
• Lexis-Nexis Academic
  Coverage:  Database that indexes Legal Journals, laws, statutes, case law.
  NOTE: To access Canadian Case Law, or Canadian Legal Journals from this database, you must first select International Legal - then Canadian Cases OR Canadian Law Journals
  
   
• ATLA Religion Index
  Coverage: Database that indexes journals in the field of Religion. Useful for topics dealing with religious equality, religion,society and politics. 
  
   
• Business Source Premier
  This Business Database is a useful resource for information about Business and its relations to Government and Society
   
• Philosopher's Index
  Coverage: Database that indexes journals in the field of Philosophy. Useful for topics dealing with human rights, the social contract, ethics and government. 
   
• SocIndex
  Coverage: Database that indexes journals in the field of Sociology. Useful for topics dealing with social groups.
   
• Bibliography of Native North Americans
  Coverage: Database that indexes journals in the field of Native Studies. Useful for topics dealing with First Nations People, equality, and political rights, and First Nations People and Politics.

There are a few good places to look for journal articles in the areas of Political Theory and Political Philosophy. These include:

• Philosopher's Index
  Good resource for issues related to  Ethics, Justice, Liberty, Human Rights, Consent & Duties, (etc) - as well as  what political philosophers say are the pros and cons of various Forms of State. 
   
• SocIndex
  Use to locate Journal Articles pertaining to Peace and Conflict , Social Order and Citzenship, Political Theories/Doctrines, and to asssess a particular society (e.g. Rwanda) whose events are causing Ethical Concerns of importance to Political Philosophy.

At times, you may be looking fo a Historical Treatment of any one of these topics.  If you need this type of information consult one of the following History Databases:

• America: History and Life
      Use for Political Theory and Political Philosophy topics in North American History - like the American Civil Rights movement. Also useful for a discussion of the Historical Debate around the U.S. Constitution, Parliamentary Democracy, or Responsible Government in Canada.
  
   
• Historical Abstracts
      Use this database to locate journal articles that deal with Politcal Theory issues as they occured in World  History (outside of Canada and the U.S.)  It is also very useful for issues related to Forms of State that occured in the past (e.g. Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, Maoist China, Monarchies, etc.)

• SocIndex
  Sociology index with information about society - including the Rule of Law, Law Enforcement and Government
   
• Lexis-Nexis Academic
  Coverage:  Database that indexes Legal Journals, laws, statutes, case law.
  NOTE: To access Canadian Case Law, or Canadian Legal Journals from this database, you must first select International Legal - then Canadian Cases OR Canadian Law Journals. To access Canadian Laws, select International Legal - Canadian Legislation. 
   
• EBSCOhost Academic Search Premier
  Good Interdisciplinary full-text database.
   
• Business Source Premier
  Good resource for Managment Articles.
   
• Web of Knowledge
  Premier Index for all areas of knowledge including the Public Administration and Management.  Selects among the top journals.
   
• JSTOR
  Provides coverage of Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences -including Public Administration and Management.
   
• Periodical Archives Online
  Provides coverage of Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences -including Public Administration and Management
   
• Project Muse
   Provides coverage of Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences - including Public Administration and Management
   
• ATLA Religion Index
  Religion index with information on ethics. Possible source of Information about the Moral and Ethical ways Government agencies interact with its citizens.
   
• Philosopher's Index
  Philosophy index with information about Moral and Ethical issues. Possible source of Information about the Moral and Ethical ways Government agencies interact with its citizens.

For Current Information about ongoing issues related to Public Adminstration consult the News Listings in this Libguide.

For access to Legal Documents pertaining to specific countries, consult the Legal Resources listed in this Libguide.

After searching a Database, you may need to learn if an article cited is in a journal held by the library. 

To learn if the library owns the journal, search our Journal Titles List.

If a journal is not in our collection, you can still get the article via Inter-Library Loans.

If you are a student or faculty member at Brandon University, you can access databases from off campus.

If you are accessing the library's web site from off campus, most links on the library's web site will first take you to the Proxy Authentication Page, where you can log in with your Brandon University username and password. Once you have logged in, you will be taken to the destination of the link. You should only have to log in once per session.

To log in, you will need your Brandon University username and password - the same username and password you use to log into the Brandon University network when you're on campus. If you have not claimed your username and password or you are having trouble logging in with those, you should contact the Brandon University Help Desk (Phone 571-8500 Monday -Friday 8:30AM to 4:30PM).

For more information, see the Off-Campus Access Page