Research Guides: Political Science 381: Introduction to Research Design: U.S. State Government

Tracking Bills in Congress or State Legislatures

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
After you log in to your Nexis Uni account and search, you can create an alert to monitor changes to a bill going through the legislative process. You can create these alerts from a full text bill or a bill tracking document. Once logged in you will see a bell icon at the top of the results screen

State Level Policy Research

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Find state bills, laws, regulations and cases. For most states bill coverage goes back to mid-1990s.

National Conference of State Legislatures
NCSL provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues.
Open States
Search recent legislation and track bill progress
State Government Information (Library of Congress)
Links to state governments
Michigan Documents can be found in Library Catalog Search
The Hatcher Graduate Library is a depository for state of Michigan documents. You can locate these documents by using the Library Catalog Search.

Resources for comparison of state laws

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Find state bills, laws, regulations and cases. For most states bill coverage goes back to mid-1990s.

National Conference of State Legislatures
Open access to all internet users.
National Survey of State Laws
2019 edition available online from HeinOnline

Comparing State Governments and Performance

Council of State Governments Knowledge Center
Data and reports from the CSG organized by policy issue
Book of the States Online
Comparisons for states and territories with tables, charts and figures illustrating how state government operates. It also includes more than 30 articles from state leaders, innovative thinkers, noted scholars and CSG’s in-house policy experts that analyze and report on the transformations taking place in state government.
Book of the States in hard copy in the library
Volumes back to 1935

Statistics on US States

Data-Planet Statistical Datasets
Finance data for cities and townships. Many other indicators go down to county, city or school district.

ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new window
Best bet for statistics on the population, economy and life in the US from 1878 to present.

ProQuest Statistical Insight
Provides general demographic data of federal government, state and local, and international level. Search abstract allows uses to search the abstracts of statistical publications from business and federal and state govrenment. This search engine provides outcomes based on keywords that users input. UM users only.
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Publisher:
ProQuest

Main Users:
Students and faculties of various social science departments.

Contents
**More specific information please see LexisNexis Satistical Insight Guide book :
http://www.lnstatistical.com/help/statistical/LN%20guidebook.pdf

* Source : Three optional abstracts modules titled American Statistics Index (ASI), Statisitical Reference Index (SRI), and Index to International Statistics (IIS) are available.

1) The American Statistics Index (ASI) abstracts and indexes statistical documents produced by the federal governments. (Coverage from 1973 onward)
2) The Statistical reference Index ( SRI) abstracts and indexes statistical documents from state, local, university and private sources including professional and trade associations,
independent research organizations, and consumer and trade magazines. (Coverage from
1980 onward)
3) The Index to International Statistics (IIS) abstracts and indexes statistical documents from
approximately 100 international intergovernmental organizations, including the United Nations, the European Union, and development banks. (Coverage from 1983 onward)

* Data Breakdowns by
Age/ Commodity/ disease or cause of death/ educational attainment/ government agency/ income/ individual company or institution/ industry/ martial status/ occupation/
race and ethnic group/ sex/ urban rural and metro nonmetro

* Subject
Animals/ Business income and expenses/ Employment and unemployment/ Business firms and establishments, number/ Veterinary medicine/ Animal diseases and zoonoses/ Population characteristics/ Pet food and supplies/ Statistical compendia/ Firearms

Data Format:
PDF, GIF, and excel(XLS)
The abstracts and citations can be printed; Users can export search results to Endnote and Refworks.
State and Local Government Finances and Employment
From the Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States. Provides data on revenues, expenditures, debt, and employment of state and local governments.
globalEDGE
International business and trade information on all 50 U.S. states. In addition to demographic, economic, and historical information on each state, you will find data on corporations with headquarters in each state, and links to state-specific resources.
Federal, State and Local Government
It is a part of The Census Bureau’s statistical databases. It provides 2012 Census of Government, government employment and payroll, Government Finance Statistics, federal spending on selected programs, annual/quarterly survey of tax revenue for state and local governments, list and structure of governments from 1992 and on. It also provides Criminal Justice Statistics, Elementary-Secondary Education Statistics, and Library Statistics.

SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
Allows you to create thematic maps and reports using demographic, business and marketing data.

State Blue Books

State Blue Books (ALA Godort)
States create manuals, often called Blue Books, that describe the organizational structure.

Michigan

State of Michigan Official Web Site

State of Michigan Web Sites - A breakdown of content areas, agencies and branches of government.

Citizen's Guide to State Government, published by the Michigan Legislature.

Who your representatives are and tips on contacting legislators.
How a bill becomes a law.
State committees and subcommittees.
Contact information for Michigan departments (e.g. Dept. of Agriculture, Education, Corrections, Civil Rights)

MIRS News This link opens in a new window
News from Michigan's legislative, executive and judicial branches