Research Guides: HIST 302/COM 497: History of Presidential Debate: U.S. Government Information Resources

Resources

Many U.S. Government information resources provide information on presidential campaigns and debates. Examples of these include:

Voting and Voter Registration
Census Bureau data collected on voting and voter registration.

Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
Annual compendium of statistics from government and nongovernmental sources produced by the Census Bureau from 1878-2012 and ProQuest from 2013-present.

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Biographical information on members of Congress from 1774-present.
Electoral College
The Electoral College process consists of the selection of the electors, the meeting of the electors where they vote for President and Vice President, and the counting of the electoral votes by Congress.
Federal Election Commission
Independent agency responsible for regulating federal elections. Features extensive campaign finance information.
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Organization established by the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to carry out election administration reforms.
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
A series of debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas for a seat in the U.S. Senate.
Commission on Presidential Debates
Organization responsible for sponsoring presidential and vice-presidential debates.
Presidential Campaign Songs
Library of Congress collection of presidential campaign songs.

ProQuest Congressional Publications
Provides access to historic and recent U.S. Government publications from 1789-1969 on including U.S. Congressional Serial Set documents, federal agency reports, congressional committee publications including reports on legislation, statistics, maps, and congressional debates.
Coverage includes Congressional Record and predecessor publication debates from 1789-1997 and Executive branch agency publications not included in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set from 1789-1932.
Measuring Worth This link opens in a new window
Collection of publicly available high quality and the most reliable historical economic data on nominal (current-price) measures and real (constant-price measures). Data presented here covers the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Spain. Examples of featured data sets cover topics such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Consumer Price Index (CPI), wages, earnings, interest rates, stocks, and currency exchange rates with coverage of these items varying from county-to-country.

Bush v. Gore
2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision deciding this election by stopping Florida recount efforts. Courtesy of Cornell University Law School.
Presidential Libraries and Records
Purdue Libraries research guide on Presidential Libraries and Records by Professor Bert Chapman.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
The Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service (CRS) presents unbiased reports on various public policy issues for members of Congress, their staff, and the American public.