SS 1303: American Public Policy

K. Rissmiller

General Information

STEP 1: Choose a policy problem. For example: "Medicare: Can it be fixed or should it be scrapped." Need ideas? Browse...

Congressional Digest. Monthly. Current Periodicals - Third Floor. This is indexed in the Gale PowerSearch database.
Public Agenda
Policy Almanac

STEP 2: Identify a policy or set of policies that are in place to address your problem: Preliminary research using web search engines, encyclopedias, government web sites, and article databases.

Dictionary of American History. New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. Reference E174 A43 2003.
Example narrowed topics resulting from research: Social Security Administration, Medicaid, Lyndon B. Johnson, Social Security Amendments of 1965, Medicare reform, Prescription Drug Plan, Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.

STEP 3: Explain some of the policy history, that is, when was this policy adopted, who promoted it, what compromises were made, etc.: Use books, and article databases.

STEP 4: Do/can any of the models explained in Kraft and Furlong and/or policy typologies help to explain the policies or evolution of the policies that are researching: compare what you've learned to textbook.

STEP 5: Explain why the policy is adequate or inadequate: article databases.

Gale PowerSearch: Database of abstracts and full text articles in newspapers, magazines, and journals.
JSTOR: Online archive of complete backruns of scholarly journals in a variety of academic fields.
PAIS International: Contains references to articles on public affair and government issues from article databases/journals, books, government documents and statistical data/information.

STEP 6: Identify policy options that are now (or should now) be under consideration by policy makers: Newspapers, government documents, and organizations (try SpeakOut.com).

GPO Access: A service of the U.S. Government Printing Office that provides free electronic access to over 1,000 databases of Federal Government information.
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications : Includes references to congressional committee reports and hearings, debates, documents from executive departments.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe: Provides a wide range of full text news, legal, and business information. Over 5,000 full text publications are included.
THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet: Includes Bill status and summary, text of bills, Congressional Record and House and Senate Committee reports.

STEP 7 & 8: Your thoughts, synthesis and analysis, proposals and solutions.

Only Finding a Citation? Getting the Full Text

Is the journal online or here in the library? Search our Journals, Magazines, & Newspapers list
Visit another library: Search WorldCat to find one
Request delivery from another library: Interlibrary Loan.

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Last modified: Feb 21, 2008, 17:11 EST