Social Studies Curriculum Links

Basic Facts and Data Sources General Government Resources Specific Contemporary Issues Resources Political Parties Political Philosophy and Theory Voting Patterns MCPS Election 2000 Internet Resources

Government and Contemporary Issues Resources

Basic Facts/Data Sources

• The Almanac of Politics and Government  A comprehensive reference tool, providing over 1,300 Web pages of political and governmental information about nations worldwide.
• The Corruption Perception Index  Ranks countries by how corrupt they are perceived by the international business community.
• INFONATION  A database of geographic, economic, social and population information provided by the United Nations. Choose which country and data you would like displayed in a table.
• The World Factbook, 2001 from the CIA   Contains maps,flags, economic, geographic, government and population data for every country. Update for 1997 is much easier to use.
• Core Documents of U.S. Democracy  All the major documents printed by the Government Printing Office.
• Country Commercial Guides Written description of every country's economy by the Department of Commerce. Writing is on a high level.
• Country Studies Handbook An extensive outline of the culture, history, and current situation of every country by the Library of Congress. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of the page to get the list of countries.
• E-Conflict  A simplified version of the CIA Factbook, contains maps,flags, government, economic, geographic, and population data for every country.
• The European Parliament - An Overview  Four fact sheets that describe the basic workings of the European Union's Parliament.
• Fedstats--Hyperlinks to US Government Statistics
• Government Documents Center  Sponsored by the University of Michigan, this site lists and describes government documents of all types available online as well as ordering information for those not.
• Government/Politics Web Sites
• GPO Access (search GPO Documents)
• International Organizations Web Sites A link to every conceivable international organization with a web site.
• U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory Links to all Federal agencies on the Internet.
• The United States Government Manual 1998/1999 Comprehensive information on the branches of the federal government, departments, offices, and related bodies.

General Government Resources

• The Annotated Constitution   A clause by clause description of the document with legal precedents. High reading level. Can be viewed or downloaded in PDF by chapter.
• Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government (for Kids)   A great set of resources for teachers of students from K-12. Games, activities, virtual tours, etc.
• Civnet--Civic Education Resources From the authors of the CIVITAS comes a website for government teachers that includes links, lesson plans, primary source documents, and online texts.
• Constitution Day  A web site developed by the National Archives that traces the development and implications of the document that frames our government.
• Constitutional Issues  Part of the National Archives Teaching With Documents series, these two lessons analyze the stresses on the constitution by using primary source documents:
  • Separation of Powers - related to the Roosevelt Court packing incident.
  • Watergate and the Constitution
• The Federalist Papers  from the Library of Congress
• National Governors' Association  Contains information on every governor and general issues that state governments handle.
• Political Cartoons for Teachers  Includes many current editorial cartoons and lessons for using cartoons.
• Who's In The Lobby?  Every wonder who the "lobbyists" are? This site tracks lobbyists and the interests they represent. Created by the Center For Responsive Politics.

Executive

• The American Presidency  Grolier's description of the office and its many occupants.
• President's Day - MCPS bookmarks
• The Internet Public Library  Contains short biographies, timelines and links for every president.
• The Hall of Presidents  The National Portrait Gallery's (U.S.A.) painting of each president and a very short biography.
• The Presidents   PBS' The American Experience series. Includes dates of re-runs of the presidents series and a teachers' guide.
• Presidential Adresses  Extensive selection of presidential inaugural, farewell and state of the union speeches. Slow to load due to enormous length of file.
• Presidential Libraries Network
• The White House For Kids

Judicial

• BigEar: Current Legal Resources on the Net
• Court TV
• Eye on the Courts: Newsworthy Decisions Available on the Net
• LII/Hermes Supreme Court Decisons Database  A database containing most of the major decions of the Supreme Court.
• Oyez, Oyez, Oyez A U.S. Supreme Court Database Need simple summaries of the major cases that high school students can understand? This is the place to go. Also includes bigraphies of Justices and a virtual tour.
• Supreme Court Opinions 1937-Present

Legislative

• Congress.Org  A site that lists all congressional reps by state - You choose which state you want from a menu, then click "go". It then gives you a listing of the reps. If you choose one of the reps it gives you a picture and contact information for them. This site also has many other ways to contact congress and includes committee lists.
• Maryland Elected Officials  Enter a Maryland address and get us and a list of Maryland elected officials
• Roll Call Online The slightly irreverent insiders newspaper for Capitol Hill.
• THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet
• U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873  The Library of Congress' massive database on the first century of U.S. lawmaking.
• United States House of Representatives  The official web site of the Clerk of the House.
• United States Senate  The official web site of the Senate.
• Virtual Tour of the U.S. Capitol  Why take a field trip?

Non-U.S.

• 10 Downing Street  Home and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• Canada: Statistics  Extensive statistical information about Canada. Available in both English and French.
• Houses of Parliament (UK)
• The Scottish Executive  the devolved government for Scotland
• United Kingdom Official Documents

Specific Contemporary Issues Resources

• The Affirmative Action and Diversity Project  Sponsored by the University of California, Santa Barbara, this site contains numerous contemporary essays on all aspects of the affirmative action dedate. Also contains some primary source documents related to the topic.
• The Agreement Between the United Kindom and Northern Ireland  (The actual document)
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A History of American Sweatshops 1820 - Present  Smithsonian's National Museum of American History creates a virtual exhibit that is packed with data hidden in pictures and charts. Brings the history to the present sweatshop dilema.
• Civil Rights Law and History  A site created by the Department of justice that explains its role in civil rights.
• Little Criminals  Frontline does juvenile crime. Wonderful current articles.
• Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses  The Final Report of the Committee as well as other documents on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses
• Immigration and Naturalization Statistics  Current statistics maintained by the I.N.S.
• Last Battle of the Gulf War  Frontline program on the Gulf War Syndrome. Site features include special reports and studies about the syndrome, maps, a chronology of the affliction and other eye-opening documents.
• The Myth of The Melting Pot  A series of articles from the Washington Post .
• Policy.Com  Name a recent policy topic and this site has a concise explanation of all sides plus links to more in-depth research. A great site for NSL B.
• Race In America: The Atlantic Monthly Unbound Roundtable Discussion  Contains position papers and discussions from various sides of this important issue.
• Schools Banning Land Mines
• Shielded From Justice   The 1998 Human Rights Watch Report on Police Brutality in the United States

U.S. Political Parties

• Democratic Party
  • Democratic National Committee
  • US House Democratic Leadership
  • US Senate Democratic Leadership Committees

• Green Parties
  • Green Parties of North America

• Libertarian Party
  • Libertarian Party

• Natural Law Party
  • Natural Law Party

• Reform Party
  • Reform Party

• Republican Party
  • Republican National Committee
  • US Senate Republican Policy Committee
  • House Republican Conference

• Socialist Party
  • Socialist Party's home page

• U.S. Taxpayers Party
  • U.S. Taxpayers Party

Political Philosophy and Theory

• CNN/Time AllPolitics
• Turn Left: The Home of Liberalism on the Web
• From Marx to Mao Contains full text versions of the primary works of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao.
• The World's Smallest Political Quiz An online quiz that charts results on the political spectrum. Sponsored by the Libertarian Party.

Political Polls

• Gallup Poll DataResults of Gallup polls on President Clinton, Congress, and elections from 1936 to 1996.

Voting Patterns

• Census Bureau Statistics on Voting and Registering 1964 - Present
• 1994 Congressional Elections Voting Patterns  A one page table of statistics.
• Voter Turnout and the 1998 Elections  A series of articles from Roll Call.
• 1-888-VOTE-SMART   A free service to find out how represenatives voted, campaign finances, etc.

Search for other resources