Subject and Course Guides: Public Policy Research: Policy Debate Resources

National Policy Debates

CQ : Congressional Quarterly Researcher
Provides snapshots of current affairs. Single-themed reports are researched and written by experienced observers from a range of viewpoints. From 1923 to present.
CQ Researcher Reports are published 44 times per year and cover political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the U.S. economy. Each 13,000-word CQ Researcher report is a unique work, investigated and written by a seasoned journalist.
Congressional Record
Official record of the proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress. From 1994 to present. Updated daily when Congress is in session.
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. GPO Access contains Congressional Record volumes from 140 (1994) to the present. At the back of each daily issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities.

The current year’s Congressional Record database is usually updated daily by 11 a.m., except when a late adjournment delays production of the issue.

CRS Reports from Congress
CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress
EveryCRSreport.com
EveryCRSReport.com is a project of Demand Progress in collaboration with the Congressional Data Coalition — a bipartisan coalition founded by Demand Progress and the R Street Institute to promote open legislative information.
Gov Track
GovTrack.us is an independent website tracking the status of legislation in the United States Congress and helping you participate in your national legislature. Here are some tips to get started.

Policy Commons
Policy Commons provides almost 2.5 million fulltext think-tank, agency, and city publications, including policy reports, administrative documents, books, project and campaign documents, working papers and discussion papers, journal articles, press releases, briefs, and brochures.

Chicago City Council Proceedings (1981 - Present)
The official record of each regularly scheduled City Council meeting.
The official record of City Council meetings and reflects all legislative actions. The Journal of the Proceedings is published prior to the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting.
Chicago City Council Proceedings Index (1833 - 1871)
Proceedings of the City Council before the Great Fire of 1871.
This database provides access to the working papers of the Chicago City Council for the period before the Great Fire. Until their rediscovery in 1983, these files were presumed to have been destroyed in that catastrophe.
Illinois Report
The Illinois Report is a current, nonpartisan review of critical issues facing the state of Illinois.
The Illinois Report is a nonpartisan review and analysis of the critical issues facing the state of Illinois. Published by the Institute for Government and Public Affairs [IGPA] a program of the University of Illinois.

Politico's Illinois Playbook
Shia Kapos' must-read rundown of political news in the Land of Lincoln
OpenStates.org
Open States is a collection of tools that make it possible for citizens to track what is happening in their state's capitol by aggregating information from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

The 50 Most Influential Think Tanks in the United States
The institutions on this list make up the 50 most influential think tanks in the United States.
Harvard Custom Think Tank Search
Think Tank Search searches the websites of institutions that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity. These sites are affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses. Inclusion is based upon the relevancy of subject area to HKS coursework and scholarship, the availability of the think tank’s research in full-text on the website, and the think tank’s reputation and influence upon policy making. The list represents a mixture of partisan and non-partisan think tanks.
MapLight.org
MapLight’s online tools and research bring transparency to government data and put a spotlight on the outsize influence of money in politics so that journalists and advocacy groups can hold lawmakers accountable.
OpenSecrets.org
Nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit, the Center for Responsive Politics is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Followthemoney.org merged with Open Secrets.
Wikipedia List of Think Tanks in the US
This is a list of notable think tanks in the United States.

Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
Provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University, Roper iPoll is the largest collection of public opinion poll data with results from 1935 to the present. Roper iPoll contains nearly 800,000 questions and over 23,000 datasets from both U.S. and international polling firms. Surveys cover any number of topics including, social issues, politics, pop culture, international affairs, science, the environment, and much more. When available, results charts, demographic crosstabs and full datasets are provided for immediate download.
The Roper Center is the world's largest archives of public opinion information. UIC users have access to the full datasets required to conduct bivariate and multivariate analyses on archived surveys using RoperExpress. The databank itself, iPOLL, is a comprehensive database of 500,000 questions and answers asked in the US since 1935.

PollingReport.com
An independent, nonpartisan resource
on trends in American public opinion
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. We do not take policy positions.