Websites
Demography:
- American Factfinder - Draw Congressional District boundary maps by first going to Tools > Reference Maps. Then search or browse for name of state. Also includes census information
- Census - includes race, ethnicity, income, poverty levels, age, educational attainment
Voting history:
- American National Election Studies (ANES) Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior - data on voting, public opinion, and political participation
The candidates & campaigns:
- AFL-CIO Political Portal
- Brookings Institution Election Pages - election analysis articles from an independent, non-partisan research institution
- Factcheck.Org - from the University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg Public Policy Center - Monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases
- Federal Election Commission (FEC) Campaign Finance Reports and Data
- House Races - from the Open Directory Project. Links to candidates' sites
Other:
- Fair Vote - includes analysis of 2000 redistricting by state
- Polling Report's 2006 page
- Public Agenda Online - each issue includes background, public opinion & links
- Single issue sites
- SpeakOut.com Issues Page - pros and cons viewpoints
- Google issues directory
Reference Books
District voting history:
America at the Polls REF JK524 .A73
America Votes REF JK1967 .A8
Congressional Districs in the 2000s REF JK1341 .C67 2003
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections REF JK1967 .C662 2001
CQ's Politics in America REF JK1012 .C63
Election Data Book: a Statistical Portrait of Voting in America REF JK524 .E43
Elections A-Z REF JK1976 .M57 1999
Statistical History of the American Electorate REF JK1967 .R87 2001
District demography:
Almanac of American Politics REF JK271.B343
County and City Databook REF HA 202 .A36 and partially online
Other:
How to Research Elections REF JK1976 .M377 2000
Guide to Political Campaigns in America REF JK2265 .G84 2005 (historical and background reading)
State and Local Government, 2005-2006 REF JK 2403 .S715 2005-2006
Articles in online newspapers and journals
All of these are available from off-campus. You will in most cases be prompted for your 14-digit barcode (from the back of your College ID). The number will begin 210110....
Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe - search for newspaper articles. Includes New York Times and regional newspapers(1980-present)
Academic Search Premier - search for articles from magazines and journals
Alternative Press Index - search for articles from radical and left journals (call x5074 for username & password)
Search in specific newspapers and magazines:
- Chicago Tribune (1985-present)
- Newsweek
- Time
- U.S. News & World Report