Resources
Search Primo for books, ebooks, articles, and more. *There is a separate search for U.S. & international newspapers.
Searching Tips
Exact phrase searching limits your search to multiple terms in the precise order specified. For example, searching for "United Kingdom" will only find results that include those three words side by side and in that order.
Wildcard Searching
Search terms can include a wildcard at the end. The wildcard character is the asterisk (*). For example, to retrieve results that contain the words democracy and democratic, enter democra* in the search box.
Citation Trails
This is an exploration tool that helps users find related articles and explore the topic further. You will not always see citation trails, but if citations are available, you can view related citations that are either cited in the record 
in your results list or which cite the record 
in your results list.
Search like a pro in Primo!
- Create an Effective Search Strategy (6 min)
- Narrow and Evaluate Results (5 min)
- Follow the Citation Trail (3 min)
- Columbia International Affairs Online This link opens in a new window
CIAO is designed to be the most comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs that includes working papers from university research institutes, papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and conference proceedings.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowComplete back runs of scholarly journals beginning with the first issues and continuing to within 3-5 years of the present.
Annual Publication of the CIA, provides statistical and text data on all the nations of the world - political, social, economic, and demographic.
Prepared by the Law Library of Congress, includes links to free online resources regarding information on a country's constitution; executive, legislative and judicial branches; legal guides; and general sources.
Statistical time series for countries from around the world covering a wide range of topics including Agriculture, Crime, Education, Employment, Energy, Environment, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Development, Industry, Information and Communication Technology, National Accounts, Population, Refugees, Tourism, Trade, as well as the Millennium Development Goals indicators. Includes links to the key statistical agencies of individual countries.
PARLINE Database on National Parliaments
PARLINE is the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) database on national parliaments. It contains authoritative information on the structure and working methods of every national parliament.
WDI is a database of global information and statistics compiled yearly.
Facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states. US State Dept.
Describes and analyzes the historical setting and the social, economic, political systems and institutions of countries throughout the world. Library of Congress.
Assesses political rights and civil liberties. By country.
Political Database of the Americas
Sponsored by the Georgetown University Center for Latin American Studies, the Political Database of the Americas contains information on the institutional, constitutional and political structures of the region. The main objective of the Database project is the development of a comprehensive source of documentary and statistical political information accessible throughout the Hemisphere and world via the World Wide Web. Covers 35 countries in North and South America.
Voter Turnout from 1945 to Date: A Global Report on Political Participation
Published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in Sweden, this report "contains the most comprehensive global collection of political participation statistics available. Regularly updated voter turnout figures for national presidential and parliamentary elections since 1945 are presented country by country, using both the number of registered voters and voting age population as indicators."
Comparative Political Data Set
The "Comparative Political Data Set" (CPDS) is a collection of political and institutional country-level data provided by Prof. Dr. Klaus Armingeon and collaborators at the University of Berne. It consists of annual data for 36 democratic countries for the period of 1960 to 2017 or since their transition to democracy.
The Library of the United Nations. Many resources are available related to the functions and research needs of the UN.
UN iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
U.S. Dept of State annual reports to Congress on the status of internationally recognized human rights practices per country. Online archive from 1999-present.
Country Reports on Religious Freedom
Describes the status of religious freedom in each foreign country, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world.
Reports on where terrorist acts have occurred, state sponsorship of terrorism and assessments of terrorist groups.
The Polity conceptual scheme is unique in that it examines concomitant qualities of democratic and autocratic authority in governing institutions, rather than discreet and mutually exclusive forms of governance. This perspective envisions a spectrum of governing authority that spans from fully institutionalized autocracies through mixed, or incoherent, authority regimes (termed "anocracies") to fully institutionalized democracies.
Survey of 100 countries gathering information on economic development, democratization, religion, gender, well-being, and other topics. Coverage 1981-2014.
The Congressional Research Service, a component of the Library of Congress, conducts research and analysis for Congress on a broad range of national policy issues.
US State Department A-Z Nations of the World
Factsheet, policy, and updates on individual nations.
Political Handbook of the World 2020-2021ISBN: 1544384726Publication Date: 2021Timely, thorough, and accurate political information. The most authoritative source for finding complete facts and analysis on each country’s governmental and political makeup.
Compiling in one place more than 200 entries on countries and territories throughout the world, this volume is renowned for its extensive coverage of all major and minor political parties and groups in each political system.
This course uses Chicago author-date style.
- Chicago Manual of Style Online This link opens in a new window
Complete 17th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style
- What's a DOI? (for journal articles)Many journal articles list a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). A DOI forms a permanent URL that begins https://doi.org/. This URL is preferable to the URL that appears in your browser’s address bar.
*If there is no DOI, include a URL or the name of the database in the reference entry. - Zotero BibFree Online Citation Creator
Select: Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (author-date)
This software will generate a bibliographic entry for copy and paste, though you are responsible for checking accuracy.
Notes from Class
- Global State of Democracy Indices (GSoD Indices)See the list of countries currently classified by regime type . Select a country other than the United States that appears coded in green.
Identify at least 10 sources that allow you to evaluate:
- The nature and function of democracy in your assigned country
- Assess the evidence of relationship between the factors influencing the function of democracy.