Resources

All Voters – Comprehensive sites

  • Electionline.org
    Pew Center on the States, a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts, provides current, reliable and unbiased information to the media and the public, including daily news updates from major sources, detailed election calendars, sample ballots, ballot questions, state rules, and contact information for each contest in 2008.

  • Elections 2008 (U. Mich)
    Umbrella site with links to parties, candidates, issues, processes. Covers congressional as well as presidential races. Up to date and reliable. Entire site can be searched. Great starting point.

  • FactCheck
    From Penn’s Annenberg Public Policy Center. Ask specific questions, subscribe to RSS feed, check the archives for facts from 2006 and 2004 elections.

  • Politicalbase
    Comnon-partisan site that graphically tracks contributions at state, city, local levels, shows running polling results on issues and potential candidate pairs, and lets viewers create personal comparisons of candidates based on issues. Site welcomes user-generated content that complies with guidelines.

  • Politifact Truth-O-Meter
    The St. Petersburg Times and CQ (Congressional Quarterly) check ads, speeches, statements for “facts” and provide context, analysis, and contradictions.

 

First time voters

 

Absentee ballot voters

 

Republicans, Democrats and other party member affiliates


 

Independent and undecided voters

Presidentialelection.com - a non-partisan site with links to local, state, and federal government offices and information sources.

 

Issue-oriented voters

Authoritative, non-partisan background information:

  • Congressional Research Service, a branch of the Library of Congress, prepares highly authoritative background information for Congress and congressional staffers. Some of the CRS Reports are available to the public courtesy of the University of North Texas Library.
  • CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Researcher – summaries of current hot topics http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ (Drexel only)
  • CQ (Congressional Quarterly) Weekly – Full text online magazine of government, politics, and commerce. Easy access to floor votes by topic. Excellent summaries of major legislative issues. http://library.cqpress.com/cqweekly/ (Drexel only)
  • Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (Drexel only)
  • Popular sites
  • SourceWatch from the Center for Media and Democracy updates Congressional activities( a wiki), and provides portals on hot topics, such as Energy and the Environment or Immigration.
  • PresidentialElection.com: See the "Student Center" tab for issue-oriented portals.

Advocacy groups and single issues sites:

  • Abortion
  • NARAL Pro-Choice America. Includes a "Candidate Quiz" on pro-life/pro-choice positions of Presidential hopefuls, as well as news, issue summaries, and information on upcoming elections.

  • National Right to Life. In contrast, this sitepresents arguments and information that support a strong pro-life position.  Updates on legislation, general news, and link. (Warning: explicit graphical content.)
  • Civil rights
  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Since its founding in 1920, this nonpartisan and nonprofit organization with more than 500,000 members has defended basic freedoms (freedom of speech, association, religion and the press); equal protection rights; and rights to due process and privacy. The ACLU litigates nearly 6,000 cases each year, whether popular or unpopular. Its web site offers blogs, podcasts, RSS feeds, and updates by topic. Current issues include restoring habeas corpus rights for detainees, defending net neutrality, US Patriot Act It’s "Congressional Scorecord" ranks legislators based on their voting record on civil rights and civil liberties issues.

  • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) As the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, the NAACP has fought racial discrimination in employment, housing, voting rights, education, and public accommodations since 1909. Among its most notable achievements was the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that separate (segregated) schools were not, in fact, equal. In its Legislative Report Card for each Congress, the organization reports on Congressional action on civil-rights related bills and ranks legislators.

  • The Federalist Society Founded on the principles that “the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be”, this Washington based organization actively lobbies for conservative and libertarian viewpoints and comments on current judicial and legal issues.

  • Claremont Institute for the Study of Statemanship and Political Philosophy Through its Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, the Institute seeks “to restore the constitutional principles adopted by our nation's Founders,” which it defines as “recovering a limited and accountable government that respects private property, promotes stable family life, and maintains a strong defense.”
  • Energy and Environment
  • Sierra Club Calling itself "America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization," the Sierra Club lobbies actively through its 1.3 million members for energy conservation and environmental protection. On this site, check out the Politics and Issues section and Take Action.

  • PERC (Property and Environment Research Center) PERC believes private property and free markets foster greater environmental conservation, that government control worsens environmental protection, and that polluters ought to be liable for harm to others. Its research initiatives seek to bring market solutions to environmental problems.

  • National Council for Science and the Environment posts relevant, detailed, and highly reliable reports from the Library of Congress’s Congressional Research Service.

  • Climate Ark From Ecological Internet, this climate change and global warming portal bills itself as: The Original Biocentric Climate Science, Policy & Advocacy Search Engine. Good source for current news and data on global warming.
  • Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. This group advocates "progressive gun laws" and provides information about national gun control initiatives and international arms sales. See it "Bullet Counter Point" blog for current news updates.

  • Gun Laws, Gun Control, and Gun Rights. The Jurist: Legal News and Research offers online national and international legal news.  Its Topics section covers issues by country and state, as well as by subject.  Good for current awareness and factual background.
  • Health Care
  • American Medical Association (AMA). As the major professional organizations of physicians in the United States, the AMA lobbies for legislation that is friendly to its members’ interests.  See its Advocacy Agenda for current initiatives.

  • Physicians for a National Health Program. This group of physicians, medical students, and others supports single-payer national health insurance.

  • National Health Policy Forum. A non-partisan group of experts that provides research information to government officials and Congressional staff in order to support evidence-based policy decisions. 

  • The Cato Institute The Institute, a non-profit public policy research foundation based in Washington, D.C., “seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace.” The Institute’s health care studies advocate deregulation, consumer choice, the elimination of employment-based insurance, and free market alternatives to manager care.
  • Intellectual Property/ Media / Copyright
  • Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). RIAA is aggressively pursuing illegal downloading of music and taking legal action against college students in particular. See Piracy: Online and On The Street for the industry point of view.

  • Open Content Alliance. A cooperative effort by a group of cultural, technology, nonprofit, and governmental organizations that aggressively support public access to information in digital format.  Its Internet Archive is a repository or text, music, moving and still images that are available for use without cost or permission.  The Way Back Machine captures and saves web sites. Check out Drexel’s 1997 Web site!

  • Copyright & Fair Use. From the Stanford University Libraries, a portal that collects and organizes primary sources, current legislation, links to organizations and associations, and FAQs on copyright and intellectual property issues.