Researching Elections and Political Parties
Here you will find links to popular sources for researching topics on elections and political parties.
To find articles and books on this topic, also use the tabs on this page for
Photo from "I Do Solemnly Swear . .": Presidential Inagurations from the Library of Congress.
Election Information and Statistics
- American National Election StudiesData from surveys of voting, public opinion, and political participation.
- The American Presidency ProjectContains 101,966 documents related to the study of the Presidency, including text of national party platforms from 1840-2012.
- American Rhetoric: Online Speech BankDatabase of and index to 5000+ full text, audio and video versions of public speeches, sermons, legal proceedings, lectures, debates, interviews, other recorded media events.
- Apportionment Date from the U.S. Census BureauApportionment is the process by which the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are divided among the states based on popularion. The Census Bureau's interactive map (see bottom of that page) enables users to view 10 decades of apportionment history.
- Campaign Ad ArchiveArchive of campaign ads from 1994-present from Stanford's Political Communication Lab.
- Campaign MoneySearchable data on Presidential, Congressional, and state office campaign contributions.
- Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential ElectionsMaps and data on presidential polling and election results.
- The Living Room CandidateContains more than 300 commercials, from every presidential election since 1952.
- Mayoral Election ResultsFrom the U.S. Conference of Mayors
- National Journal.comPolitics and policy news.
- NCSL: Elections& CampaignsNational Conference of State Legislatures provides information on state legislation affecting elections.
- Official Vote CountsSince 1920, the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives has collected and published the official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories.
- Open SecretsTracks the influence of money on U.S. politics.
- Patchwork NationA demographic/geographic breakdown of the nation into 12 different kinds of communities.
- Pew Research Center Publications on Politics and ElectionsList of Pew Research Center Reports since 2005. Use the topics drop down menu to find reports about specific elections, including Election '12 and Election '08.
- Presidential Debate TranscriptsUnofficial transcripts of most presidential and vice presidential debates from 1960-present are made available by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
- Project Vote SmartExcellent source for searchable collection of official public statements and links for national and local campaign finance reports.
- Public Opinion PollsCollection of resources for finding public opinion polls.
- Voting and Registration DataInformation on reported voting and registration by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics by the U.S. Census Bureau.
