Introduction to Comparative Politics: POL229

Kathleen Dowley Spring 2009

Susan Kraat x3705 kraats@newpaltz.edu

Choose a country:

Argentina, Ukraine, Venezuela, South Africa, Egypt, South Korea, Nigeria, Turkey

Get an overview of your country in a subject specific encyclopedia or guide:

Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy [Ref E183.7 .E52 2002]

Encyclopedia of Democracy [Ref JC423 .E53 1995] 4 v.

Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought [Ref JC423 .E54 2001]

Encyclopedia of the European Union [Ref JN30.E52 1998]

Human Rights Worldwide: A reference handbook [Ref JC571. K23 2006]

International Encyclopedia of Human Rights: Freedoms, Abuses, and Remedies [Ref JC571 .M3243 2000]

The Europa World Yearbook [Stacks JN1.E85] (Latest volume at reference desk)

The Statesman’s Yearbook [Stacks JA51.S7] (Latest volume at reference desk)

Refine and, if necessary, narrow your topic:

South Korea actively pursues the ideal of a united Korea.

Nigeria has made an effort to improve human rights over the past five years.

How have the recent “electoral violations” in Egypt affected its treatment of its citizens?

Is Venezuela really a democracy?

Search the STL Catalog for books in this library:

Use “Subject begins with” for terms which are probably a subject heading:

Political crimes and offenses – South Africa

Political corruption - Nigeria

Venezuela —politics and government - 1999 –

Democratization

Use “Word (s) anywhere” for proper names, unique phrases:

South Korea democracy

Ukraine and elections

Venezuela and human rights

¨ Search electronic subscription databases via the library web page (lib.newpaltz.edu) for journal articles on your topic. Use database by subject, Political Science for the most often used databases: http://137.140.20.74/infotree/resourcesbysubject.asp?subject=Political+Science

CountryWatch: statistical information, “freedom rankings,” plus news archive

Columbia International Affairs Online (C.I.A.O.): foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals, and policy briefings.

Academic Search Premier (Ebsco): multidisciplinary database w/some full text. (Limit to peer-reviewed for scholarly journals.) You may wish to combine with another Ebsco database, such as Military and Government Collection.

Historical New York Times (Proquest): full text from 1851 - 2003

JSTOR: great resource for archived articles from scholarly journals.

Project Muse is much like JSTOR, but with more current full text. (There is some overlap with JSTOR and you may search both at the same time.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center: complete one-stop source for information on current events and social issues

P.A.I.S. International (Public Affairs Information Service): [May be combined with Worldwide Political Science Abstracts].

ProQuest: search for scholarly journals, magazines & newspapers; some with full text and images

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe: excellent source for U.S. and international news, legal information, as well as media transcripts)

Worldcat: search for materials in other libraries

¨ Use Find it at New Paltz for full text access in other databases, in the library, or using Interlibrary Loan (Illiad) : http://library.newpaltz.edu/assistance/finditatnp.pdf (quick guide)

¨ Check out the “Finding Full Text” guides for assistance finding full text in another database, in print, or via Interlibrary Loan: http://library.newpaltz.edu/research_areas/business/tutorialsandguides.html

Two important journal titles for information related to democracy are:

Ø Current History (print subscription in STL plus some availability online via ProQuest)

Ø Journal of Democracy (print subscription in STL, plus some availability online via ProQuest)

¨ Web Sites

Freedom House Country Reports: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=21&year=2008

(Founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, Wendell Willkie, and other Americans concerned with threats to peace and democracy, Freedom House is a vigorous proponent of democratic values and an opponent of dictatorships of the far left and the far right.)

Foreign Government Sources on the Web: University of Michigan at http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/foreign.html

Country Studies: Library of Congress’ page at http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Updated 2/13/09