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Political science resources on the net: 

Poly-Cy:  Internet Resources for Political Science 
This is a guide to resources on the Internet for Political Science, Public Policy, Public Administration and  International Studies 

House of Representatives 
This site give an update on current information on legislation in the House. Learn about House structure and functions and look up your representative and get his or her voting record. 

Congressional Email Directory
Email members of Congress.  Very convenient way to email anyone in the House or Senate.  If you click on the person's name you can visit his or her Website and if you click on their email address and the email box comes up. If you don't know who your representative is click here.

The Senate
This site is similar to the House web page.  Learn about the latest information on bills before the Senate.  Study the operations of the chamber, look up your Senators and get their voting record. 

Political Science Resources on the Internet(Yahoo) 
This is a comprehensive site for elections, political humor, political parties, lobby groups, and public opinion 

C-Span Online 
C-Span online provides a list of current events as well as  directories of national, state and local officials. 

Official Federal Government Web Sites 
This site contains executive departments, independent agencies and links to judicial and legislative pages. If you can't find what your looking for here check the directory at the bottom of the page. 

Judicial Branch Resource 
Excellent site for the courts at the federal level.  It contains U.S. Court 
Finder.  This will help find cases at the national level.  It also has a 
separate listing for each level of the federal courts:  Supreme Court, 
Appeals Courts, and District Courts. If you scroll down past the information on the courts you will also find Congressional and 
Presidential information at this site. 

 Thomas:  Legislative Information on the Internet 
This site has just about anything you mighty be looking for on Congress including:  The Congressional Record, committee information, historical documents, current legislation. 

Welcome to the White House 
A very popular site here you can find information on the President and Vice President, an interactive citizen handbook, history of the White House. 

My Virtual Reference Desk
Excellent source of information including newspapers, magazines and interesting features such as references and research guides on a wide variety of topics 

CyberTimes Navigator 
The New York Times link to important Web sites they think journalists should know that is on the Web.  It contains information on search engines, national government sites, reference desks for hard to find facts, phone and email directories, news outlets, magazines, and political sites. 

The Politics of Cyberspace
This is an excellent beginners guide to politics and the internet.  The site answers basic questions such as, what available on the net, how to evaluate web sites and how the net is useful to political science. 

Thomas--Legislative Information on the Internet
Tells you what Congress is dealing with:  bills, House and Senate roll call votes, Congressional Record, Annals of Congress, committee information.  The place to start if you are looking for laws, lawmakers or bills in the process. 

Federal Government Agencies Directory
This site has federal agencies that are on the internet.  This is the location for the executive branch, the cabinet, boards and commissions.  Just about any agency in the federal government can be found here. 
 
 

American Political Science Association 

Midwest Political Science Association

Legislative Studies Quarterly

Library of Congress

Legi-Slate 

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Sentate

Office of Management & Budget

Federal Election Commision

Project Vote Smart

Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics

The White House
 

Supreme Court Decisions:  Hermes

Important Terms

authority - The right to use power.

bureaucrats - Appointed officials who operate government agencies and large corporations

bureaucratic theory - A theory that bureaucrats make the key governing decisions. According to this theory the influence of government bureaucracies has become so great that elected officials are almost powerless to affect policy.

client politics - Political activity in which the benefits of a policy are concentrated on a small, easily organized group while the costs are widely distributed among the public at large. These factors make the policy low in visibility and limit the role played by political parties. Such policies have become less common as more organized interests act on behalf of the public and as courts intervene more often in public policy disputes.

democracy - A word used to describe at least three different political systems that each embody the principle of popular rule, if only in the interests of the people. See democratic centralism, direct democracy, representative democracy.

democratic centralism - A form of democracy in which the true interests of the masses were discovered through discussion within the Communist party, and then decisions were made under central leadership to serve those interests.

direct (participatory) democracy - A form of democracy in which most, or all, of the citizenry participate directly by either holding office or making policy.

elite - An identifiable group of persons who possess a disproportionate share of some valued resource

elitist theory - A theory that a few top leaders make the key decisions without reference to popular desires.

entrepreneurial politics - Political activity in which the benefits of a policy are widely distributed but the costs are concentrated on a small group. The public is usually indifferent to such policies and must be mobilized through skilled leadership and the media. Emotional appeals using compelling symbols are frequently employed for this purpose. Government agencies created as a result of the policy are vulnerable to capture, with courts likely to intervene.

interest group politics - Political activity in which the costs of a policy are concentrated on a small group while the benefits are concentrated on a different but equally small group. Such policy proposals are generated by changing economic and social cleavages in society which force interests to organize. Political parties are usually divided and play no role in the resolution of the matter. The dispute over the policy will persist even after its passage or defeat, but in the bureaucratic or judicial arenas. Neither the president nor public opinion is a significant factor.

legitimacy - What makes a law or constitution a source of rightful power.

legitimacy barrier - A shared public belief that limits access to the political agenda, depending on whether an issue is considered an appropriate subject for government action. This barrier has collapsed as politics has become involved in nearly everything.

majoritarian politics - (1) A political system in which leaders are constrained to follow closely the wishes of the people. (2) Political activity in which the costs and benefits of a proposed course of action are widely distributed. The president and his advisers play the dominant role, with debate expressed in ideological terms. The outcome of the debate is often the institutionalization of a new worldview. The ideological nature of the policy diminishes once the policy is adopted and proves popular.

Marxist theory - (1) The ideology espoused by Karl Marx which holds that government is a reflection of economic forces, primarily ownership of the means of production. The economic structure of a society shapes its politics and determines political outcomes.

pluralist theory - A theory that holds that political resources are divided among different kinds of elites, giving relevant interest the chance to influence the outcome of decisions. Policies are made by conflict and bargaining among organizations that represent affected groups.

political power - Power used to determine who will hold government office and how the government will behave.

power - The ability of one person to cause another person to act in accordance with the first person's intentions.

power elite A political theory espoused by C. Wright Mills which holds that an elite of corporate leaders, top military officers, and key political leaders make most political decisions.

representative democracy - A political system in which political power is conferred on those selected by voters in competitive elections.

Weber, Max A - German historian and sociologist who criticized the theories of Karl Marx, arguing that all institutions have fallen under the control of large bureaucracies whose expertise is essential to the management of contemporary affairs.