Political Science Research Guide: Public Administration

Wikipedia Defines Public Administration as "the translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day."

Public Administers / Public Employees are the people who carry out the Laws, Policies and Services brought forward by politicians.  These unelected Public Employees include Police Officers, the Military, Benefits Administrators, City Managers, Census Analysts, Bureacrats (who carry out the directives of the Executive),  & Judges at all levels of government.

 To find articles:

• Relevant to Public Administration search Databases that cite articles dealing with Laws, Law Enforcement, Justice, Social Programs and Management.  These databases are listed in the Public Administration Box Below.
   
• On how the Legal System deals with Specific Social Groups (e.g. Minorities, Economically Disadvantaged, various Demographic Groups, etc)  consult a database that has informaton about the group you are interested in. These databases are listed below in the box titled Political Rights and Political Participation Databases.

To locate actual Laws and Court Rulings, check the Legal Resources Section of this Libguide.

• SocIndex
  Sociology index with information about society - including the Rule of Law, Law Enforcement and Government
   
• Canadian Reference Center
  Lists articles in Canadian Publications including those dealing with Public Administration and Canada
   
• LexisNexis
  Database that indexes Legal Journals, laws, statutes, case law, Treaties, and a host of other legal resources. Useful for many public adminsitration issues.
  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.

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. 
   
• LexisNexis
  Legal Database which is useful if your topic deals with the legal status of citizens and political participation.
  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.

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