Online Facts: Law, Government, and Politics
- Consolidated
Federal Funds Report (CFFR) The Census Bureau produces
this database of federal expenditures by locality. Searchable
by state, county, township, city and other regional subdivision.
Gives defense expenditures, grant awards, direct payments to
individuals, procurements, guaranteed loans, insurance, etc
- US
Supreme Court Decisions,1893-. FindLaw's
searchable database of Supreme Court decisions since 1893
(US Supreme Court Decisions: US Reports 150-, 1893-). This site
can be browsed by year and US Reports volume number or searched
by citation, case title or full text.
- United
States Constitution. Searchable full text of the
Constitution also includes extensive annotations of cases decided
by the Supreme Court to June 29, 1992. Prepared by the Congressional
Research Service for the US Senate.
-
is a digital
archive of over 70,000 declassified documents from the
Declassified
Documents Reference System. The period of coverage extends
from the mid 1940's to the 1970's.
- Treaties
In Force, "a list of treaties
and other international agreements of the United States in force
as of January 1, 1999." The PDF version of this print resource
has been made available by the United States Department of State.
Also available at this site from the Bureau of Verification
and Compliance are the full
texts of arms treaties in force
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- United
Nations Security Council Resolutions. Full text
resolutions from 1974-to present. Also includes Security Council
presidential statements; letters between the president of the
Security Council and the Secretary General; and Secretary General's
reports to the Security Council.
- is a full text resource offering
basic background on most contemporary issues of interest to
Congress. An excellent starting point for research into major
public issues, this source gives summary coverage to all sides
of the issues along with extremely useful bibliographies.
- Public
and Private Laws. The most recent
laws passed by the United States Congress. Searchable database
covers the 104th to 107th congresses.
- United
States Code (USC). The Codification of United States
Law as of January 16, 1996. Can be searched by keyword
under any of the fifty titles into which the USC is divided,
or by citation, or by popular name.
- Campaign
Finance disclosure The Center for Responsive politics
runs Open Secrets, an excellent database based on the financial
disclosure information required by law of all members of congress.
Open Secrets is searchable by member, offering detailed statistics
and useful summary graphics.
- Project Vote
Smart, from the Center for National Independence
in Politics, is "focused on providing citizens with information
about the political system, issues, candidates and elected officials."
It includes "Congress Track," which can be used to
trace legislation, and a directory of "Candidates &
Elected Officials," that consists of biographies, addresses,
issue positions, voting records, and information on campaign
finances.
- Public
Opinion Poll Question Database.
This is a site created by the Howard W. Odum Institute for Research
in Social Science At the University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill. A searchable collection of polling questions--including
response figures--covering Harris polls, Knight Foundation
polls, and a variety of other regional and State polls.
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- Economic
Report of the President, 1996-
present. Submitted within ten days of the President's budget.
Offers an analysis of economic trends, goals and a program.
- Copyright
Search is the U.S. Copyright Office's searchable
database of holders of copyright over books, music, serials,
documents etc. registered from 1978 to date. Can be searched
by Title, Author, Claimant or Registration Number.
- US
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) codifies
general and permanent rules previously published in the Federal
Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal
government. Searchable within any of its fifty titles, by citation
or by keyword.
- Edgar
SEC Filings, 1993-Present Full text of filings
required of publicly traded companies by the SEC. Included are10-K
Annual Financial Reports, 10-Q Quarterly Reports, 14D-1 Tender
Offer Statements, etc.
- Federal
Register, 1994-present. The current
updates of regulatory rulings published daily (except Saturday,
Sunday,and legal holidays).
- Product
Recalls from the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC). This database covering product recall notifications
back to the early 1980's, can be searched by "product type,"
or by company.
- MassLaw
is a news service from Lawyer's Weekly that
reports Massachusetts legal decisions.
- State
laws The Social Law Library, a
private legal research institute, offers links to Web-based
legal resources maintained by the various state governments.
These include state constitutions, codes, statutes, court decisions,
and the homepages of state governments and agencies.
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- GPO
Access is the federal government's official site
for access to US Government documents on the Internet.
- Congress.Org
includes directory information for Congress, the White House,
Cabinet departments, and state governors. It has a feature called
"Find your reps," which can identify congressional
representatives by ZIP Code, as well as by name and state.
- United
States Government Manual, 1995-2001.
The official handbook of the federal government, provides information
on the agencies of the legislative, judicial and executive branches.
It is available at the National Archives and Records Administration
site.