Guides: Government and Politics: Government & Law

Government Document Databases

GovInfo This link opens in a new window
GovInfo replaces the Federal Digital System (FDsys) and is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO). It provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government, such as the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Congressional Record, Congressional bills, Congressional hearings and reports, and laws.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
One of the premier sources for legal and political information. Full-text law journals are a major part of the database, but HeinOnline also includes deep historical collections of U.S. federal government documents.
Titles digitized include the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, bills and public laws in the Statutes at Large, the United States Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, selected legislative histories, Supreme Court documents, Presidential documents, and more. Search the Sources of Compiled Legislative History database by Public Law or Bill number, from the 37th to the 107th Congress. The U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection has full text legislative histories on significant legislation in banking, civil rights, labor, digital rights, the USA PATRIOT act, and other selected laws.
Homeland Security Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Electronic documents made available by the Dudley Knox Library at the Naval Postgraduate School, searchable by keyword or by topic, including general U.S. policy documents, national strategy documents, theses and research papers from the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and the Naval Postgraduate School, and homeland security executive orders. Also includes notices of events and conferences pertaining to homeland security, and news items drawn from various news sources.
ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Congressional is the primary source for electronic government documents such as hearings, committee prints, CRS reports, legislative histories, the Congressional Record, federal regulations, and the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Many documents are in full text and cover the years 1789 to the present; others are citations that are available in full text in print or microform in the library.
ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window
Contains legislative histories and links to the related full-text Congressional documents of more than 18,000 federal laws enacted since 1929. The fully-searchable PDFs include full text of the public law itself, all versions of related bills, law-specific Congressional Record excerpts, and committee hearings, reports, and prints. Also included are presidential signing statements, CRS reports, and miscellaneous publications that provide background information related to the making of the law.
EBSCOhost Military and Government Collection This link opens in a new window
Designed to offer current news pertaining to all branches of the military, this database offers full text for nearly 300 journals, periodicals, and U.S. government documents. The database also includes full text for 245 pamphlets and offers indexing and abstracts for nearly 400 titles. Many full text titles are available in native (searchable) PDF, or scanned-in-color.

Legal Databases

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) provides access to more than 17,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis. Nexi Uni has three primary collections: 1) full-text access to thousands of news sources in the U.S. and abroad back to the 1970s; 2) aggregated economic data on businesses, corporations, and industries in the U.S. and abroad; 3) full-text legal documents, including U.S. Federal and State court cases, and law reviews from the late 18th century to present.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
One of the premier sources for legal and political information. Full-text law journals are a major part of the database, but HeinOnline also includes deep historical collections of U.S. federal government documents.
Titles digitized include the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, bills and public laws in the Statutes at Large, the United States Code, the Code of Federal Regulations, selected legislative histories, Supreme Court documents, Presidential documents, and more. Search the Sources of Compiled Legislative History database by Public Law or Bill number, from the 37th to the 107th Congress. The U.S. Federal Legislative History Title Collection has full text legislative histories on significant legislation in banking, civil rights, labor, digital rights, the USA PATRIOT act, and other selected laws.
Politico Pro This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive database providing legislative and regulatory insights, data tools and resources for policy research. On-demand, graphic visualization library translates complex policy issues and data sets into infographics. The Document Drawer repository offers primary source documentation. Limited state coverage also included.
Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text This link opens in a new window
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books Full Text™ is an excellent resource for attorneys, educators, business people, law librarians, students, paralegals and others involved with the law, providing complete coverage of the most important English language legal information, with international coverage of scholarly articles, symposia, jurisdictional surveys, court decisions, legislation, books, book reviews and more. Full text is available for over 400 periodicals, many of them peer-reviewed, as far back as 1994.
LegalTrac This link opens in a new window
Cumulative indexing of approximately 800 legal publications and law related articles from more than 1,000 additional business and general interest periodicals. Coverage begins in 1980. Includes some full text.
Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 This link opens in a new window
This database contains nearly 11 million pages of records and briefs brought before the U.S. Supreme Court in the period 1832-1978. This product provides an essential primary source tool for the study of all aspects of American history as well as the U.S. judicial system.

Declassified Materials

U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
Provides access to post- World War II papers from the CIA, the FBI and many other agencies, which have been gathered from presidential libraries. Major domestic and international events of the post-World War II world are covered, including the Cold War, Vietnam, foreign policy shifts, and the civil rights movement. Documents display in a digital facsimile format or ASCII text.
Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) This link opens in a new window
This resource may contain content still classified by the United States Government. Individuals holding security clearances use at their own risk.
A full-text database of over 50 core collections of primary documents acquired by the George Washington University based National Security Archive. The collection has been acquired through extensive use of FOIA. Each core collection is focused on one topic, e.g. Iran-Contra, Terrorism and U.S. Policy. Each topical collection includes diverse policy documents supplemented by contextual and reference material on chronology, glossary and bibliography.

National Security Archive at GWU
An independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, the Archive collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The Archive also serves as a repository of government records on a wide range of topics pertaining to the national security, foreign, intelligence, and economic policies of the United States. (See Digital National Security Archive for digitized documents).
Wilson Center Digital Archive
The Digital Archive contains once-secret documents from governments all across the globe, uncovering new sources and providing fresh insights into the history of international relations and diplomacy.

Government Leadership

Almanac of American Politics This link opens in a new window
Profiles of Members of Congress and expert electoral analysis. Can be searched by member name or by district. Part of the National Journal Group.
Congressional Directory (Official) This link opens in a new window
Includes biographical and directory information about members of the House and Senate, committee memberships, terms of service, and related content.
United States Government Manual This link opens in a new window
The official handbook of the U.S. Government, providing information on the agencies from all three branches, quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the United States participates, boards, commissions, and committees.