Subject Guide: Elections 2004

Elections 2008 Subject Guide

Compiled and updated by Jennifer Santomauro, Prof. Michael Waldman and Prof. Jerry Bornstein. Please send updated information and comments to Michael Waldman.

Candidates

Typically, the candidates (and non-candidates) listed here also feature a blog on the website. The blog describes the candidate’s daily activities. The website includes information about the candidate’s stand on political issues as well as other relevant information like travel, associations and campaign organization.

Democratic Candidates

Republican Candidates

Independent Candidates

Debates

Presented in partnership with CNN. Persons submit questions via video to YouTube and CNN airs the video and the candidates’ responses in debate format.        

Major Parties

Here are listed Web sites for major parties that are eligible for federal campaign financing.

Minor Parties (Incomplete list)

Conventions

  • Democratic National Convention:
    Denver, Colorado, August 25th-28th, 2008.
    More information:
    http://www.dems2008.org

  • Republican National Convention:
    St. Paul, Minnesota, September 1st-4th, 2008.
    More information: http://www.gopconvention.com/
    Endorsed George W. Bush and Dick Cheney

Political Blogs

Issues

Broad comparisons on a variety of issues

Democracy.net, by the League of Women Voters:
In a table format, the League provides the positions of the candidates on the issues.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/e4/dnet/?gridid=57361

CQ Politics:
Features headlines and a blog of current events and a section for 2008 Presidency (link at righthand on site), including a candidate list and an election timeline.
http://www.cqpolitics.com/

CNN Election Center 2008:
Comprehensive guide to candidate information, issues, campaign finance, primaries and other relevant election information.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/

Project Vote Smart:
Tracks performance of over 13,000 political leaders at the federal and state levels, including biographies, addresses, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, and evaluations by special interest groups. Tracks status of pending legislation, examines voting records and the text of bills. Provides access to information on elections, federal and state governments, the issues, and politics. Produced by the non-partisan Center for National Independence in Politics (CNIP).
http://www.vote-smart.org/

Campaign Finance

Brookings Institute Campaign Finance
This site focuses on campaign finance law and administration, providing background information on current law and regulations, tracking important legal developments in court cases and administrative decisions, and reporting on proposed new legislation and other reform proposals.
http://www.brook.edu/campaignfinance/

Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics is a non-partisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics, and its effect on elections and public policy.
http://www.opensecrets.org

CQ Moneyline
Information available free of charge includes daily news briefs, individual contributions to candidates, and related campaign finance data all accessible from the front page of the site. However, information about candidates, lobbying and PACs/527s is available for a fee. Before you pay for any information, consult a librarian to find out if you can access this information elsewhere and free of charge.
http://moneyline.cq.com

FundRace 2008
Presents calculations based on records filed with the FEC of contributions by all individuals totaling more than $200 (and some totaling less than $200) to a single Republican or Democratic presidential campaign or national committee. Searchable by neighborhood.
http://www.fundrace.org/

Public Campaign
News and analysis on the role of special interests’ money in politics.
http://www.publicampaign.org/

 

Voter Information

  • Federal Voting Assistance Program:
    http://www.fvap.gov/index.html
    Provides information for US citizens on voting, in particular on the absentee voters.

General Election Information

  • CampaignSearch.com:
    http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/index.html
    CampaignSearch.com has gathered campaign-related video and audio files from a number of Web sites: George Bush's and John Kerry's campaign Web sites, C-SPAN, PBS, NPR and more.
  • Federal Election Commission
    http://www.fec.gov/
    An independent regulatory agency, the FEC administers and enforces the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) - the statute that governs the financing of federal elections.
  • U.S. Electoral College
    http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/
    The Office of the Federal Register (OFR) informs citizens of their rights and obligations by providing ready access to the official text of Federal laws, Presidential documents, administrative regulations and notices, and descriptions of Federal organizations, programs and activities.

Political Advertisement/Media/Satire

  • FactCheck:
    http://www.factcheck.org
    The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It examines 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.
  • Living Room Candidate:
    http://livingroomcandidate.movingimage.us/index.php
    Innovative online exhibition presenting more than 250 television commercials from every election year beginning in 1952, when the first campaign ads aired, and including ads from this year's campaign. Visitors can watch nearly four hours of TV commercials and explore the expanding world of Web-based political advertising. The site includes a searchable database and features commentary, historical background, election results, and navigation organized by both year and theme.

Electoral Statistics

  • National Election Studies (NES)
    NES conducts national surveys of the American electorate in presidential and midterm election years and carries out research and development work through pilot studies in odd-numbered years.
    http://www.umich.edu/~nes/

Books at the Newman Library

Here is a selected listing of books and periodicals on elections available at the Newman Library.

  • America votes

    Stacks, non-circulating, JK1967.A8

  • Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. elections

    Reference 2nd Floor - JK 1967 .C662

  • Congressional Quarterly's politics in America

    Reference 2nd Floor - JK 1012 .P64

  • Election data book: a statistical portrait of voting in America

    Reference 2nd Floor, JK 1967 .E4

  • The Facts on File dictionary of American politics

    Reference 2nd Floor, JK 9 .H54 2001


    *For more books, some of the relevant subject headings that can be searched are:

      • Campaign funds--United States
      • Democratic Party (U.S.)
      • Electioneering--United States
      • Lobbying--United States
      • Political action committees--United States
      • Political participation--United States
      • Presidents--United States--Election--1972
      • Pressure groups--United States
      • Republican Party (U.S. : 1854-)
      • United States--Elections
      • Voting--United States

        To use CUNY+, our library's online catalog, go to: http://apps.appl.cuny.edu:83/F
        For help using the catalog or searching for relevant subjects, please see a librarian http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/e_ref/default.htm

Electronic Databases

Here are listed the databases which have the most content regarding elections. Be aware that there might be others not listed here that might have relevant information. Please consult a librarian if you cannot find what you are looking for or need more information.

The Library's main database page is at:
http://newman.baruch.cuny.edu/search/databases.php

  • Alt-Press Watch
    Alternative and independent press collection of full-text database of newspapers, magazines, journals and newsletters. 1995 to date.
  • Academic Search Premier
    Full text access to nearly 3,200 magazines and journals covering various academic areas of study.
  • CQ Encyclopedia of American Government
    A to Z coverage of the Congress, the Presidency, Supreme Court, and U.S. Election process from the Revolution to the present. Includes essays and shorter articles.
  • CQ Researcher
    The CQ Researcher provides factual and objective information on current, emerging and controversial topics. This full-text database, updated weekly, presents various opinions, provides milestone dates, explores the merits of opposite viewpoints, and leads to more sources for research. Coverage begins with 1991.
  • Ethnic Newswatch
    Ethnic NewsWatch contains a full-text collection of articles, editorials, and reviews published in the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic minority and native press. Ethnic NewsWatch, which is available in both English and Spanish, provides multicultural coverage of subjects of general interest with special focus on African-American, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Native American, Asian-American, Jewish, Arab-American and European-American news.
  • Factiva
    Factiva (formerly Dow Jones Interactive) is a full-text database that provides global news, business and financial information from newspapers, magazines, newswires, and trade journals. It includes information on companies and industries, SEC filings, and financial profiles. Please LOGOUT from Factiva when done.
  • Facts on File
    Facts On File World News Digest is a database providing news summaries of U.S. and World news for the years 1980-present. Updated weekly.
  • Lexis-Nexis
    The LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe is a full-text database that provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal and reference information compiled specifically for the research needs of academic institutions. LEXIS-NEXIS may be searched for general, company, industry, legal and government news, company financial information, country and state profiles, biographical information, medical abstracts, law reviews, U.S. code, constitution and court rules, and state legal research.
  • Opposing Viewpoints
    The Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center database provides information on top social issues such as birth control, civil rights, crime, Women's rights and more. Available material for each topic includes articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to web sites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

 

Compiled by Prof. Michael Waldman, with help from Prof. Jerry Bornstein. Please send updated information and comments to Michael Waldman.

 

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