American Political Tradition

Democratic Party National Headquarters (donkey.gif) - logo first pictured in a January 15, 1870 political cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

Republican National Committee (http://en.wikipedia.org/ upload/e/ ed/Republicanlogo.jpg) - first important use of logo pictured in a November 7, 1874 political cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly.

American Political Tradition

Interesting Dates

February 11, 1254 - The British Parliament first convened.

April 25, 1507 - German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller first used term "America" on a world map to refer to the huge mass of land in the Western Hemisphere, in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.

August 18, 1587 - Virginia Dare became the first child of English parents to be born on American soil, on what is now Roanoke Island, NC.

April 26, 1607 - An expedition of English colonists went ashore at Cape Henry, VA to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

May 13, 1607 - The English colony at Jamestown, VA was settled. Some 100 English colonists settle along the west bank of the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. Dispatched from England by the London Company, the colonists had sailed across the Atlantic aboard the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. first colonial council was held by seven settlers whose names had been chosen and placed in a sealed box by King James I. The council, which included Captain John Smith, an English adventurer, chose Edward Wingfield as its first president. During the next two years, disease, starvation, and more Native American attacks wiped out most of the colony, but the London Company continually sent more settlers and supplies. 1609-1610 - severe winter, colonists referred to as "starving time," killed most of the Jamestown colonists, leading the survivors to plan a return to England in the spring. June 10, 1610 - Thomas West De La Warr, newly appointed governor of Virginia, arrived with supplies and convinced the settlers to remain at Jamestown. 1612 - John Rolfe cultivated the first tobacco at Jamestown, introducing a successful source of livelihood. April 5, 1614 - Rolfe married Pocahontas, thus assuring a temporary peace with Chief Powhatan.

July 30, 1619 - Governor Sir George Yeardley convened first elected legislative assembly in the New World--the House of Burgesses ("citizens") --convenes in the choir of the town's church in Jamestown, VA. First law, which, like all of its laws, would have to be approved by the London Company, required tobacco to be sold for at least three shillings per pound. Other laws passed during its first six-day session included prohibitions against gambling, drunkenness, and idleness, and a measure that made Sabbath observance mandatory.

November 11, 1620 - Forty-one Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Plymouth, Massachusetts; signed the Mayflower Compact calling for the establishment of a "Civil Body Politick" to enact "just and equal laws" for the governance of the first English colony in New England.

March 25, 1634 - Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by the second Lord Baltimore; first colonists to Maryland arrive at St. Clement's Island on Maryland's western shore and found the settlement of St. Mary's; 1632 - King Charles I of England granted a charter to George Calvert, the first Lord Baltimore, yielding him proprietary rights to a region east of the Potomac River in exchange for a share of the income derived from the land; named Maryland in honor of Henrietta Maria, the queen consort of Charles I.

March 29, 1638 - Swedish colonists (Swedish Lutherans) settled in present-day Delaware.

January 14, 1639 - In Hartford, Connecticut, the first constitution in the American colonies, the "Fundamental Orders," is adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford; a binding and compact frame of government that put the welfare of the community above that of individuals; first written constitution in the world to declare the modern idea that "the foundation of authority is in the free consent of the people"; 1662 - Charter of Connecticut superseded the Fundamental Orders; though the majority of the original document's laws and statutes remained in force until 1818.

March 7, 1644 - Massachusetts establishes 1st 2-chamber legislature in colonies.

March 24, 1664 - Roger Williams was granted a charter to colonize Rhode Island.

March 4, 1681 - England's King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn for an area of land that later became Pennsylvania.

March 14, 1743 - The first recorded town meeting in America was held, at Faneuil Hall in Boston.

May 19, 1749 - King George II of England granted the Ohio Company (founded primarily by Virginian planters in 1747) a charter of several hundred thousand acres of land around the forks of the Ohio River, promoted westward settlement by American colonists from Virginia. France had claimed the entire Ohio River Valley in the previous century, but English fur traders and settlers contested the claims. The royal chartering of the Ohio Company directly challenged the French claim to Ohio and was a direct cause of the outbreak of the French and Indian War in 1754. With the defeat of the French in 1763, the Ohio River and the Great Lakes areas were placed within the boundaries of Canada, and the Ohio Company was merged with another land company to better exploit the region. Settlers in Ohio resented these acts and joined the patriots in their struggle against the British in the American Revolution. In 1783, Ohio was ceded to the United States with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. In 1788, Marietta became the first permanent American settlement in what was known as the Old Northwest. During the next decade, Native Americans were suppressed and British traders were pushed out, and in 1799 Ohio became a U.S. territory. In 1803, it entered the Union as the 17th state.

March 17, 1756 - St. Patrick's Day 1st celebrated in New York City at Crown and Thistle Tavern; March 17, 1762 - First St. Patrick's Day parade in New York City as Irish soldiers serving in the British army held the first parade honoring St. Patrick, in New York City; March 17, 1989 - Dorothy Cudahy is 1st female grand marshal of St. Patrick Day Parade; March 17, 1991 - Irish Lesbians and Gays march in St. Patrick Day parade.

October 19, 1765 - The Stamp Act Congress, meeting in New York, drew up a declaration of rights and liberties.

November 1, 1765 - The Stamp Act went into effect, prompted stiff resistance from American colonists; taxation measure designed to raise revenue for British military operations in America (French and Indian War [1754-63] and Pontiac's Rebellion [1763-64] were costly for Great Britain, Prime Minister George Grenville hoped to recover some of these costs by taxing the colonists); passed without debate by Parliament in March 1765, the Stamp Act was designed to force colonists to use special stamped paper in the printing of newspapers, pamphlets, almanacs, and playing cards, and to have a stamp embossed on all commercial and legal papers. October 1765 - nine colonies sent representatives to New York to attend a Stamp Act Congress, where resolutions of "rights and grievances" were framed and sent to Parliament and King George III; colonists greeted the arrival of the stamps with violence and economic retaliation; March 1766 - Parliament voted to repeal the Stamp Act after months of protest and economic turmoil, and an appeal by Benjamin Franklin before the British House of Commons; the same day, Parliament passed the Declaratory Acts, asserting that the British government had free and total legislative power over the colonies; Parliament would again attempt to force unpopular taxation measures on the American colonies in the late 1760s, leading to a steady deterioration in British-American relations that culminated in the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775.

November 23, 1765 - Frederick County, MD repudiated the British Stamp Act.

March 4, 1766 - The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, the cause of bitter and violent opposition in the colonies.

September 5, 1774 - The first Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia.

October 26, 1774 - The First Continental Congress adjourned in Philadelphia.

1775 - Continental Congress appointed Michael Hillegas and George Clymer as joint treasurers. 1777 - Hillegas assumed the role on his own. 1789 - Congress officially established the Treasury Department, which was led by Alexander Hamilton.

January 11, 1775 - Francis Salvador, the first Jew to be elected in the Americas, takes his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress; known as the "Southern Paul Revere" when he warned Charleston, South Carolina, of the approaching British naval fleet; August 1, 1776 - first recorded Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence.

April 14, 1775 - Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage, the first American society dedicated to the cause of abolition, is founded in Philadelphia by Quaker educator and abolitionist Anthony Benezet; 1784 - The society changes its name to the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage; 1787 - Benjamin Franklin lent his prestige to the organization, served as its president.

May 24, 1775 - John Hancock is elected president of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia; served adoption of Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and, as such, was the first member of the Congress to sign the historic document.

July 26, 1775 - Congress establishes the United States Post Office and names Benjamin Franklin the first United States postmaster general. October 5, 1774 - William Goddard, a Patriot printer frustrated that the royal postal service was unable to reliably deliver his Pennsylvania Chronicle to its readers or deliver critical news for the paper to Goddard, laid out a plan for a "Constitutional Post" before the Continental Congress; November 7, 1776 - Franklin’s son-in-law, Richard Bache, took over the position when Franklin became an American emissary to France.

October 13, 1775 - The Continental Congress ordered the construction of a naval fleet; November - the Continental Navy was formally organized; December - Esek Hopkins was appointed the first commander-in-chief; first fleet consisted of seven ships: two 24-gun frigates, the Alfred and the Columbus; two 14-gun brigs, the Andrea Doria and the Cabot; and three schooners, the Hornet, the Wasp, and the Fly; April 1798 - United States Navy was formally established with the creation of the Department of the Navy.

January 10, 1776 - Thomas Paine publishes 47-page pamphlet "Common Sense", set forth his arguments in favor of American independence (sold some 500,000 copies): "Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe. Hither they have fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still."

January 25, 1776 - The Continental Congress authorizes the first national Revolutionary War memorial in honor of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, who had been killed during an assault on Quebec on December 31, 1775. When word of his death reached Philadelphia, Congress voted to create a monument to Montgomery's memory and entrusted Benjamin Franklin to secure one of France’s best artists to craft it. Franklin hired King Louis XV’s personal sculptor, Jean Jacques Caffieri, to design and build the monument. 1778 - Upon its completion the Montgomery memorial was shipped to America and arrived at Edenton, North Carolina, where it remained for several years. Although originally intended for Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Congress eventually decided to place the memorial in New York City. 1788 - it was installed under the direction of Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant beneath the portico of St. Paul's Chapel, which served as George Washington’s church during his time in New York as the United States’ first president in 1789, and where it remains to this day. 1818 - Montgomery’s body, which was originally interred on the site of his death in Quebec, was moved to St. Paul’s.

June 7, 1776 - Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Continental Congress a resolution calling for a Declaration of Independence. John Adams seconds the motion. Lee’s resolution declared: "That these United Colonies are, and of right out to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that measures should be immediately taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, and a Confederation be formed to bind the colonies more closely together." Congress agreed to delay the vote on Lee’s Resolution until July 1. In the intervening period, Congress appointed a committee to draft a formal declaration of independence. Its members were John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. June 28, 1776 - presented to Congress for review. July 2 - final vote; July 4, 1776 - declaration adopted.

June 11, 1776 - The Continental Congress selects Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert R. Livingston of New York to draft a declaration of independence.

June 12, 1776 - Virginia's colonial legislature, assembled in Williamsburg, became the first to adopt a Bill of Rights; unanimously adopted George Mason’s declaration of rights. The assembled slaveholders of Virginia promised to "the good people of VIRGINIA… and their posterity" the equal right to life, liberty and property, with the critical condition that the "people" were white men. These same white men were guaranteed that "all power" would be "vested in, and consequently derived from" them. Should a government fail to represent their common interest, a majority of the same held the right to "reform, alter or abolish" the government. Roots in the English Bill of Rights, drafted in 1689 upon the overthrow of Catholic King James II by Protestant Queen Mary and her husband King William III. Virginia’s Declaration of Rights later became the basis for the Bill of Rights amended to the federal Constitution.

July 2, 1776 - The Second Continental Congress, assembled in Philadelphia, formally adopts Richard Henry Lee's resolution for independence from Great Britain; unanimously (New York abstaining) passed a resolution that ''these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States.'' Congress had appointed a committee to draft a formal declaration of independence: John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Robert R. Livingston of New York and Thomas Jefferson of Virginia; declaration was presented on June 28, 1776.

July 4, 1776 - The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, 442 days after the first volleys of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts and marked an ideological expansion of the conflict that would eventually encourage France's intervention on behalf of the Patriots.

July 8, 1776 - In Philadelphia, Colonel John Nixon rang the Liberty Bell from the tower of the Pennsylvania State House (now Independence Hall), summoning citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

August 2, 1776 - Members of the Continental Congress began attaching their signatures to the Declaration of Independence. Fifty-six congressional delegates in total signed the document, including some who were not present at the vote approving the declaration. The delegates signed by state from North to South, beginning with Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire and ending with George Walton of Georgia. John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and James Duane, Robert Livingston and John Jay of New York refused to sign. Carter Braxton of Virginia; Robert Morris of Pennsylvania; George Reed of Delaware; and Edward Rutledge of South Carolina opposed the document but signed in order to give the impression of a unanimous Congress. Five delegates were absent: Generals George Washington, John Sullivan, James Clinton and Christopher Gadsden and Virginia Governor Patrick Henry. August 10 - news of the Declaration of Independence arrived in London. January 18, 1777- draft bearing the delegates’ signatures was first printed by Baltimore printer Mary Katharine Goddard.

September 9, 1776 - The second Continental Congress made the term ''United States'' official, replacing ''United Colonies.''

June 14, 1777 - The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted a resolution stating that "the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white" and that "the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." The national flag, which became known as the "Stars and Stripes," was based on the "Grand Union" flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.

July 2, 1777 - Vermont becomes first American colony to abolish slavery.

September 19, 1777 - The Continental Congress fled the capital in Philadelphia for the more secure site of York, Pennsylvania, upon learning of the approach of General William Howe and the British forces.

November 15, 1777 - After 16 months of debate, the Continental Congress, sitting in its temporary capital of York, Pennsylvania, agrees to adopt the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (precursor to the Constitution). 1781 - last of the 13 states ratified the agreement; March 4, 1789 - the modern United States was established when the U.S. Constitution formally replaced the Articles of Confederation.

November 17, 1777 - Congress submits the Articles of Confederation to the states for ratification. The Articles had been signed by Congress two days earlier, after 16 months of debate. Bickering over land claims between Virginia and Maryland delayed final ratification for almost four more years. Maryland became the last state to approve the Articles on March 1, 1781, affirming them as the outline of the official government of the United States. The nation was guided by the document until the implementation of the current U.S. Constitution in 1789. Between 1776 and 1787, Americans went from living under a sovereign king, to living in sovereign states, to becoming a sovereign people. That transformation defined the American Revolution.

December 18, 1777 - United States celebrates its first national day of thanksgiving, commemorate the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga after the surrender of General John Burgoyne and 5,000 British troops in October 1777.

January 30, 1781 - Maryland becomes the 13th and final state to ratify the Articles of Confederation, almost three years after the official deadline given by Congress of March 10, 1778 (Virginia was the only state to ratify the Articles by the 1778 deadline); only ratified after Virginia relinquished its claims on land north of the Ohio River to Congress; March 1, 1781 - Articles took effect.

March 1, 1781 - The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation as the outline of the official government of the United States; nation was guided by the Articles until the implementation of the current U.S. Constitution in 1789; November 15, 1777 - signed by Congress and sent to the individual states for ratification; difference between a collection of sovereign states forming a confederation and a federal government created by a sovereign people lay at the heart of debate as the new American people decided what form their government would take; 1776 -1787 - Americans went from living under a sovereign king, to living in sovereign states, to becoming a sovereign people. That transformation defined the American Revolution.

January 15, 1782 - Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris went before Congress to deliver a report on the young nation's finances. Morris recommended establishing a national mint and outlined plans for decimal coinage.

June 20, 1782 - Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States; front of the seal depicted a bald eagle clutching an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left. On its breast appeared a shield marked with 13 vertical red and white stripes topped by a bar of blue. The eagle’s beak clutcheed a banner inscribed, E pluribus unum, a Latin phrase meaning "Out of Many One." Above the eagle’s head, golden rays burst forth, encircling 13 stars. Charles Thomas outlined the symbolic connotations of the seal’s elements when he presented his design to Congress. The bottom of the shield (or pale) represents the 13 states united in support of the blue bar at the top of the shield (or chief), "which unites the whole and represents Congress." The motto E Pluribus Unum serves as a textual representation of the same relationship. The colors used in the shield are the same as those in the flag: alternating red and white for the important balance between innocence and valor, topped by the blue of "vigilance, perseverance and justice." The eagle’s talons hold symbols of Congress’ power to make peace (the olive branch) and war (arrows). The constellation of stars indicates that "a new State [is] taking its place and rank among other sovereign powers." The reverse side of the seal bears the familiar Masonic motif of a pyramid, which Thomas proposed as a symbol of "Strength and Duration." The pyramid, like the new nation, is unfinished and frequently depicted as having 13 steps for the original states. The disembodied eye floating above the structure is that of providence, which Thomas believed had acted "in favour of the American cause." Beneath the pyramid, the number 1776 appears in Roman numerals as a reminder of the year of independence. The phrase Annuit Coeptis or "Providence has Favored Our Undertakings" appears above the providential eye; Novus Ordo Seclorum or "A New Order of the Ages" appears beneath the pyramid.

September 16, 1782 - George Washington first used the Great Seal of the United States on a document.

February 3, 1783 - Spain recognized United States' independence.

January 14, 1784 - At the Maryland State House in Annapolis, the Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris. The document, negotiated in part by future President John Adams, contained terms for ending the Revolutionary War and established the United States as a sovereign nation. The treaty outlined America’s fishing rights off the coast of Canada, defined territorial boundaries in North America formerly held by the British and forced an end to reprisals against British loyalists. Two other future presidents, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, were among the delegates who ratified the document.

April 23, 1784 - Continental Congress passed first of Northwest Ordinances; established a process for the settlement of the Northwest Territory—the lands west of Pennsylvania, east of the Mississippi River, north of the Ohio River, and south of the Great Lakes; May 1785 - second ordinance enacted; September 1786 - committee of Congress, led by William Johnson (Connecticut) and Nathan Dane of Massachusetts (for whom Dane County, Wisconsin, is named) and Rufus King (Massachusetts), drafted a new ordinance; July 13, 1787 - Congress passed ordinance; replaced 1784 ordinance. Ohio(1803) was the first state to be created from the territory, followed by Indiana (1816), Illinois(1818), Michigan (1837), and Wisconsin (1848). Ordinances provided: 1) framework for the creation of territories in the western lands, 2) provided a predictable path to statehood and representative government on an equal, rather than a subservient, basis with the original states (five states created from the Northwest Territory and precedent for the admission of other states), 3) guarantees of civil and religious liberties for the territories established a precedent for what would later become the Bill of Rights (first ten amendments to the new federal constitution).

August 19, 1785 - Congress empowered the U.S. Treasury Board to standardize the nation's weights and measures.

November 23, 1785 - John Hancock was elected president of the Continental Congress for the second time.

January 16, 1786 - The legislature of Virginia adopted a religious freedom statute, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and introduced by James Madison; model for the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

September 11, 1786 - Annapolis Convention, in which 12 delegates met to discuss commercial matters of interest between the states, convened; led to the Constitutional Convention.

May 14, 1787 - Delegates began gathering in Philadelphia for a convention to draw up the U.S. Constitution.

May 25, 1787 - The Constitutional Convention was convened in Philadelphia with 55 delegates (a quorum) to compose the Constitution of the United States of America. The Articles of Confederation, ratified several months before the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, provided for a loose confederation of U.S. states, which were sovereign in most of their affairs. Delegates representing every state except Rhode Island convened at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania State House for the Constitutional Convention. The building, which is now known as Independence Hall, had earlier seen the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the signing of the Articles of Confederation. George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, was elected convention president. During three months of debate, the delegates devised a brilliant federal system characterized by an intricate system of checks and balances. Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in the upper house (Senate). September 17, 1787 - Constitution of the United States of America was signed by 38 of the 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the convention. December 7, 1787 - five states (of 13 required to ratify) --Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut--ratified it in quick succession. June 21, 1788 - New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the document, and it was subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. September 25, 1789 - the first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution--the Bill of Rights--and sent them to the states for ratification. May 29, 1790 - Rhode Island voted by two votes to ratify the document, and the last of the original 13 colonies joined the United States. Today the U.S. Constitution is the oldest written constitution in operation in the world.

July 13, 1787 - The US Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, enacts the Northwest Ordinance, establishing rules for governing the Northwest Territory, for admitting new states to the Union and limiting the expansion of slavery.

August 6, 1787 - In Philadelphia, delegates to the Constitutional Convention begin debating the first complete draft of the proposed Constitution of the United States. The delegates devised a brilliant federal system characterized by an intricate system of checks and balances. The convention was divided over the issue of state representation in Congress, as more-populated states sought proportional legislation, and smaller states wanted equal representation. The problem was resolved by the Connecticut Compromise, which proposed a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the lower house (House of Representatives) and equal representation of the states in the upper house (Senate).

September 17, 1787 - 38 of 41 delegates present at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia signed the Constitution of the United States of America. Supporters of the document waged a hard-won battle to win ratification by the necessary nine out of 13 U.S. states. On May 25, 1787 - delegates representing every state except Rhode Island convened at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania State House for the Constitutional Convention.

September 28, 1787 - Congress voted to send the just-completed Constitution of the United States to state legislatures for their approval.

October 27, 1787 - The first of the Federalist Papers, a series of essays calling for ratification of the U.S. Constitution, was published in a New York newspaper, "Independent Journal."

December 7, 1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution as all 30 delegates to the Delaware Constitutional Convention voted in favor (Delaware the first state of the modern United States). Constitution would become binding once nine of the former 13 colonies had ratified the document; June 21, 1788 - New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, making federal democracy the law of the land; March 4, 1789 - government under the U.S. Constitution took effect.

December 12, 1787 - Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the Constitution, by a vote of 46 to 23. Pennsylvania was the first large state to ratify, as well as the first state to endure a serious Anti-Federalist challenge to ratification. Pennsylvania was the most ethnically and religiously diverse state in the new nation. One-third of Pennsylvania’s population was German-speaking, and the Constitution was printed in German for the purposes of involving that population in the debate. The chairman of the Pennsylvania ratifying convention, Reverend Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg, was the son of the leading German Lutheran minister and grandson to Conrad Weiser (1696-1760), who had been a leading colonial Indian interpreter and German-speaking political leader. The leader of the Anti-Federalist opposition was the Delaware-born Scots-Irishman Thomas McKean. Future Supreme Court Justice and Scottish immigrant James Wilson was the most articulate defender of the Federalist cause.

January 2, 1788 - Georgia became the fourth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. Named after King George II, Georgia was first settled by Europeans in 1733, when a group of British debtors led by English philanthropist James E. Oglethorpe traveled up the Savannah River and established Georgia's first permanent settlement--the town of Savannah.

June, 21, 1788 - The U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it; subsequently agreed that government under the U.S. Constitution would begin on March 4, 1789. September 25, 1789 - first Congress of the United States adopted 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution--the Bill of Rights--and sent them to the states for ratification.

September 13, 1788 - The Congress of the Confederation authorized the first national election, for the first Wednesday in February 1789, and declared New York City the temporary national capital.

September 30, 1788 - The Pennsylvania Legislature elected the first two members of the U.S. Senate - William Maclay of Harrisburg and Robert Morris of Philadelphia.

November 1, 1788 - The U.S. Continental Congress closed.

December 23, 1788 - Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the seat of the national government; about two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.

January 7, 1789 - The first U.S. presidential election was held. Americans voted for electors who, a month later, chose George Washington to be the nation's first president; was sworn into office on April 30, 1789. Only white men who owned property were allowed to vote.

February 4, 1789 - Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.

March 4, 1789 - The Constitution of the United States went into effect as the first Congress met in New York City; of 22 senators and 59 representatives called to represent the 11 states who had ratified the document, only nine senators and 13 representatives showed up to begin negotiations for its amendment.

April 1, 1789 - The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City; elected Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania, minister and former president of the Pennsylvania convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution, the first speaker. 1779-1780 - member of the Continental Congress; 1780-1783 - speaker of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives; 1787 - presided over the Pennsylvania ratifying convention; 1789-1797 - served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was speaker during the first and third Congresses.

April 6, 1789 - First U.S. Congress begins regular sessions, Federal Hall, New York City.

June 4, 1789 - U.S. constitution goes into effect.

June 8, 1789 - James Madison first proposed the Bill of Rights.

September 25, 1789 - The first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification. (Ten of the amendments became the Bill of Rights - influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689, also drawn from Virginia's Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776); designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens: 1) Freedom of religion, speech and assembly; 2) Right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of a well-regulated militia; 3) No forcible quartering of soldiers during peacetime; 4) Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure; 5) Right to a grand jury for capital crimes and due process. Protection from double jeopardy, self-incrimination and public confiscation of private property without "just compensation"; 6) Right to "speedy and public" trial by jury and a competent defense; 7) Right to trial by jury for monetary cases above $20; 8) Protection against "excessive" bail or fines and "cruel and unusual" punishments; 9) Rights not enumerated are "retained by the people"; 10) Rights not given to the federal government or prohibited the state governments by the Constitution, "are reserved to the States... or to the people".

November 20, 1789 - New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

February 1, 1790 - The Supreme Court of the United States meets for the first time, with Chief Justice John Jay of New York presiding, at the Royal Exchange Building on New York City's Broad Street; March 1789 - U.S. Supreme Court was established by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution took effect - granted the Supreme Court ultimate jurisdiction over all laws, especially those in which constitutionality was at issue; court was also designated to rule on cases concerning treaties of the United States, foreign diplomats, admiralty practice, and maritime jurisdiction; September 1789 - The Judiciary Act was passed, implementing Article Three by providing for six justices who would serve on the court for life; President George Washington appointed John Jay to preside as chief justice, and John Rutledge of South Carolina, William Cushing of Massachusetts, John Blair of Virginia, Robert Harrison of Maryland, and James Wilson of Pennsylvania to serve as associate justices. Two days later, all six appointments were confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

March 1, 1790 - Congress authorized the first U.S. census; August 1, 1790 - first U.S. census was completed, showed population of nearly 4 million people.

May 29, 1790 - Rhode Island became the last of the original 13 colonies to ratify the United States Constitution.

July 16, 1790 - Congress declares that a swampy, humid, muddy and mosquito-infested site on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia will be the nation’s permanent capital. It was George Washington who saw the area’s potential economic and accessibility benefits due to the proximity of navigable rivers.

December 6, 1790 - Congress moved from New York City to Philadelphia.

March 3, 1791 - The District of Columbia was organized, establishing a non-partisan home for the federal government.

December 15, 1791 - The Bill of Rights took effect as Virginia became the 10th of 14 states to ratify 10 of 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution (two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it legal); September 1789 - first Congress of the United States approved 12 amendments to the U.S. Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification; amendments designed to protect the basic rights of U.S. citizens, guarantee the freedom of speech, press, assembly, and exercise of religion; the right to fair legal procedure and to bear arms; and that powers not delegated to the federal government would be reserved for the states and the people (influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689 and Virginia's Declaration of Rights, drafted by George Mason in 1776). Not ratified: 1) first concerned the population system of representation (never ratified), 2) prohibited laws varying the payment of congressional members from taking effect until an election intervened (ratified in 1992).

February 21, 1792 - Congress passes President Succession Act.

June 10, 1793 - Washington replaced Philadelphia as U.S. capital.

January 13, 1794 - President George Washington approved a measure adding two stars and two stripes to the American flag, following the admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the union.

February 11, 1794 - First session of U.S. Senate open to the public.

March 8, 1796 - Supreme Court handed down an early decision on taxation in the case of Hylton v. United States; ruled that a carriage tax was an indirect tax, deemed constitutional = first time in U.S. history that Court had weighed in on the constitutionality of legislation that had been passed by Congress.

July 14, 1798 - Congress passed the Sedition Act, making it a federal crime to publish false, scandalous or malicious writing about the U.S. government.

November 17, 1800 - Congress held its first session in Washington, DC, in the partially completed Capitol building.

February 27, 1801 - The District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.

March 7, 1801 - Massachusetts enacts 1st state voter registration law.

January 26, 1802 - Congress passed an act calling for a library to be established within the U.S. Capitol.

May 3, 1802 - Washington, DC was incorporated as a city.

February 24, 1803 - The Supreme Court ruled itself the final interpreter of constitutional issues. The Court voided an Act of Congress in the case of Marbury v. Madison. It was the first time a law passed by Congress was deemed unconstitutional. This established the Supreme Court's power to rule on constitutionality questions.

September 25, 1804 - The Twelfth Amendment was ratified, changing the procedure of choosing the president and vice-president.

February 20, 1809 - The US Supreme Court ruled the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state.

April 12, 1811 - First U.S. colonists on Pacific coast arrive at Cape Disappointment, WA.

February 11, 1812 - Massachusetts Gov. Elbridge Gerry signed a redistricting law that favored his party - giving rise to the term ''gerrymandering.''

September 7, 1813 - United States gets its nickname, Uncle Sam; linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, NY, who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812; stamped the barrels with "U.S." for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as "Uncle Sam's." The local newspaper picked up on the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained widespread acceptance as the nickname for the U.S. federal government. 1860s - 1870s - political cartoonist Thomas Nast began popularizing the image of Uncle Sam; July 1916 - James Montgomery Flagg created most famous image of Uncle Sam in a tall top hat and blue jacket, pointing straight ahead at the viewer for the cover of Leslie's Weekly with the title "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?"; portrait with the words "I Want You For The U.S. Army" was used during World War I as a recruiting poster; September 1961 - U.S. Congress recognized Samuel Wilson as "the progenitor of America's national symbol of Uncle Sam."

September 14, 1814 - Francis Scott Key wrote ''The Star-Spangled Banner'' after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812. Key, an American lawyer, watched the siege while held on a British ship and wrote famous words after observing that the U.S. flag over Fort McHenry was still waving after an 1,800-bomb assault. The lyrics were set to the tune of "To Anacreon in Heaven," an English drinking song written by the British composer John Stafford Smith. September 20, 1814 - published in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper. 1916 - President Woodrow Wilson signed an executive order formally designating song as national anthem. 1931 - President Herbert Hoover signed a Congressional act confirming Wilson's presidential order.

January 5, 1815 - Federalists from all over New England, angered over the War of 1812, drew up the Hartford Convention, demanded several important changes in the Constitution of the United States of America.

March 20, 1816 - The Supreme Court affirmed its right to review state court decisions.

April 4, 1818 - Congress decided the U.S. flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.

May 21, 1832 - The first Democratic National Convention got under way, in Baltimore.

July 4, 1832 - "America", written by Dr Samuel Francis Smith, was sung in public for the first time, at the Park Street Church in Boston.

July 8, 1835 - The Liberty Bell cracked when it was rung in honor of Chief Justice John Marshall, who had recently died.

March 3, 1837 - Congress increases Supreme Court membership from 7 to 9.

January 23, 1845 - Congress decided all national elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

November 4, 1845 - Americans observed the first national election day in accordance with Congressional legislation passed earlier in the year.

July 19, 1848 - Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott (abolitionists who met at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London) open first women's rights convention at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls, NY with almost 200 women in attendance; July 14, 1848 - published announcement in the Seneca County Courier: "A Convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of women will be held in the Wesleyan Chapel, at Seneca Falls, N.Y., on Wednesday and Thursday, the 19th and 20th of July current; commencing at 10 o'clock A.M." Convention was followed two weeks later by an even larger meeting in Rochester, NY. Thereafter, national woman's rights conventions were held annually, provided an important focus for the growing women's suffrage movement. 1920 - 19th Amendment was adopted, granted American women the constitutionally protected right to vote.

March 31, 1850 - U.S. population hits 23,191,876 (Black population: 3,638,808 (15.7%).

March 13, 1852 - "Uncle Sam" made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York Lantern.

February 22, 1854 - First meeting of Republican Party in Michigan.

February 28, 1854 - Some 50 slavery opponents met in Ripon, WI, to call for creation of a new political group, which became the Republican Party.

March 20, 1854 - Former members of the Whig Party (formed in 1834 to oppose the "tyranny" of President Andrew Jackson; dissolved when Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854 passed, repealed the terms of the Missouri Compromise and allowed slave or free status to be decided in the territories by popular sovereignty) met in Ripon, Wisconsin, to establish a new party to oppose the spread of slavery into the western territories; founding meeting of the Republican Party. 1856 - first presidential candidate, John C. Fremont, won 11 of the 16 Northern states.

July 6, 1854 - The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Mich.

February 10, 1855 - U.S. citizenship laws amended, all children of U.S. parents born abroad granted U.S. citizenship.

February 22, 1856 - First national meeting of Republican Party in Pittsburgh.

June 17, 1856 - The Republican Party opened its first convention, in Philadelphia; June 19, 1856 - In Music Fund Hall in Philadelphia, the first national convention of the Republican Party, founded two years before, comes to its conclusion. John Charles Fremont of California, the famous explorer of the West, was nominated for the presidency, and William Dewis Dayton of New Jersey was chosen as the candidate for the vice presidency. March 20, 1954 - generally remembered as the founding meeting of the Republican Party in Ripon, WI. Fremont, won 11 of the 16 Northern states. The Civil War firmly identified the Republican Party as the official party of the victorious North. After the war, the Republican-dominated Congress forced a radical Reconstruction policy on the South, which saw the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, abolishing slavery and granting voting rights to African American men in the South. 1876 - Republican Party had lost control of the South, but it continued to dominate the presidency, with a few intermissions, until the ascendance of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

February 1, 1862 - "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," by Julia Ward Howe, was first published in "Atlantic Monthly."

July 12, 1862 - Congress authorized the Medal of Honor.

April 22, 1864 - Congress authorized the use of the phrase ''In God We Trust'' on U.S. coins.

January 8, 1867 - Congress overrides (by a vote of 29 to 10 in the Senate and by a vote of 112 to 38 in the House of Representatives) President Andrew Johnson's veto of a bill granting all adult male citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote, and the bill becomes law; first law in American history that granted African-American men the right to vote; 1870 - 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, prohibiting all states from discriminating against potential male voters because of race or previous condition of servitude.

March 29, 1867 - Congress approves Lincoln Memorial.

July 28, 1868 - The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing due process and the equal protection of the laws to former slaves, was declared in effect.

October 30, 1868 - John W. Menard of Louisiana is first black elected to Congress.

January 20, 1869 - Elizabeth Cady Stanton becomes first woman to testify before Congress.

February 6, 1869 - Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers.

April 10, 1869 - Congress increases number of Supreme Court judges from 7 to 9.

May 15, 1869 - National Woman Suffrage Association formed.

June 1, 1869 - Thomas A. Edison, of Boston, MA, received a patent for an "Improvement in Electrographic Vote-Recorder" ("an apparatus which records and registers in an instant, and with great accuracy, the votes of legislative bodies, thus avoiding loss of valuable time consumed in counting and registering the votes and names, as done in the usual manner"); first Edison patent; first device of its kind, enabled legislator to register a vote either for or against an issue by turning a switch to the right or left.

December 10, 1869 - Wyoming territorial legislators pass a bill that is signed into law granting women the right to vote; first territory or state in the history of the nation to grant women right of citizenship; most Wyoming legislators supported William Bright and Edward Lee's bill because they thought it would win the territory free national publicity and might attract more single marriageable women to the region (territory had over 6,000 adult males and only 1,000 females).

December 28, 1869 - Knights of Labor, a labor union of tailors in Philadelphia established in 1869, hold the first Labor Day ceremonies in American history; 1884 - American Federation of Labor observes first annual observance of Labor Day - resolved in a convention in Chicago that "the first Monday in September be set aside as a laborer's national holiday"; 1887- Oregon became the first state to designate Labor Day a holiday; 1894 - Congress designated the first Monday in September a legal holiday for all federal employees and the residents of the District of Columbia.

1870 - Wyoming territorial governor, John Campbell, appointed Esther Morris first woman judge in American history (worked nine months as a justice of the peace, handled the 26 cases); November 1870 - retired.

January 15, 1870 - The Democratic Party was represented as a donkey in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly; cartoon is entitled "A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion." The jackass (donkey) is tagged "Copperhead Papers," referring to the Democrat-dominated newspapers of the South, and the dead lion represents the late Edwin McMasters Stanton, President Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war during the final three years of the Civil War. In the background is an eagle perched on a rock, representing the postwar federal domination in the South, and in the far background is the U.S. Capitol.

February 12, 1870 - Women in the Utah Territory gained the right to vote.

February 25, 1870 - Hiram R. Revels, R-Miss., became the first black member of the United States Senate as he was sworn in to serve out the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis.

March 30, 1870 - The 15th Amendment to the Constitution, granting African-American men the right to vote, went into effect; March 31, 1870 - Thomas P. Mundy of Perth Amboy New Jersey was first black to vote in U.S.

December 12, 1870 - Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first black congressman.

March 22, 1871 - William Holden of North Carolina becomes first governor removed by impeachment.

May 10, 1872 - Equal Rights Party nominated Victoria Woodhull for President; first woman nominated for U.S. president.

December 11, 1872 - America's first black governor took office as Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became acting governor of Louisiana.

June 18, 1873 - Suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.

November 7, 1874 - Thomas Nast symbolized The Republican Party as an elephant for the first time in a cartoon in Harper's Weekly magazine.

June 15, 1876 - Sara Spencer (R), Secretary of National Woman Suffrage Association, addressed 1876 Republican National Convention; first woman to address a U.S. presidential convention.

June 14, 1877 - First Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance.

March 3, 1879 - Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood became the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

March 22, 1882 - Congress outlawed polygamy.

September 5, 1882 - The nation's first Labor Day parade was held in New York City; initiated by Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and labor union leader who co-founded the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions; intended to be a tribute to the toil and achievements of the nation's workers. The holiday was also a testament to the strength of the burgeoning labor movement, which helped push the event onto the national stage; 1894 - Labor Day became an official holiday.

March 13, 1884 - Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States.

June 24, 1884 - John Lynch is first black elected chairman of Republican convention.

December 6, 1884 - Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument; February 21, 1885 - The Washington Monument was dedicated; 555-foot-high marble obelisk was first proposed in 1783, and Pierre L'Enfant left room for it in his designs for the new U.S. capital; Architect Robert Mills' hollow Egyptian obelisk design was accepted for the monument, and on July 4, 1848, the cornerstone was laid. Work on the project was interrupted by political quarreling in the 1850s, and construction ceased entirely during the American Civil War. Finally, in 1876, Congress, inspired by the American centennial, passed legislation appropriating $200,000 for completion of the monument.

June 19, 1885 - Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States, arrives in New York City's harbor, enclosed in more than 200 packing cases. Originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World," the statue was proposed by French historian Edouard Laboulaye to commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. Designed by French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the 151-foot statue was the form of a woman with an uplifted arm holding a torch. February 1877 - Congress approved the use of a site on New York Bedloe's Island, which was suggested by Bartholdi. May 1884 - statue was completed in France, and three months later the Americans laid the cornerstone for its pedestal in New York. October 28, 1886 - last rivet of the monument was fitted on during a dedication presided over by U.S. President Grover Cleveland. 1924 - made a national monument.

October 29, 1886 - The ticker-tape parade is invented in New York City when office workers spontaneously throw ticker tape into the streets as the Statue of Liberty is dedicated.

April 4, 1887 - Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community - Argonia, KS.

September 30, 1889 - Wyoming state convention approves a constitution that includes a provision granting women the right to vote - first state in the history of the nation to allow its female citizens to vote. 1848 - the legislature in Washington Territory became the first to introduce a women's suffrage bill (narrowly defeated); 1870 - Utah Territory; 1883 - Washington Territory when these territories became states they preserved women's suffrage. 1914 - All states west of the Rockies had women's suffrage, no state did east of the Rockies, except Kansas.

April 11, 1890 - President Benjamin Harrison designated Ellis Island as the site of the first federal immigration station (named for Samuel Ellis, private owner of the island in the 1770's); January 1, 1892 - Ellis Island opened to immigrants; January 2 - Annie Moore, 15-year-old Irish girl, first immigrant to be processed; 1954 - more than 12 million immigrants entered the U.S. via Ellis Island.

February 12, 1892 - President Abraham Lincoln's birthday was declared a national holiday.

March 15, 1892 - New York State unveils automatic ballot booth (voting machine).

March 1, 1893 - Diplomatic Appropriation Act authorizes the U.S. rank of ambassador.

July 22, 1893 - Katharine Lee Bates writes "America the Beautiful," in Colorado.

November 7, 1893 - Colorado granted women the right to vote.

October 30, 1896 - Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes first female state senator (in Utah State Senate); ran against her husband.

May 14, 1897 - The first public performance of John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever" occurred, in Philadelphia.

November 1, 1897 - The first Library of Congress building opened its doors to the public; previously housed in the Congressional Reading Room of the United States Capitol building.

February 14, 1899 - Congress approved, and President William McKinley signed, legislation authorizing states to use voting machines for federal elections.

March 20, 1899 - Martha M. Place of Brooklyn, NY became the first woman to be executed in the electric chair.

May 10, 1908 - The first Mother's Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, West Virginia and Philadelphia.

February 4, 1913 - The 16th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for a federal income tax, was ratified.

March 8, 1913 - The Internal Revenue Service began to levy and collect income taxes.

April 8, 1913 - The 17th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified: required direct popular election of senators.

May 31, 1913 - The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was declared in effect.

May 7, 1914 - U.S. Congress establishes mother's day.

January 12, 1915 - The United States House of Representatives rejected a proposal to give women the right to vote; constitutional amendment giving nation-wide suffrage to women was rejected by the overwhelming vote of 174 - 204; second defeat for the suffrage cause in the national legislature within a year; March 19, 1914 - an equal suffrage constitutional amendment proposed by Senator Chamberlain of Oregon received a vote of 35 to 34 in the Senate, secured bare majority, fell short of necessary two-thirds.

February 12, 1915 - The cornerstone for the Lincoln Memorial was laid in Washington, DC.

October 23, 1915 - Some 25,000 women marched in New York City demanding the right to vote.

September 11, 1916 - First time "Star Spangled Banner" was sung at the beginning of a baseball game (Cooperstown, NY).

October 16, 1916 - Margaret Sanger opened the first birth-control clinic, in New York City at 46 Amboy Street in Brooklyn; clinic was closed by the police, she received a 30-day jail sentence. 1917 - Sanger helped to organize the National Birth Control League (later became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America); 1923 - opened a permanent birth control clinic in New York City; 1885 - Dr. Aletta Jacobs opened the first birth-control clinic in the world in Amsterdam.

November 7, 1916 - Republican suffragist Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress; 1918 - vote against WWI contributed to her defeat in her reelection bid; 1940 - again won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; became the only person in the history of Congress to vote against U.S. entry into both world wars ( sole dissenting vote re: WW II).

March 4, 1917 - Republican Jeanette Rankin of Montana took her seat as the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.

March 8, 1917 - The US Senate voted to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.

April 2, 1917 - Jeannette Pickering Rankin is sworn in as the first woman to serve in the US House of Representatives.

1918 - Irving Berlin, immigrant from what is now Belarus, wrote God Bless America as homage to his adopted homeland; originally intended to include the piece in his World War I "barracks musical" Yip, Yip Yaphank; twenty years later, when World War II threatened the nation, Berlin resurrected the song but altered the lyrics to reflect the mood of the country. updated version was made famous by singer Kate Smith.

March 19, 1918 - U.S. Congress approved Standard Time Act; established Daylight Saving Time, authorized time zones.

March 31, 1918 - U.S. first began daylight saving time on Easter Sunday, when clocks were set ahead by one hour. The idea had been sponsored by the Daylight Savings Association. When New York Senator William M. Calder first introduced the bill to Congress the previous year, 17 Apr 1917, it was initially defeated, but subsequently passed by roll-call on 27 Jun 1917. The concept has already been introduced in Great Britain as a fuel-saving measure during wartime, in order to conserve coal stocks during WW I.

June 4, 1919 - 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification; stated that "the rights of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex," passed both houses of Congress and was sent to the states for ratification. August 18, 1920 - Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. Eight days later, the 19th Amendment took effect.

January 5, 1920 - GOP women demanded equal representation at the Republican National Convention.

February 14, 1920 - Carrie Chapman Catt founded the League of Women Voters in Chicago during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (held just six months before the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote after a 57-year struggle); nonpartisan organization began as a "mighty political experiment" designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters; encouraged them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy, to play a critical role in advocacy; first president was Maude Wood Park.

August 26, 1920 - The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing American women the right to vote, was declared in effect. Women's suffrage movement began in July 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY where 200 woman suffragists, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, met to discuss women's rights.

May 3, 1921 - West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.

February 27, 1922 - The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 19th Amendment to the Constitution that guaranteed the right of women to vote; 1916 - the Democratic and Republican parties endorsed female enfranchisement; June 4, 1919 - Congress passed the 19th Amendment and sent to the states for ratification; August 18, 1920 - Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the required three-fourths majority of state ratification; August 26, 1920 - the 19th Amendment officially took effect.

October 3, 1922 - Rebecca L. Felton, D-GA, became the first woman to be seated in the U.S. Senate ; appointed by Governor Thomas W. Hardwick of Georgia to serve out the remaining term of Thomas E. Watson.

November 4, 1922 - The U.S. Postmaster General ordered all homes to get mailboxes or relinquish mail delivery.

November 21, 1922 - Rebecca L. Felton of Georgia was sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. Senate.

April 7, 1923 - Workers Party of America (New York City) becomes official Communist Party.

April 13, 1923 - The Illinois state legislature was the first to vote to allow women to serve on juries.

October 11, 1923 - The first political telecast, sponsored by the Democratic National Committee, aired from New York.

May 15, 1924 - The US Congress instituted immigration quotas.

June 2, 1924 - Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all American Indians.

June 10, 1924 - First political convention broadcast on radio - Republicans at Cleveland.

November 4, 1924 - Nellie Taylor Ross of Wyoming and Miriam Ferguson of Texas were elected the first and second women governors; Ross was chosen to serve the remaining term of her husband, William B. Ross, who died in office.

January 5, 1925 - Nellie T. Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in U.S. history.

March 21, 1925 - The Butler Act became state law in Tennessee; prohibited "the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof ... that it shall be unlawful ... to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals"; March 23, 1925 - Austin Peay, Governor of Tennessee, signed the Act; statute tested within a few months as John Scopes became a willing defendant in the "Scopes Monkey Trial."

March 3, 1931 - President Herbert Hoover signed into law a bill making ''The Star-Spangled Banner'' the national anthem of the United States.

January 12, 1932 - Hattie W. (Ophelia Wyatt) Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman freely elected to the U.S. Senate; appointed to the Senate two months earlier to fill the vacancy left by her late husband, Thaddeus Horatio Caraway. With the support of Huey Long, a powerful senator from Louisiana, Caraway was elected to the seat; 1938 - reelected; 1944 - failed to win re-nomination, appointed to the Federal Employees Compensation Commission by President Franklin Roosevelt.

February 6, 1933 - The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was declared in effect. It moved the start of presidential, vice-presidential and congressional terms from March to January.

February 28, 1933 - First female in cabinet: Francis Perkins appointed Secretary of Labor.

May 15, 1933 - First voice amplification system to be used in U.S. Senate.

May 18, 1933 - The Tennessee Valley Authority was created.

February 22, 1935 - It became illegal for airplanes to fly over the White House.

June 12, 1935 - Senator Huey Long of Louisiana spoke continually for 15 hours in Senate's longest speech on record (150,000 words).

November 8,1938 - Crystal Bird Fauset, of Philadelphia, first black woman elected to a state house of representatives, in Pennsylvania.

March 2, 1939 - The Massachusetts legislature voted to ratify the Bill of Rights, 147 years after the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution had gone into effect.

March 18, 1939 - Georgia finally ratified the Bill of Rights.

August 1, 1944 - Adam Clayton Powell elected first black congressman from East.

July 27, 1945 - U.S. Communist Party forms.

December 28, 1945 - Congress officially recognized the ''Pledge of Allegiance.''

January 3, 1947 - Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress.

September 13, 1948 - Republican Margaret Chase Smith of Maine was elected to the U.S. Senate, becoming the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress.

October 12, 1949 - Eugenie Anderson is first female nominated (by Harry Truman) to be U. S. ambassador (to Denmark from October 28,1949 to 1953 - 184 women ambassadors through 2004). First American woman to serve as the chief of a mission abroad. First woman to sign a treaty on behalf of the United States. American Minister to Bulgaria under Kennedy from 1962 to December, 1964. Ruth Bryan Owen (daughter of William Jennings Bryan, Florida's first Congresswoman) was first female appointed U. S. diplomat - Minister to Denmark by FDR (April 13, 1933-August 30, 1936).

February 9, 1950 - What is known as "McCarthyism" began when Joseph McCarthy, a relatively obscure Republican senator from Wisconsin, announced during a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, that he had in his possession a list of 205 communists who had infiltrated the U.S. State Department. The unsubstantiated declaration, which was little more than a publicity stunt, thrust Senator McCarthy into the national spotlight. These and other equally shocking accusations prompted the Senate to form a special committee, headed by Senator Millard Tydings of Maryland, to investigate the matter. The committee found little to substantiate McCarthy's charges.

February 26, 1951 - The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.

April 5, 1951 - Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.

May 18, 1951 - The United Nations moved out of its temporary headquarters in Lake Success, N.Y., for its permanent home in Manhattan.

June 9, 1954 - Climax of the McCarthy hearings when Joseph N. Welch, special attorney for the army, responded to a McCarthy attack on a member of his law firm by facing the senator and tearfully declaring, "Until this moment, senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you no sense of decency?" The crowded hearing room burst into spontaneous applause.

August 24, 1954 - The Communist Control Act went into effect, virtually outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

November 12, 1954 - Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.

December 2, 1954 -The Senate voted 67 to 22 to condemn Joseph R. McCarthy, Republican Senator from Wisconsin, for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute." In the ultimate action the Senate voted to condemn Senator McCarthy for 1) contempt of a Senate Elections subcommittee that investigated his conduct and financial affairs, for abuse of its members, and 2) for his insults to the Senate itself during the censure proceeding. Equivalent to a censure.

February 20, 1959 - The FCC applies the equal time rule to TV newscasts of political candidates.

July 28, 1959 - Hawaii's first U.S. election sends first Asian-Americans to Congress.

August 24, 1959 - Three days after Hawaiian statehood, Hiram L. Fong was sworn in as the first Chinese-American U.S. senator, while Daniel K. Inouye was sworn in as the first Japanese-American U.S. representative.

March 29, 1961 - The 23rd Amendment, allowing residents of Washington, DC to vote for president, was ratified.

February 14, 1962 - First Lady Jackie Kennedy hosted the first televised tour of the White House.

April 9, 1963 - Winston Churchill becomes first honorary U.S. citizen, posthumously.

January 23, 1964 - The 24th amendment to the Constitution (states voting rights could not be denied due to failure to pay taxes) was ratified; poll tax had been blunt tool for barring poverty-stricken African-Americans and whites from participating in the electoral process and for for stemming the rise of the Populist Party, which had used a racially mixed coalition of poor and lower class voters to gain a place on the national stage; 1949 - Senator Spessard L. Holland of Florida took up the cause of killing the tax forever via a constitutional amendment; January 24, 1964 - 24th Amendment goes into effect.

February 17, 1964 - The Supreme Court ruled in Westberry v. Sanders that congressional districts within each state had to be roughly equal in population.

January 13, 1966 - Robert C. Weaver became the first black Cabinet member as he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson; held key positions in several Democratic administrations: under Franklin D. Roosevelt in the mid-to-late 1930s, he advised the secretary of the interior and served as a special assistant with the Housing Authority; 1940 - appointed to the National Defense Advisory Commission and worked to mobilize black workers during World War II; 1955 to 1959 - Weaver served as rent commissioner for the state of New York, then went on to serve as head of the Housing and Home Finance Agency under President John F. Kennedy.

March 25, 1966 - U.S. Supreme Court rules the poll tax unconstitutional.

November 8, 1966 - Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts became the first black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote.

January 10, 1967 - Republican Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, the first black elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.

April 25, 1967 - The first law legalizing abortion in the U.S. was signed by the Colorado governor.

May 17, 1967 - Governor of Tennessee signed into law the repeal of the 1925 state law, the Butler Act, prohibiting the teaching of evolution. The law had made it "unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals." The law had been tested in what became known as the "Scopes monkey trial." Scopes was found guilty, but the law had been undermined. Upon appeal, Scopes was acquitted on a technicality. The law itself remained a Tennessee state statute for 42 years.

November 7, 1967 - Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first black mayor of a major American city.

November 5, 1968 - Shirley Chisholm of New York became the first African-American woman to be elected to the House of Representatives.

March 10, 1971 - Senate approves amendment lowering voting age to 18.

October 12, 1971 - The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Equal Rights Amendment (354-23).

March 21, 1972 - U.S. Supreme Court rules states can't require 1-yr residency to vote.

July 14, 1972 - Jean Westwood is first woman chosen to head Democratic National Committee.

March 22, 1974 - U.S. Senate passed the Equal Rights Amendment, sent to the states for ratification; 1923 - First proposed by the National Woman's political party to provide for the legal equality of the sexes and to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex. October 1971 - under the leadership of U.S. Representative Bella Abzug of New York and feminists Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, it won the requisite two-thirds vote from the U.S. House of Representative; March 1972 - approved by the U.S. Senate, sent to the states; ultimately failed to achieve ratification by the a requisite 38, or three-fourths, of the states; sexual equality is not protected by the U.S. Constitution.

November 5, 1974 - Ella Grasso was elected governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to win gubernatorial office without succeeding her husband.

March 7, 1975 - The Senate revised its filibuster rule, allowed 60 senators to limit debate in most cases, instead of the previously required two-thirds of senators present.

March 2, 1977 - The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a strict code of ethics.

March 15, 1977 - The U.S. House of Representatives began a 90-day test to determine the feasibility of showing its sessions on TV.

February 8, 1978 - Senate deliberations were broadcast on radio for the first time as members opened debate on the Panama Canal treaties.

June 12, 1978 - U.S. House of Representatives allows live radio coverage.

March 19, 1979 - The U.S. House of Representatives began televising its day-to-day business.

February 2, 1980 - Details of ABSCAM, an FBI operation to uncover political corruption in the government, were released to the public. The FBI had conducted a sting operation targeting members of Congress using phony Arab businessmen.

March 23, 1981 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could require, with some exceptions, parental notification when teenage girls seek abortions.

April 4, 1981 - Henry Cisneros became the first Mexican-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city - San Antonio, Texas.

June 30, 1982 - The Equal Rights Amendment (passed by Congress in 1972), prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, failed to secure ratification by a sufficient number of states to ensure its inclusion in the Constitution of the United States of America.

June 4, 1985 - The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling striking down an Alabama law providing for a daily minute of silence in public schools.

November 12, 1985 - Xavier Suarez was elected Miami's first Cuban-American mayor.

February 27, 1986 - The U.S. Senate approved telecasts of its debates on a trial basis.

June 24, 1986 - Guy Hunt elected first Republican governor of Alabama in 112 years.

February 10, 1989 - Ron Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first black to head a major U.S. political party.

June 21, 1989 - The Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment.

November 7, 1989 - L. Douglas Wilder won the governor's race in Virginia, becoming the nation's first elected black governor (December 1872 - Pinkney Benton Stewart Pinchback, a Reconstruction-era lieutenant general of Louisiana who became the first African American to hold that office; served as acting governor for five weeks while impeachment proceedings were in progress against Governor Henry Clay Warmoth).

November 7, 1989 - David N. Dinkins was elected New York City's first black mayor.

November 21, 1989 - The proceedings of Britain's House of Commons were televised live for the first time.

January 13, 1990 - Lawrence Douglas Wilder of Virginia, a grandson of slaves, became the nation's first elected black governor as he took the oath of office in Richmond.

May 16, 1991 - Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

May 7, 1992 - A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.

May 19, 1992 - The 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from giving itself midterm pay raises, went into effect.

November 3, 1992 - Illinois Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun became the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

December 14, 1993 - A Colorado judge struck down as unconstitutional the state's voter-approved ban on gay rights laws.

January 4, 1994 - The 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era; Newt Gingrich was elected speaker of the House.

March 1, 1994 - Senate rejects a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

September 27, 1994 - More than 350 Republican congressional candidates signed the ''Contract with America,'' a 10-point platform they pledged to enact if voters sent a GOP majority to the U.S. House: reduce federal taxes, balance the budget, dismantle social welfare programs established during six decades of mostly Democratic rule in Congress.

November 8, 1994 - Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years and won a majority in the Senate in midterm elections; led by Representative Newt Gingrich of Georgia who became speaker of the House; every bill incorporated in the Contract with America (except term-limits constitutional amendment) passed within the first 100 days of the 104th Congress.

January 7, 1997 - Newt Gingrich became the first Republican re-elected House speaker in 68 years.

February 27, 1998 - With the approval of Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's House of Lords agreed to end 1,000 years of male preference by giving a monarch's first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as a first-born son.

March 23, 1998 - The Supreme Court ruled that term limits for state lawmakers are constitutional.

December 20, 1999 - The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded couples of the opposite sex.

July 1, 2000 - Vermont's civil unions law went into effect, granting gay couples most of the rights, benefits, and responsibilities of marriage.

November 7, 2000 - Hillary Rodham Clinton became the first first lady to win public office, defeating Republican Rick Lazio for a U.S. Senate seat from New York.

May 24, 2001 - Democrats gained control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1994 when Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont abandoned the Republican Party and declared himself an independent.

June 6, 2001 - Democrats assumed control of the U.S. Senate after Sen. James Jeffords's defection from Republican Party.

September 6, 2002 - Meeting outside Washington D.C., for only the second time since 1800, Congress convened in New York to pay homage to the victims and heroes of Sept. 11, 2001.

November 14, 2002 - Nancy Pelosi of California was elected to succeed Richard Gephardt, who chose to step down, as leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. House of Representatives; first woman to be named leader of either party in either house of Congress.

January 21, 2003 - The Census Bureau announced that Hispanics had surpassed blacks as America's largest minority group.

November 18, 2003 - The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry.

February 12, 2004 - Defying a California law, San Francisco officials began performing weddings for same-sex couples.

July 14, 2004 - The Senate voted 50-48 against a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

August 12, 2004 - The California Supreme Court voided the nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages sanctioned in San Francisco earlier in the year.

November 7, 2006 - Democrats gained control of the Senate and House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years in midterm elections; Deval Patrick, Justice Department's top civil rights lawyer under President Clinton, was elected Governor of Massachusetts; second black politician in American history elected Governor (November 7, 1989 - L. Douglas Wilder won the governor's race in Virginia, becoming the nation's first elected black governor);

November 16, 2006 - Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was unanimously elected by her Democratic peers as speaker when Congress convenes in January, 2007. First woman ever elected Speaker of the House.

January 4, 2007 - Democrats took control of both houses of Congress for the first time in a dozen years and elected the first woman in history to be speaker of the House of the 110th Congress. Representative Nancy Pelosi of California took the speaker’s gavel from Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, whom she defeated by a vote of 233 to 202, the 31-seat margin of the new Democratic majority. The floor and the packed galleries erupted in cheers when the vote was announced.

(Constitution), Richard B. Morris (1985). Witnesses at the Creation: Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and the Constitution. (New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 279 p.). Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804; Madison, James, 1751-1836; Jay, John, 1745-1829; United States. Constitution; United States--Politics and government--1783-1789.

(Constitution), Catherine Drinker Bowen; with a new introduction by Henry Steele Commager (1986). Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September, 1787. (New York, NY: Book-of-the-Month Club, 346 p.). United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); Constitutional history--United States.

(Constitution), Christopher Collier, James Lincoln Collier (1986). Decision in Philadelphia: The Constitutional Convention of 1787. (New York, NY: Random House, 331 p.). United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); Constitutional conventions--United States; Constitutional history--United States. Fifty-five men met in Philadelphia in 1787 to write a document that would create a country and change a world.

(Constitution), Clinton Rossiter (1987). 1787: The Grand Convention. (New York, NY: Norton, 443 p. [orig. pub. 1966]). United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); Constitutional history--United States.

(Constitution), Akhil Reed Amar (2005). America’s Constitution: A Biography. (New York, NY: Random House, 657 p.). Yale Law School Faculty. Constitutional history--United States. What the Constitution says and why the Constitution says it.

(Constitution), David O. Stewart (2007). The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Wrote the U.S. Constitution. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 349 p.). Constitutional Lawyer. United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); United States. Constitution--Signers--Biography; Constitutional history--United States; Constitutional conventions--United States--History--18th century. Delegates struggled for four months toward consensus -- often reluctantly -- to write a flawed but living and breathing document that could define and evolve with the nation.

Richard H. Abbott (1986). The Republican Party and the South, 1855-1877: The First Southern Strategy. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 303 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) -- History -- 19th century; Reconstruction; Southern States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865; Southern States -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950.

Catherine Allgor (2000). Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government. (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 299 p.). Women in politics--Washington (D.C.)--History--19th century; Upper class women--Washington (D.C.)--History--19th century; Entertaining--Washington (D.C.)--History--19th century; Washington (D.C.)--History--19th century; Washington (D.C.)--Politics and government--19th century; Washington (D.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.

Glenn C. Altschuler and Stuart M. Blumin (2000). Rude Republic: Americans and Their Politics in the Nineteenth Century. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 316 p.). Elections--United States--History--19th century; Political participation--United States--History--19th century; Political culture--United States--History--19th century; United States--Politics and government--19th century.

Stephen Ansolabehere, Shanto Iyengar (1995). Going Negative: How Attack Ads Shrink and Polarize the Electorate. (New York, NY: Free Press, 243 p.). Professor of Political Science (MIT); Professor of Political Science and Communication Studies (UCLA)Advertising, Political; Advertising, Political -- United States; Political campaigns -- United States; Negativism.

Matt Bai (2007). The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics. (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 316 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.); Progressivism (United States politics); United States--Politics and government--2001-. Follows power brokers as Howard Dean, billionaire George Soros, union leader Andy Stern, blogger Markos Moulitsas, leaders of moveon.org as they vie for control of the new Democratic landscape.

Bernard Bailyn (1968). The Origins of American Politics. (New York, NY: Knopf, 161 p.). United States--Politics and government--To 1775.

Dean Baker and Mark Weisbrot (1999). Social Security: The Phony Crisis. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 175 p.). Social security--United States--Finance.

Dan Balz and Ronald Brownstein (1996). Storming the Gates: Protest Politics and the Republican Revival. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 424 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Liberalism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Ed. Jack Beatty (2004). Pols: Great Writers on American Politicians from Bryan to Reagan. (New York, NY: Public Affairs, 463 p.). Senior Editor (Atlantic Monthly). Politicians--United States--Anecdotes; United States--Politics and government--20th century--Anecdotes. Some of America's greatest political biographers on a century of its most notable politicians.

Herman Belz (2000). A New Birth of Freedom: The Republican Party and Freedmen’s Rights, 1861 to 1866. (New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 199 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History; African Americans--Civil rights--History. How laws, policies and constitutional amendments defining and protecting the personal liberty and civil rights of the country’s African American population were adopted during the Civil War.

W. Lance Bennett, Regina G. Lawrence, and Steven Livingston (2007). When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to Katrina. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 222 p.). Professor of Political Science, Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication (University of Washington); Associate Professor of Political Science in the Hatfield School of Government at (Portland State University); Associate Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs and the Elliott School of International Affairs (George Washington University). Government and the press--United States--History--21st century; Press and politics--United States--History--21st century; Journalism--Objectivity--United States--History--21st century. Reporters’ dependence on official sources disastrously thwarts coverage of dissenting voices from outside the beltway: 1) why the mainstream press neglected to cover considerable evidence against the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq; 2) refreshingly critical reporting on Hurricane Katrina.

Carol Berkin (2002). A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution. (New York, NY: Harcourt, 310 p.). Professor of American History (CUNY). United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); United States. Constitution--Signers; Statesmen--United States--History--18th century; Constitutional history--United States; United States--Politics and government--1783-1789.

Bruce Bimber (2003). Information and American Democracy: Technology in the Evolution of Political Power. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 268 p.). Information society--Political aspects--United States; Information technology--Political aspects--United States; Internet--Political aspects--United States; Political participation--United States--Computer network resources; Democracy--United States; Communication--Political aspects--United States.

Earl Black and Merle Black (2002). The Rise of Southern Republicans. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 442 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Southern States--Politics and government--1951-.

Robert H. Bork (1996). Slouching Towards Gomorah: Modern Liberalism and American Decline. (New York, NY: Reagan Books, 382 p.). Senior Fellow at American Enterprise Institute. Liberalism--United States; Social values--United States; United States--Social conditions--1980-.

James Bovard (2006). Attention Deficit Democracy. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 291 p.). Democracy; Democracy--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Citizenry pays less attention to facts, less capable of judging when rights and liberties are under attack.

Catherine Drinker Bowen (1966). Miracle at Philadelphia; The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May to September, 1787. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 346 p.). United States. Constitutional Convention (1787).

H. W. Brands (2001). The Strange Death of American Liberalism. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 200 p.). United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989; Liberalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Political culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century. Liberalism - domestic reformism.

Mary C. Brennan (1995). Turning Right in the Sixties: The Conservative Capture of the GOP. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 210 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Richard D. Brown (1996). The Strength of a People: The Idea of an Informed Citizenry in America, 1650-1870. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 252 p.). Professor of History (University of Connecticut). Political science--United States--History; Political socialization--United States--History; Freedom of information--United States--History; Civics--Study and teaching--United States--History.

Ronald Brownstein (2007). The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America. (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 496 p.). National Political Correspondent and Columnist (Los Angeles Times). Political parties--United States; Political culture--United States; Opposition (Political science)--United States; Divided government--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Analysis of the forces that have made this era in American politics as divisive and bitterly partisan as any since the Civil War; diagnosis of the electoral, demographic, and institutional forces that have brought such change over the American political landscape, pulling politics to the margins and leaving precious little common ground for compromise.

Charles W. Calhoun (2006). Conceiving a New Republic: The Republican Party and the Southern Question, 1869-1900. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 347 p.). Professor of History (East Carolina University). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History--19th century; Reconstruction (U.S. history, 1865-1877); Republicanism--United States--History--19th century; Southern States--Politics and government--1865-1950; United States--Politics and government--1865-1900.

Angus Campbell, Donald E. Stokes and Others (1960). The American Voter. (New York, NY: Wiley, 573 p.). Stokes - Professor of Politics and Public Affairs (Princeton). Elections -- United States.

Bryan Caplan (2006). The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 280 p.). Associate Professor of Economics (George Mason University). Economic policy; Democracy; Political sociology; Representative government and representation; Rationalism. Greatest obstacle to sound economic policy is not entrenched special interests or rampant lobbying, but the popular misconceptions, irrational beliefs, and personal biases held by ordinary voters.

Jonathan D. Chambers (1941). Dictators; An Introductory Study in the Social Origins of Dictatorship. (New York, NY: T. Nelson and Sons Ltd., 222 p.). Dictators; Despotism.

Elisabeth S. Clemens (1997). The People's Lobby: Organizational Innovation and the Rise of Interest Group Politics in the United States, 1890-1925. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 459 p.). Lobbying--United States--History; Pressure groups--United States--History; Organizational change--United States--History; Social institutions--United States--History; Institution building--History; United States--Politics and government--1865-1933.

Gail Collins (1998). Scorpion Tongues: The Irresistable History of Gossip in American Politics. (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 338 p.). Gossip--Political aspects--United States--History; Political corruption--United States--History; United States--Politics and government.

Matthew Continetti (2006). The K Street Gang: The Rise and Fall of the Republican Machine. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 288 p.). Staff Rriter (Weekly Standard). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States; Lobbyists--United States; Political corruption--United States; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001; United States--Politics and government--2001-. How a group of self-styled Republican reformers succumbed to temptations of power, became worse than Democrats they had been elected to replace.

Donald T. Critchlow (2007). The Conservative Ascendancy: How the GOP Right Made Political History. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 368 p.). Professor of History (Saint Louis University). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States--History; United States--Politics and government--1945-1953. GOP Right over the last sixty years - how deeply held beliefs about the nature of the individual and the good society are translated into political power.

Richard N. Current (1955). Daniel Webster and the Rise of National Conservatism. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 215 p.). Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852.

Rixchard Darman (1996). Who’s in Control?: Polar Politics and the Sensible Center. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 384 p.). Right and left (Political science); United States--Politics and government--1981-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001.

Richard Davis (2005). Politics Online: Blogs, Chatrooms, and Discussion Groups in American Democracy. (New York, NY: Routledge, 164 p.). Professor of Political Science (Brigham Young University). Political participation--Technological innovations--United States; United States--Politics and government--Weblogs; United States--Politics and government--Online chat groups; United States--Politics and government--Electronic discussion groups.

James Deakin (1966). The Lobbyists. (Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 309 p.). White House Correspondent (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Lobbying--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

John W. Dean (2006). Conservatives Without Conscience. (New York, NY: Viking, 246 p.). Ex–Nixon White House Counsel and Watergate Whistle-Blower. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Highlights specific right-wing-driven GOP policies, probes the conservative mind, identifies recurring qualities (unbridled viciousness toward those daring to disagree with them, big business favoritism that costs taxpayers billions); identifies specific examples (how court packing is seeking to form a judiciary that is activist by its very nature, how religious piety is producing politics run amok, how concealed indifference to the founding principles of liberty and equality is pushing America further and further from its constitutional foundations). Republican Party, a noble political party corrupted by its current leaders who cloak their actions in moral superiority while packaging their programs as blatant propaganda.

--- (2007). Broken Government: How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches. (New York, NY: Viking, 332 p.). Ex–Nixon White House Counsel and Watergate Whistle-Blower. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Public administration--United States; Federal government--United States; Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Dysfunctional chaos, institutional damage that the Republican Party and its core conservatives have inflicted on the federal government. Traces decline of all three branches of government through the presidencies of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II. Asks what, if anything, can and should politically moderate citizens do to combat the extremism, authoritarianism, incompetence, and increasing focus on divisive wedge issues of so many of today’s conservative politicians?

Stephen P. Depoe (1994). Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and the Ideological History of American Liberalism. (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 192 p.). Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, 1917- ; Liberalism--United States--History--20th century; United States--Historiography. Series: Studies in rhetoric and communication.

Donald Dewey (2007). The Art of Ill Will: The Story of American Political Cartoons. (New York, NY: New York University Press, 251 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial--History; United States--Politics and government--Caricatures and cartoons. Comprehensive history of American political cartooning, from the colonial period to contemporary cartoonists; artists’ uncanny ability to encapsulate the essence of a situation and to steer the public mood with a single drawing and caption.

Larry Diamond (2008). The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle To Build Free Societies Throughout the World. (New York, NY: Times Books/Henry Holt and Company, 448 p.). Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University). Democracy; Democratization. 1974 - nearly three-quarters of all countries were dictatorships; 2007 - more than half were democracies; arrogance and inconsistency have undermined America’s aspirations to promote democracy; urges vigorous support of good governance (rule of law, security, protection of individual rights, shared economic prosperity), free civic organizations.

Tom Domke and Gerry Lange (1996). The Conservative's Dictionary. (New York, NY: St. Martin's Griffin, 134 p.). Conservatism--United States--Humor; Political satire, American; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Humor; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

Edited and with an introduction by Arthur P. Dudden (1875). Pardon us, Mr. President!: American Humor on Politics. (South Brunswick: A.S. Barnes, 613 p. [rev., expanded 1962 ed.]). American wit and humor; United States--Politics and government--Humor.

Foster R. Dulles (1955). America's Rise to World Power, 1898-1954. (New York, NY: Harper, 314 p.). World politics--20th century; United States--Foreign relations--20th century.

Ed. Susan Dunn (2006). Something That Will Surprise the World: The Essential Writings of the Founding Fathers. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 470 p.). Professor of Humanities (Williams College). Founding Fathers of the United States--Archives; United States--Politics and government--1775-1783--Sources; United States--Politics and government--1783-1809--Sources; United States--Politics and government--1809-1817--Sources. Contents: George Washington -- Alexander Hamilton -- John Adams -- Thomas Jefferson -- James Madison. Most important speeches, letters, writings of Founding Fathers.

Nina J. Easton (2000). Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuste, 463 p.). Washington Bureau Chief (Fortune magazine). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--Biography; Politicians--United States--Biography; Politicians--United States--History--20th century; Conservatism--United States--History--20th century; Right and left (Political science); United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-. Young conservative activists who arrived on campus in the 1970s in rebellion against everything "sixties" and went on to overturn the political dynamics of the country in the 1980s and 1990s.

Murray Edelman (1964). The Symbolic Uses of Politics. (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 201 p.). Professor of Political Science (University of Wisconsin). Political psychology; Symbolism in politics.

--- (1971). Politics as Symbolic Action; Mass Arousal and Quiescence. (Chicago, Il: Markham Pub. Co., 188 p.). Professor of Political Science (University of Wisconsin). Political psychology; Symbolism in politics; Violence.

Thomas Byrne Edsall with Mary D. Edsall (1991). Chain Reaction: The Impact of Race, Rights, and Taxes on American Politics. (New York, NY: Norton, 339 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History--20th century; Presidents--United States--Election--History--20th century; Political campaigns--United States--History--20th century; Taxation--United States--History--20th century; United States--Race relations.

Mickey Edwards (2008). Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost--and How It Can Find Its Way Back. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 230 p.). Former Republican Congressman, Former National Chairman of the American Conservative Union, Founding Trustee of the Heritage Foundation. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History--21st century; Conservatism--United States; Executive-legislative relations--United States--History--21st century; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Conservatism turned upside down. Conservative movement drew its inspiration directly from the United States Constitution, overriding belief in individual liberty and limited government; taken over by people who abet an imperial presidency, have gutted the system of checks and balances, abandoned due process, and trampled upon our cherished civil liberties, endorse unprecedented assertions of government power, recognize few limits on what government can do.

Joseph J. Ellis (2000). Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation. (New York, NY: Knopf, 288 p.). Statesmen--United States--Biography--Anecdotes; Presidents--United States--Biography--Anecdotes; United States--History--1783-1815--Anecdotes; United States--Politics and government--1783-1809--Anecdotes.

M. Stanton Evans (1968). The Future of Conservatism; from Taft to Reagan and Beyond. (New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 304 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Jasmine Farrier (2004). Passing the Buck: Congress, the Budget, and Deficits. (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 284 p.). Assistant Professor of Political Science (University of Louisville). United States. Congress--Reform; United States. Congress--Powers and duties; Budget--United States; Budget process--United States; Finance, Public--United States.

Bruce L. Felknor (1992). Political Mischief: Smear, Sabotage, and Reform in U.S. Elections. (New York, NY: Praeger, 290 p.). Political campaigns--United States--History; Advertising, Political--United States--History; Political corruption--United States--History; Political ethics--United States--History; Libel and slander--United States--History.

Roger A. Fischer (1996). Them Damned Pictures: Explorations in American Political Cartoon Art. (North Haven, CT: Archon Books, 253 p.). Caricatures and cartoons--Political aspects--United States; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--19th century--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--20th century--Caricatures and cartoons.

George Fisher; introduction by Ernest Dumas (1993). The Best of Fisher : 28 Years of Editorial Cartoons from Faubus to Clinton. (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 259 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993--Caricatures and cartoons; Arkansas--Politics and government--1951- --Caricatures and cartoons.

Eric Foner (1970). Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 353 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); United States--Politics and government--1849-1861; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Causes. Revision of the author's thesis, Columbia University.

Robert Booth Fowler (2000). Enduring Liberalism: American Political Thought Since the 1960s. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 331 p.). Professor of Political Science (University of Wisconsin). Liberalism--United States--History--20th century; Consensus (Social sciences)--United States--History--20th century; Political science--United States--History--20th century.

Thomas Frank (2004). What's the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. (New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 306 p.). Conservatism--Kansas; Kansas--Politics and government--1951-.

eds. Steve Fraser and Gary Gerstle (1989). The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 311 p.). New Deal, 1933-1939; United States--Politics and government--1933-1945; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

David Frum (1994). Dead Right. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 230 p.). Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-.

--- (1996). What's Right: The New Conservative Majority and the Remaking of America. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 208 p.). Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Francis Fukuyama (2006). America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 240 p.). Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy and Director of the International Development Program at the School of Advanced International Studies (Johns Hopkins University). Conservatism--United States; United States--Military policy; Iraq War, 2003- ; Hegemony--United States; Democracy; International relations; United States--Foreign relations--2001-. In its decision to invade Iraq, the Bush administration failed in its stewardship of American foreign policy.

John Fund (2004). Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy. (San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books,, 173 p.). Elections--Corrupt practices--United States; Political corruption--United States; United States--Politics and government.

John G. Geer (2006). In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press,, 201 p.). Professor of Political Science (Vanderbilt University). Campaign management--United States; Advertising, Political--United States; Political campaigns--United States; Presidents--United States--Election--History; Negativism. Author argues that when political candidates attack each other, raise doubts about each other’s views and qualifications, voters benefit.

Liette Gidlow (2004). The Big Vote: Gender, Consumer Culture, and the Politics of Exclusion, 1890s-1920s. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 260 p.). Assistant Professor of History (Bowling Green State University). Political participation--United States; Voting--United States; Women in politics--United States. Roots of low voter turnout lay in the 1920s; Get-Out-the-Vote campaigns were part of an important transformation of political culture in the early twentieth century.

William E. Gienapp (1987). The Origins of the Republican Party, 1852-1856. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 564 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History; Political parties--United States--History--19th century; Elections--United States--History--19th century; United States--Politics and government--1853-1857.

George F. Gilder and Bruce K. Chapman (1966). The Party That Lost Its Head. (New York, NY: Knopf, 331 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); United States--Politics and government--1961-1963; United States--Politics and government--1963-1969.

Steven M. Gillon (1987). Politics and Vision: The ADA and American Liberalism, 1947-1985. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 289 p.). Americans for Democratic Action; Liberalism--United States--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Todd Gitlin (2007). The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 327 p.). Professor of Journalism and Sociology (Columbia University). Bush, George W. (George Walker), 1946- ; Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States; Right and left (Political science); United States--Politics and government. How the conservative movement rose and fell; crucial dynamic through which movements gain or lose political power; argues that Democrats will have to bite the bullet and unite under a big tent.

Lewis L. Gould (2003). Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans. (New York, NY: Random House, 597 p.). Barker Centennial Professor of History Emeritus (University of Texas). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )--History.

--- (2005). The Most Exclusive Club: A History of the Modern United States Senate. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 416 p.). Barker Centennial Professor of History Emeritus (University of Texas). United States. Congress. Senate--History--20th century.

William B. Greider (1992). Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of American Democracy. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 464 p.). Political participation--United States; Democracy--United States; Representative government and representation--United States; Pressure groups--United States; Political corruption--United States; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993.

Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson (2005). Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 272 p.). Peter Strauss Family Associate Professor of Political Science (Yale University); Professor of Political Science, Avice Saint Chair in Public Policy, (University of California, Berkeley). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States.

Alonzo L. Hamby (1992). Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. to Bush. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 431 p. [2nd ed.]). Teaches American History (Ohio University). Liberalism--United States--History--20th century; Politicians--United States--Biography; Presidents--United States--Biography; United States--Politics and government--20th century.

Leon A. Harris (1964). The Fine Art of Political Wit: Being a Lively Guide to the Artistic Invective, Elegant Epithet, and Polished Impromptus as well as the Gallant and Graceful Worldly Wit of Various British & American Politicians from the 18th Century through Our Own Days of Grace; A Handbook for Piercing the Poltical Epidermis of Opponents. (New York, NY: Dutton, 288 p.). Biographer and Former Department Store Executive. English wit and humor--History and criticism; American wit and humor--History and criticism; Great Britain--Politics and government--Humor; United States--Politics and government--Humor.

Louis Hartz with an introduction by Tom Wicker (1991). The Liberal Tradition in America: An Interpretation of American Political Thought Since the Revolution. (San Diego, CA: Harrcourt Brace Jovanovich, 329 p. [orig. pub. 1955]). Liberalism--United States--History; United States--History--Philosophy; United States--Politics and government.

Dorothy Healey and Maurice Isserman (1990). Dorothy Healey Remembers a Life in the American Communist Party. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 263 p.). Professor of History (Hamilton College). Healey, Dorothy; Communists--United States--Biography.

Chris Hedges (2007). American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. (New York, NY: Free Press, 272 p.). Son of a Presbyterian Minister, Graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Correspondent (New York Times, has reported from more than 50 countries over the last 20 years). Fascism--United States; Fundamentalism--United States; Conservatism--Religious aspects--Christianity. Author challenges the Christian Right's religious legitimacy, argues that at its core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for open society; examines the movement's origins, its driving motivations, its dark ideological underpinnings; argues that the movement currently resembles the young fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s.

Jacob Heilbrunn (2008). They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the Neocons. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 319 p.). Former member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board, Former Senior Editor (New Republic). Conservatism--United States--History; Political culture--United States--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-; United States--Foreign relations--Islamic countries; Islamic countries--Foreign relations--United States. Government officials, pundits, and think-tank denizens who make up this controversial movement, in the larger context of the decades-long battle between liberals and conservatives, first over communism, now over the war on terrorism, intellectual mavericks, with a fiery prophetic temperament and a rhetoric that sets them apart from both liberals and traditional conservatives.

Diane J. Heith (2004). Polling To Govern: Public Opinion and Presidential Leadership. (Stanford, CA: Stanford Law and Politics, 194 p.). Presidents--United States--Decision making; Political leadership--United States; Public opinion--United States.

Pendleton Herring (1966). The Politics of Democracy; American Parties in Action. (New York, NY: Norton, 468 p. [new ed.]). Former President, Social Science Research Council. Political parties--United States; Politics, Practical; United States--Politics and government.

Stephen Hess; with a new introduction by the author (1997). America's Political Dynasties. (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 742 p. [orig. pub. 1966]). Political Scientist. Politicians--United States--Family relationships; Politicians--United States--Biography; United States--Biography; United States--Politics and government. Definitive book on political royalty.

Stephen Hess and Milton Kaplan (1975). The Ungentlemanly Art: A History of American Political Cartoons. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 252 p. [rev. ed.]). American wit and humor, Pictorial--History; Political cartoons; United States--Politics and government--Caricatures and cartoons.

Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrop (1996). Drawn & Quartered: The History of American Political Cartoons. (Montgomery, AL: Elliott & Clark Pub., 164 p.). Political cartoons--United States--History--19th century; Political cartoons--United States--History--20th century; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--Caricatures and cartoons.

Jerome L. Himmelstein (1990). To the Right: The Transformation of American Conservatism. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 290 p.). Conservatism--United States--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Godfrey Hodgson (1976). America in Our Time: From World War II to Nixon: What Happened and Why. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 564 p.). Associate Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute (University of Oxford). United States--Social conditions--1960-1980; United States--Civilization--1945- ; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Foreign relations--1945-1989.

--- (1996). The World Turned Right Side Up: A History of the Conservative Ascendancy in America. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 365 p.). Associate Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute (University of Oxford). Conservatism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Richard Hofstadter (1969). The Idea of a Party System; The Rise of Legitimate Opposition in the United States, 1780-1840. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 280 p.). Political parties--United States.

Richard Hofstadter. With a foreword by Christopher Lasch (1974). The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It. (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 501 p. [orig. pub. 1948]). United States--Politics and government; United States--Biography.

Michael F. Holt (1990). Forging a Majority: The Formation of the Republican Party in Pittsburgh, 1848-1860. (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 408 p. [orig. pub. 1969]). Professor of American History (University of Virginia). Republican Party (Pittsburgh, Pa.)--History--19th century.

--- (1992). Political Parties and American Political Development: From the Age of Jackson to the Age of Lincoln. (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 365 p.). Professor of American History (University of Virginia). Political parties--United States--History--19th century; United States--Politics and government--1815-1861.

--- (1999). The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1,248,p.). Professor of American History (University of Virginia). Whig Party (U.S.)--History. 1834 - opponents of Andrew Jackson organized the Whig Party; party's demise in the 1850s.

Woody Holton (2007). Americans and the Origins of the Constitution. (New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 384 p.). Associate Professor of History (University of Richmond). Constitutional history--United States. History of the average Americans who challenged the framers of the Constitution and forced on them the revisions that produced the venerated document.

John Hostettler and Brian P. Block (2001). Voting in Britain: A History of the Parliamentary Franchise. (Chichester, UK: Barry Rose, 461 p.). Suffrage -- History -- Great Britain.

Daniel Walker Howe (1979). The Political Culture of the American Whigs. (Chicago : University of Chicago Press,: Chicago : University of Chicago Press,, 404 p.). Professor of History and Chairman of the Department of History (University of California, Los Angeles). Whig Party (U.S.); United States--Politics and government--1783-1865. Their party rivals - Jacksonian Democrats; spokesmen for a heritage of political culture received from Anglo-American tradition and passed on, with adaptations, to the Whigs' Republican successors.

Hugh Howard (2007). Houses of the Founding Fathers. (New York, NY: Artisan, 354 p.). Statesmen--Homes and haunts--United States; Politicians--Homes and haunts--United States; Historic buildings--United States; Dwellings--United States; Statesmen--United States--Biography; Politicians--United States--Biography; Statesmen--Family relationships--United States; Politicians--Family relationships--United States; United States--History, Local; United States--Biography. Tour of forty stately eighteenth-century houses; look at the private lives of the men whose ideas ignited an insurrection against England; mansions of Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Hamilton, homes of many other signers of Declaration of Independence or the Constitution.

Maurice Isserman (1987). If I Had a Hammer--: The Death of the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 259 p.). Professor of History (Hamilton College). Radicalism--United States; College students--United States--Political activity; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

eds. Shanto Iyengar, Richard Reeves (1997). Do the Media Govern?: Politicians, Voters, and Reporters in America. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 463 p.). Mass media--Political aspects--United States; Press and politics--United States; Journalism--Political aspects--United States.

Meg Jacobs (2004). Pocketbook Politics: Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 349 p.). Associate Professor of American History (MIT). Income distribution--United States--History--20th century; Purchasing power--United States--History--20th century; Consumption (Economics)--United States--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--20th century; United States--Economic conditions--20th century.

Kathleen Hall Jamieson (1992). Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction, and Democracy. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 335 p.). Professor, Annenberg School of Communication (University of Pennsylvania). Advertising, Political; Advertising, Political--United States; Communication in politics; Communication in politics--United States; Criticism, Personal.

Richard J. Jensen, with the assistance of Steven L. Piott and Christopher C. Gibbs (1983). Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1854-1983. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 180 p.). Political parties -- United States -- History; Voting -- United States -- History; United States -- Politics and government -- 19th century; United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century. Series Grass roots perspectives on American history.

Calvin Jillson (2004). Pursuing the American Dream: Opportunity and Exclusion over Four Centuries. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 347 p.). Professor of Political Science (Southern Methodist University). National characteristics, American; American Dream; United States--Politics and government--Philosophy; United States--Civilization.

Calvin Jillson, Rick K. Wilson (1994). Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774-1789. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 375 p.). Professor of Political Science (Southern Methodist University); Professor of Political Science (Rice University). United States. Continental Congress; United States--Politics and government--1775-1783; United States--Politics and government--1783-1789.

Haynes Johnson (2005). The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism. (Orlando, FL: Harcourt. McCarthy, Joseph, 1908-1957; United States. Congress. Senate--Biography; Legislators--United States--Biography; Anti-communist movements--United States--History--20th century; Terrorism--Government policy--United States; Presidents--United States--Election--2004; Political culture--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1953; United States--Politics and government--1953-1961; United States--Politics and government--2001-.

Walter Johnson (1963). 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue; Presidents and the People Since 1929. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 394 p.). Presidents--United States; United States--Politics and government--1929-1933; United States--Foreign relations--20th century.

John B. Judis (2000). The Paradox of American Democracy: Elites, Special Interests, and the Betrayal of the Public Trust. (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 305 p.). Senior Editor (New Republic). Political participation -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Democracy -- United States -- History -- 20th century; United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century.

Michael A. Kahn and H.L. Pohlman (2003). May It Amuse the Court: Editorial Cartoons of the Supreme Court and the Constitution. (Athens, GA: Hill Street Press, 252 p.). Senior Partner and Head of Litigation at Folger Levin & Kahn; Chair of the Political Science Department at Dickinson College. United States. Supreme Court--Caricatures and cartoons; Constitutional history--United States--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial.

Michael Kazin (1995). The Populist Persuasion: An American History. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 381 p.). Teaches History (Georgetown University). Populism--United States--History; United States--Politics and government--1865-1933; United States--Politics and government--20th century.

Brian Kelly (1992). Adventures in Porkland: How Washington Wastes Your Money and Why They Won’t Stop. (New York, NY: Villard Books, 271 p.). Budget--United States; Waste in government spending--United States; Patronage, Political--United States.

Frank R. Kent (1928). The Democratic Party: A History. (New York, NY: The Century Co., 568 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.) -- History; United States -- Politics and government.

ed.Hilton Kramer and Roger Kimball (1999). The Betrayal of Liberalism: How the Disciples of Freedom and Equality Helped Foster the Illiberal Politics of Coercion and Control. (Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 248 p.). Editor and Managing Editor, respectively, of The New Criterion. Liberalism--United States.

Irving Kristol (1983). Reflections of a Neoconservative: Looking Back, Looking Ahead. (New York, NY: Basic Books, 336 p.). Conservatism; Political science; Economics; World politics--1945-.

Everett Carl Ladd, Jr. (1993). The American Polity: The People and Their Government. (New York, NY: Norton, 534 p. [5th ed.]). Polling Expert, Professor of Political Science, Executive Director of the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (University of Connecticut), Director of Institute for Social Inquiry (polling group). United States--Politics and government.

Eric Lane and Michael Oreskes (2007). The Genius of America: How the Constitution Saved Our Country--and Why It Can Again. (New York : Bloomsbury: New York : Bloomsbury, 296 p.). Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law; Executive Editor of the International Herald Tribune. United States. Constitution--History; United States. Constitution; Constitutional history--United States; Constitutional history--United States; United States--Politics and government; United States--History--21st century. How our near failure to create a loosely knit nation led the framers to devise a system that takes human nature into account; how we have weathered crises in the past, from early attempts at political tyranny to the Civil War; Constitution’s effectiveness: great consensus (from Roosevelt’s New Deal through Johnson’s Great Society), division (from Reagan through George W. Bush).

Edward J. Larson and Michael P. Winship (2005). The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History: From the Notes of James Madison. (New York, NY: Modern Library, 229 p.). Russell Professor of History and Talmadge Professor of Law (University of Georgia); Professor of History (University of Georgia). United States. Constitutional Convention (1787); United States. Constitution; Constitutional history--United States. How the Constitution came to be, from the opening statements to the final votes.

Thomas C. Leonard (1986). The Power of the Press: The Birth of American Political Reporting. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 273 p.). Former Associate Dean (School of Journalism, Berkeley). Press and politics--United States--History.

Peter Levine (2007). The Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of American Citizens. (Medford, MA: Tufts University Press, 184 p.). Director of CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Education. Youth--United States--Political activity; Political participation--United States; Social participation--United States; Democracy--United States; Youth development--United States. Causes, symptoms, and repercussions of young Americans' lack of skills and opportunities they need to participate in politics or address public means whereby America can confront and reverse it.

Anthony Lewis (2007). Freedom for the Thought that We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment. (New York, NY: Perseus Books Group, 221 p.). Freedom of speech--United States; Freedom of the press--United States. How right of free expression evolved - hard choices, heroic (and some less heroic) judges, and fascinating and eccentric defendants who forced the legal system to come face-to-face with one of America's great founding ideas; Supreme Court did not begin to recognize this right until 1919.

Brink Lindsey (2007). The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America’s Politics and Culture. (New York, NY: Collins, 400 p.). Head of Research (Cato Institute). United States--Social conditions--1945- ; United States--Civilization--1945- ; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Tumult of racial and gender politics, the rise of the counterculture, and the conservative revolution of the 1980s and 1990s are portrayed in an entirely new light; how and why the contemporary ideologies of left and right emerged in response to the novel challenges of mass prosperity.

Seymour Martin Lipset (1981). Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics Johns Hopkins University Press, 586 p. [exp. ed.; orig. pub. 1960]). Democracy; Elections; Voting; Political parties--United States; Labor unions--United States; United States--Politics and government. Sociology of voting.

Seymour Martin Lipset and Gary Marks (2000). It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States. (New York, NY: Norton, 379 p.). Professor of Political Science (University of North Carolina). Socialism--United States--History.

M. G. Lord; foreword by Bill Mauldin (1982). Mean Sheets: Political Cartoons. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 143 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1977-1981--Caricatures and cartoons.

Ranan R. Lurie; foreword by Harry Reasoner (1975). Pardon Me, Mr. President! (New York, NY: Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co., 224 p.). World politics--1965-1975--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1974-1977--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1969-1974--Caricatures and cartoons.

Pauline Maier (1997). American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. (New York, NY: Knopf, 304 p.). United States. Declaration of Independence; United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.

Brian Mann (2006). Welcome to the Homeland: A Journey to the Rural Heart of America’s Conservative Revolution. (Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 288 p.). Reporter. Editor for North Country Public Radio, Commentator for Mountain Lake Public Television. Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Conservatism--United States; Rural-urban relations--United States; Politics and culture--United States; Culture conflict--United States; United States--Politics and government--1989-. Professed liberal set out to cover the so-called "red state culture"; strives to understand what motivates the conservative rural and exurban mindset.

Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein (2006). The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How To Get It Back on Track. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 288 p.). United States. Congress; United States. Congress--Reform. Examine 40 years of uninterrupted Democratic control of the House and stunning midterm election victory of 1994 that propelled Republicans into the majority in both House and Senate; reveal that byproduct was weakened institution bitterly divided between parties; highlight dramatic shift in Congress from highly decentralized, committee-based institution into much more regimented one in which party increasingly trumps committee; claim that resultant changes in the policy process (1) demise of regular order, 2) decline of deliberation, 3) weakening of system of checks and balances) have compromised role of Congress in American Constitutional system; argue that legislative process has been bent to serve immediate presidential interests, have often resulted in poorly crafted and stealthily passed laws; conclude that strong majority leadership in Congress led not to a vigorous exertion of congressional authority but to a general passivity in the face of executive power.

Doug Marlette; [foreword by Jules Feiffer] (1980). Drawing Blood: Political Cartoons. (Washington, DC: Graphic Press, 172 p.). World politics--1975-1985--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1977-1981--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

John F. Martin (1979). Civil Rights and the Crisis of Liberalism: The Democratic Party, 1945-1976. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 301 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.); Liberalism--United States; Civil rights--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Allen J Matusow (1984). The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s. (New York, NY: Harper & Row, 542 p.). Liberalism--United States--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--1961-1963; United States--Politics and government--1963-1969.

George H. Mayer (1967). The Republican Party, 1854-1966. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 563 p.). Republican Party (U.S.)--History.

Nolan McCarty, Keith T. Poole, and Howard Rosenthal (2006). Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 240 p.). Professor of Politics and Public Affairs and Academic Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton University); Professor of Political Science (University of California, San Diego); Professor of Politics (New York University) and Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. Equality--United States; Polarization (Social sciences); Income distribution--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Increasing polarization has been closely accompanied by fundamental social and economic changes--most notably, a parallel rise in income inequality.

Terry McAuliffe; with Steve Kettmann (2007). What a Party!: My Life Among Democrats: Presidents, Candidates, Donors, Activists, Alligators, and Other Wild Animals. (New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 416 p.). Former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Legendary Fund-Raiser, Confidant of Presidents. McAuliffe, Terry; Clinton, Bill, 1946- --Friends and associates; Democratic Party (U.S.)--Biography; Political consultants--United States--Biography; Presidents--United States--Staff--Biography; Political campaigns--United States; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Most successful fund-raiser in political history, heavyweight Democratic strategist and leader, chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2001 to 2005, pulled DNC out of debt for the first time in its history.

Walter A McDougall (2008). Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829-1877. (New York, NY: Harper, 787 p.). Professor of History (University of Pennsylvania). United States--History--1815-1861; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; United States--History--1865-1898. From conflagration that consumed Lower Manhattan in 1835 to the climactic centennial year of 1876 - saga of the American people’s continuous self-reinvention (from the inauguration of President Andrew Jackson through the eras of Manifest Destiny, Civil War, and Reconstruction, America’s first failed crusade to put "freedom on the march" through regime change and nation building). American epic as lived by Germans and Irish, Catholics and Jews, as well as people of British Protestant and African American stock; an epic in which Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, showman P. T. Barnum, and circus clown Dan Rice figure as prominently as Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, and Henry Ward Beecher; in which railroad management and land speculation prove as gripping as Indian wars.

David McKean (2004). Tommy the Cork: Washington's Ultimate Insider from Roosevelt to Reagan. (Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 368 p.). Chief of Staff (Sen. John Kerry). Corcoran, Thomas G.; Political consultants--United States--Biography; United States--Politics and government--1933-1953; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Jon Meacham (2006). American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. (New York, NY: Random House, 399 p.). Managing Editor (Newsweek). Religion and politics--United States--History; Christianity and politics--United States--History; National characteristics, American; United States--Religion; United States--History--Religious aspects--Christianity. Summary: How the Founding Fathers viewed faith, how they ultimately created a nation in which belief in God is a matter of choice.

John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge (2004). The Right Nation: Conservative Power in America. (New York, NY: Penguin, 450 p.). Editors, The Economist. Conservatism--United States--History--20th century; Right and left (Political science)--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--20th century.

Sara Miles (2001). How To Hack a Party Line: The Democrats and Silicon Valley. (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 246 p.). Democratic Party (Calif.); Business and politics--California--Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County); Computer industry--California--Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County)--Political activity; Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County, Calif.)--Politics and government.

Dana Milbank (2008). Homo Politicus: The Strange and Barbaric Tribes of the Beltway. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 276 p.). Political culture--Washington (D.C.); Politicians--Washington (D.C.)--Social life and customs; Washington (D.C.)--Social life and customs. Contents: Status : brahmins and untouchables -- Kinship -- Hunting and gathering -- Mythology and folklore -- Norms and deviancy -- Shamanism -- Aggression -- Taboo -- Festivals & social rituals -- Human sacrifice -- Fertility rites & mating behaviors -- Cult of the choreutai.

John J. Miller (1998). The Unmaking of Americans: How Multiculturalism Has Undermined the Assimilation Ethic. (New York, NY: Free Press, 293 p.). Former Fellow at the Conservative Heritage Foundation. Multiculturalism--United States; Americanization.

Nathan Miller (1992). Stealing from America: A History of Corruption from Jamestown to Reagan. (New York, NY: Paragon House, 399 p.). Political corruption -- United States -- History.

Bruce Miroff (2007). The Liberals’ Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 355 p.). Professor of Political Science and Collins Fellow (State University of New York at Albany). McGovern, George S. (George Stanley), 1922- ; Democratic Party (U.S.); Liberalism--United States; Presidents--United States--Election--1972. McGovern's crushing defeat in 1972 election produced an identity crisis for liberals torn between their convictions and the political calculations required to win elections-a dilemma for Democrats that has never gone away.

H. Wayne Morgan (1969). From Hayes to McKinley; National Party Politics, 1877-1896. (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 618 p.). Political parties--United States--History; United States--Politics and government--1865-1900.

Jim Morin; foreword by Pat Oliphant (1991). Line of Fire: Political Cartoons. (Miami, FL: Florida International University Press, 250 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

Allan Nevins and Frank Weitenkampf; With 100 reproductions of cartoons (1975). A Century of Political Cartoons: Caricature in the United States from 1800 to 1900. (New York, NY: Octagon Books, 190 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--19th century--Caricatures and cartoons.

Roy F. Nichols (1967). The Invention of the American Political Parties. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 416 p.). Political parties -- United States.

Jack Ohman (1987). Drawing Conclusions: A Collection of Political Cartoons. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 135 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

Pat Oliphant (1987). Up to There in Alligators: More Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews, McMeel & Parker, 176 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (1989). What Those People Need Is a Puppy!: More Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 176 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; World politics--1985-1995--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (1993). Why Do I Feel Uneasy?: More Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 159 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (1994). Waiting for the Other Shoe To Drop--: More Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 159 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (1995). Off to the Revolution: More Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 160 p.). United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial; Editorial cartoons--United States.

--- (1997). So That's Where They Came From. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 160 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; Editorial cartoons--United States; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (2000). Now We're Going To Have To Spray for Politicians. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub., 159 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; Editorial cartoons--United States; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (2001). When We Can't See the Forest for the Bushes. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Pub., 128 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; Editorial cartoons--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001---Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

Pat Oliphant and Dain Dunston (1996). 101 Things To Do with a Conservative. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 101 p.). Conservatism--United States--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

Pat Oliphant; foreword by David Hume Kennerly (1984). The Year of Living Perilously: More Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews, McMeel & Parker, 176 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

Herbert S. Parmet (1976). The Democrats: The Years After FDR. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 371 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.); United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Kathi Paton and Bill Plympton (1984). Polls Apart: How To Tell a Democrat from a Republican. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 96 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.)--Caricatures and cartoons; Republican Party (U.S. : 1845- )--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

James T. Patterson (2005). Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 448 p.). Professor of History (Brown University). United States--History--1969-

Thomas E. Patterson (2002). The Vanishing Voter: Public Involvement in an Age of Uncertainty. (New York, NY: Knopf, 154 p.). Voting--United States. Outgrowth of "Vanishing Voter Project" at Harvard (weekly interviews with samples of Americans (80,000 people).

Rick Perlstein (2001). Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus. (New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 671 p.). Goldwater, Barry M. (Barry Morris), 1909- ; Conservatism--United States--History--20th century; Presidents--United States--Election--1964; United States--Politics and government--1953-1961; United States--Politics and government--1961-1963; United States--Politics and government--1963-1969.

Peter G. Peterson (2004). Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do about It. (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 242 p.). Chairman, Blackstone Group. Budget deficits -- United States; Budget -- United States; Government spending policy -- United States; Fiscal policy -- United States; Entitlement spending -- United States.

Kevin B. Phillips (1969). The Emerging Republican Majority. (New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House, 482 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854-); Voting -- United State; United States -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989; African Americans -- Politics and government.

Kevin B. Phillips (2006). American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century. (New York, NY: Viking, 480 p.). Oil - dependence, Religion -- radical; national debt. Brink of disaster, axis of ills: 1) global over-reach, 2) militant religion, 3) resource problems, 4) ballooning debt.

Frances Fox Piven and Richard A. Cloward (1988). Why Americans Don't Vote: Turnout Decline in the United States, 1960-1984. (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 325 p.). Professors (City University and Columbia). Voting--United States--Abstention; Poor--United States--Political activity; Voter registration--United States.

--- (2000). Why Americans Still Don't Vote: And Why Politicians Want It That Way. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 348 p.). Voting--United States--Abstention; Poor--United States--Political activity; Voter registration--United States.

Keith Ian Polakoff (1981). Political Parties in American History. (New York, NY: Wiley, 480 p.). Political parties--United States--History.

Keith T. Poole and Howard Rosenthal (1997). Congress: A Political-Economic History of Roll Call Voting. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 297 p.). Professor of Political Science (University of California, San Diego); Professor of Politics (New York University) and Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. United States. Congress--Voting--History; Ideology--United States--History; Pressure groups--United States--History. Roll call voting patterns have maintained a core stability based on two great issues: 1) extent of government regulation of, intervention in, the economy; 2) race.

Charles Press (1981). The Political Cartoon. (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 395 p.). Political cartoons--History; Wit and humor, Pictorial; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--Caricatures and cartoons.

Ronald Radosh (1996). Divided They Fell: The Demise of the Democratic Party, 1964-1996. (New York, NY: Free Press, 298 p.). Political Analyst, Professional Historian. Democratic Party (U.S.); United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Nicol C. Rae (1989). The Decline and Fall of the Liberal Republicans: From 1952 to the Present. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 273 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); Liberalism--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

--- (1994). Southern Democrats. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 208 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.); Southern States--Politics and government--1951- ; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-.

Eric Redman; with a new foreword by Richard E. Neustadt and a new postscript by the author (2001). The Dance of Legislation. (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 317 p. [orig. pub. 1973]). Member of Senator Warren Magnuson's Staff (2 years). Legislation--United States. Classic description of the legislative process. Drafting, passing of legislation-S.4106, National Health Service Bill-with all the maneuvers, plots, counterplots, frustrations, triumphs, and sheer work and dedication involved.

Alfred S. Regnery (2008). Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism. (New York, NY: Threshold Editions, 448 p.). Publisher of The American Spectator. Conservatism--United States--History--20th century; Conservatism--United States--History; United States--Politics and government--20th century; United States--Politics and government--2001-; United States--Politics and government. sears. Development of the conservative movement from 1945 to the present; how in the years prior to and just post World War II, expanding government power at home and the expanding Communist empire abroad inspired conservatives to band together to fight these threats.

Robert V. Remini (2006). The House: The History of the House of Representatives. (New York, NY: Smithsonian Books, 614 p.). United States. Congress. House--History. Traces development of this American institution from struggling, nascent body to venerable powerhouse; shows brilliance of constitutional elasticity and the dangers inherent in it.

Alasdair Roberts (2006). Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 322 p.). Associate Professor of Public Administration in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Syracuse University). Official secrets; Freedom of information; Transparency in government; Government information. Evolution of the trend toward governmental openness, problem of selfish bureaucrats trying to hide embarrassing information by showing how such powerful trends as privatization, globalization, and the "networking" of security agencies are complicating the fight against secrecy.

James Oliver Robertson (1983). No Third Choice: Progressives in Republican Politics, 1916-1921. (New York, NY: Garland Pub., 351 p.). Republican Party (U.S.) -- History -- 20th century; United States -- Politics and government -- 1913-1921; Progressivism (United States politics).

Corey Robin (2004). Fear: The History of a Political Idea. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 336 p.). Teaches Political Science (Brooklyn College, City University of New York). Political theory; Fear--Political aspects.

Ed. Jerry Robinson (1981). The 1970s, Best Political Cartoons of the Decade. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 192 p.). World politics--1965-1975--Caricatures and cartoons; World politics--1975-1985--Caricatures and cartoons.

Jeffrey Rose (2006). The Most Democratic Branch: How the Courts Serve America. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 256 p.). Legal Affairs Editor (The New Republic). United States. Supreme Court; Political questions and judicial power--United States; Courts--United States; Judges--United States--History. Federal courts by and large have reflected the opinions of the mainstream; most successful when Supreme Court defers to the constitutional views of the American people.

Steven Rosefielde, D. Quinn Mills (2007). Masters of Illusion: American Leadership in the Media Age. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 540 p.). Professor of Economics (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Albert J. Weatherhead, Jr. Chair in Business Administration (Harvard Business School). Government information--United States; political culture--United States; national security--United States; United States--Politics and government. Authors use a theory of economic systems to gauge present and future global conflicts; see the challenges as posed sequentially by terrorism, Russia, China, and the European Union.

Theodore Rosenof (2003). Realignment: The Theory That Changed the Way We Think about American Politics. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 231 p.). Voting--United States; Elections--United States; Political science--United States.

Mark J. Rozell, Clyde Wilcox, David Madland (2005). Interest Groups in American Campaigns: The New Face of Electioneering. (Washington, DC: CQ Press, 196 p. [2nd ed.]). Pressure groups--United States; Lobbying--United States; Political campaigns--United States; United States--Politics and government--20th century; United States--Politics and government--21st century.

Robert Allen Rutland (1995). The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton. (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 263 p.). Democratic Party (U.S.) -- History.

--- (1996). The Republicans: From Lincoln to Bush. (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 277 p.). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ) -- History.

Larry J. Sabato (1984). PAC Power: Inside the World of Political Action Committees. (New York, NY: Norton, 251 p.). Campaign funds--United States; Political action committees--United States.

Dominic Sandbrook (2004). Eugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism. (New York, NY: Knopf, 397 p.). McCarthy, Eugene J., 1916- ; United States. Congress. Senate--Biography; Legislators--United States--Biography; Liberalism--United States--History--20th century; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Richard M. Scammon and Ben J. Wattenberg; with a new Introduction (1992). The Real Majority. (New York, NY: Primus, 356 p. [orig. pub. 1970]). Influential Political Analyst and Elections Analyst. Elections--United States; Public opinion--United States.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1949). The Vital Center; The Politics of Freedom. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 274 p.). Founding Member of Americans for Democratic Action. Totalitarianism; Communism; Liberalism; United States--Politics and government--1901-1953.

Douglas Schoen (2007). The Power of the Vote: Electing Presidents, Overthrowing Dictators, and Promoting Democracy Around the World. (New York, NY: Morrow, 416 p.). Political Sstrategist, Coinventor of the Overnight Poll. Campaign strategy; campaign consultants; Elections; Voter registration--United States. How modern elections have been transformed in the past quarter-century—and how those changes have changed politics, in America and around the world.

Karl Schriftgiesser (1973). This Was Normalcy; An Account of Party Politics During Twelve Republican Years: 1920-1932. (New York, NY: Oriole Editions, 325 p. [orig. pub. 1948]). Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- ); United States--Politics and government--1919-1933.

Robert E. Shalhope (1990). The Roots of Democracy: American Thought and Culture, 1760-1800. (Boston, MA: Twayne, 190 p.). George Lynn Cross Professor of History (University of Oklahoma). Political science--United States--History--18th century; Political culture--United States--History--18th century; United States--Civilization--To 1783; United States--Civilization--1783-1865.

Joe Sharpnack (1996). What America Wants, America Gets: Notes from the G.O.P. "Revolution" and Other Scary Stuff. (Las Colinas, TX: Ide House, 118 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; Editorial cartoons--United States; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

Joel H. Silbey (1985). The Partisan Imperative: The Dynamics of American Politics Before the Civil War. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 234 p.). President White Professor of History (Cornell University). United States--Politics and government--1815-1861.

--- (1991). The American Political Nation, 1838-1893. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 348 p.). President White Professor of History (Cornell University). United States--Politics and government--19th century. Political parties were the dominant dynamic force at work structuring and directing the political world.

Hedrick Smith (1988). The Power Game: How Washington Works. (New York, NY: Random House, 793 p.). Politicians--United States; Power (Social sciences); United States--Politics and government--1945-1989.

Mark A. Smith (2000). American Business and Political Power: Public Opinion, Elections, and Democracy. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 245 p.). Business and politics--United States; Public opinion--United States; Power (Social sciences)--United States; Pressure groups--United States; Lobbying--United States.

Frank J. Sorauf (1992). Inside Campaign Finance: Myths and Realities. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 274 p.). Regents’ Professor of Political Science (University of Minnesota). Campaign funds--United States.

Jane Shadel Spillman (1989). White House Glassware: Two Centuries of Presidential Entertaining. (Washington, DC: Published by the White House Historical Association in cooperation with the National Geographic Society and the Corning Museum of Glass, 148 p.). White House (Washington, D.C.); Glassware--United States--History.

Alan Stamaty (1983). Washingtoon. (New York, NY: Congdon & Weed, 141 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (1986). More Washingtoons. (New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 96 p.). United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons; American wit and humor, Pictorial.

Ray Suarez (2006). The Holy Vote: The Politics of Faith in America. (New York, NY: Rayo, 326 p.). Senior Correspondent, The Jim Lehrer New Hour. Christianity and politics--United States; Religion and state--United States; Religion and politics--United States; Religious right--United States; Conservatism--Religious aspects--Christianity; Democracy--Religious aspects--Christianity; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Way Americans worship, how organized religion and politics intersect in America, and how this powerful collision is transforming the current and future American mind.

Andrew Sullivan (2006). The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It: How To Get It Back. (New York, NY: HarperCollins. Essayist for Time magazine, columnist for The Sunday Times of London, Senior Editor at The New Republic. Conservatism--United States; Fundamentalism--United States; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Impassioned call to rescue conservatism from the excesses of the Republican far right, which risks making the GOP the first fundamentally religious party in American history.

Barry Sussman (1988). What Americans Really Think: And Why Our Politicians Pay No Attention. (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 278 p.). Public opinion -- United States; United States -- Politics and government -- 1981- -- Public opinion; United States -- Economic conditions -- 1981- -- Public opinion; United States -- Social conditions -- 1980- -- Public opinion; Public opinion polls.

Tom Toles (1991). At Least Our Bombs Are Getting Smarter: A Cartoon Preview of the 1990's. (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 133 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

--- (1993). My Elected Representatives Went to Washington: Cartoons. (Kansas City, MO: Andrews and McMeel, 128 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993--Caricatures and cartoons.

Tom Toles; foreword by Jeff MacNelly (1985). The Taxpayer's New Clothes. ( Kansas City, MO: Andrews, McMeel & Parker, 128 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

Steve Vogel (2007). The Pentagon: A History. (New York, NY: Random House, 656 p.). Veteran Military Reporter (The Washington Post). Pentagon (Va.)--History; United States--Dept. of Defense--Procurement--History; Public buildings--United States--Design and construction--History--20th century; Buildings--Repair and reconstruction--History. Creation of the Pentagon in 17 whirlwind months during World War II - one of the great construction feats in American history, involving a tremendous mobilization of manpower, resources, and minds.

Dan Wasserman; foreword by Jim Hightower (1995). Paper Cuts: The American Political Scene from Bush to Newt. (Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 160 p.). Editorial cartoons--Massachusetts--Boston; American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1989-1993--Caricatures and cartoons; United States--Politics and government--1993-2001--Caricatures and cartoons.

Dan Wasserman; introduction by Pat Oliphant (1987). We've Been Framed!: Cartoons. (Boston, MA: Faber & Faber, 128 p.). American wit and humor, Pictorial; United States--Politics and government--1981-1989--Caricatures and cartoons.

Drew Westen (2007). The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation. (New York, NY: PublicAffairs, 457 p.). Presidents--United States--Election--Psychological aspects; Political campaigns--United States--Psychological aspects; Voting--United States--Psychological aspects; Political parties--United States--Platforms; Political psychology; Emotions--Political aspects; United States--Politics and government--1989-; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989. Political primer, with cautionary tales drawn from the emotionally-challenged Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and John Kerry campaigns.

Robert H. Wiebe (1995). Self-rule: A Cultural History of American Democracy. (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 321 p.). Professor (Northwestern University). Political culture--United States--History; United States--Politics and government.

Clyde Wilcox (2000). Onward Christian Soldiers?: The Religious Right in American Politics. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 194 p.). Christianity and politics--United States--History--20th century; Religious right--United States; United States--Politics and government--1945-1989; United States--Politics and government--1989-; United States--Church history--20th century.

Sean Wilentz (2005). The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. (New York, NY: Norton, 992 p.). George Henry Davis '86 Professor of History, Director of the Program in American Studies (Princeton University). Presidents--United States--History--18th century; Presidents--United States--History--19th century; Politicians--United States--History--18th century; Politicians--United States--History--19th century; Democracy--United States--History--18th century; Democracy--United States--History--19th century; United States--Politics and government--1783-1865.

Garry Wills (1979). Confessions of a Conservative. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 231 p.). Wills, Garry, 1934- ; Conservatism; Political scientists--United States--Biography.

James Q. Wilson (1995). Political Organizations. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 359 p. [orig. pub. 1974]). Lobbying--United States; Pressure groups--United States.

--- (2003). American Government. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 463 p. [6th ed.]). United States--Politics and government.

James Q. Wilson, John J. DiIulio, Jr. (2001). American Government: Institutions and Policies. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 624 p. [8th ed.]). United States--Politics and government.

Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais (2008). Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press,, 336 p.). Executive Director of the Center for Telecom Management at the Marshall School of Business (University of Southern California); Vice President of Entertainment Research at the Frank N. Magid Associates (communications research). Political participation--Technological innovations--United States; Online social networks--Political aspects--United States; Blogs--Political aspects--United States; Voting research--United States; Political parties--United States; United States--Politics and government--Blogs; United States--Politics and government--2001-. Generational theory. America's demand for change in 2008 election will cause another periodic political makeover (five previous makeovers, happens every four decades, last in 1968). Two types of realignments: 1) "idealist" - put into motion forty years ago (1968) by the Baby Boomer Generation, produce, among other things, a political emphasis on divisive social issues and governmental gridlock; 2) "civic" (2008) - produced by the famous GI or "Greatest" Generation in the 1930s tend to produce societal unity, increased attention to and successful resolution of basic economic and foreign policy issues, and institution-building.

Jules Witcover (2003). Party of the People: The Democrats, A History. (New York, NY: Random House, 848 p.). Columnist (Baltimore Sun). Democratic Party (U.S.)--History.

Gordon S. Wood (1998). The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 653 p.). Alva O. Way University Professor of History (Brown University). Political science--United States--History; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.

--- (2006). Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different. (New York, NY: Penguin Press, 336 p.). Alva O. Way University Professor of History (Brown University). Statesmen--United States--Biography; Revolutionaries--United States--Biography; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Biography; United States--Politics and government--1775-1783. Character as a lived reality - first generation in history that was self-consciously self-made, men who understood the arc of lives, as of nations, as being one of moral progress.

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LINKS

13th Floor from Governing.com http://governing.typepad.com/13thfloor A blog on state and local government by the writers and editors of Governing magazine and Governing.com.

100 Milestone Documents in American History www.OurDocuments.gov To help us think, talk and teach about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our democracy, we invite you to explore 100 milestone documents of American history. These documents reflect our diversity and our unity, our past and our future, and mostly our commitment as a nation to continue to strive to "form a more perfect union."

American National Election Studies [pdf] http://www.electionstudies.org/ Established in 1977 by the National Science Foundation. American National Election Studies (ANES) provides important information about public opinion in the United States along with sophisticated election databases that will be useful to policy makers and social scientists. Along the left-hand side of their site visitors will find the "Reference Library" area, along with the "Data Center", and the equally important "Help Center". A good place to start looking around here is the "Guide to Public Opinion" area. Here visitors are afforded immediate access to tables and graphs that display the "ebb and flow of public opinion, electoral behavior, and choice in American politics over time." The tables and graphs contain data from 1948 through 2004, and they cover everything from partisanship to political involvement. Further along, the "Reference Library" area contains both pilot study and technical reports that may be of greater interest to academics. Additionally, there is a section where visitors can sign up to receive email updates.

American Political Development http://www.americanpoliticaldevelopment.org/home.htm This new site for scholars of American political development, "the interdisciplinary study of the deep historical roots of politics in the United States," is in its nascent stages but promises to grow. The site is a collaborative venture between the Miller Center for Public Affairs' American Political Development Program and the scholars of the American Political History Initiative and hopes to function as a gateway to resources in the field for scholars and researchers. The main section of the site at present is the APD Town Square section, which offers categorized links to new publications, journals, announcements, and reviews. This section will also feature periodic live Webcasts, the most recent of which was Tuesday's "Battle for the Ballot Box: National Election Reform in American Political Development," The site also offers a page of links to related sites and a section entitled Who We Are, which gives a brief overview of the field and information on the site's developers. In the future, the Electronic Classroom section will be a boon to instructors as it will contain syllabi, exam questions, assignments, and other teaching resources.

American Political History On-Line http://tigger.uic.edu/~rjensen/pol-gl.htm Guide was prepared with support from the National Endowment for Humanities, the Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation, the University of Illinois, RPI, the Gilder-Lehrman Foundation, the Luce Foundation, and the Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grants sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center. Richard Jensen is a scholar with many books and articles; he was professor of history for over 35 years at several schools, including the University of Illinois, Harvard, Michigan, West Point, and Moscow State University.

American Political Items Collectors http://apic.us/ Organized in 1945 to encourage the collection, preservation and study of Political Americana, APIC is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the study and preservation of materials relating to political campaigns of the United States of America. Members of APIC are collectors of campaign material who wish to improve their collections and their understanding of candidates and issues that form our political heritage.

The American Political Science Association [pdf] http://www.apsanet.org/ APSA was founded in 1903, and currently serves over 15000 members in over 80 countries. "About" section provides information about the organization, along with an answer to the question "What is Political Science?" APSA Journals area affords visitors the opportunity to sample some articles from recent issues, such as "What China Will Want: The Future Intentions of a Rising Power" and "The Future of Election Reform in the States". "Teaching" section contains resources on pedagogy that include syllabi, service learning assessments, and links to sites that contain additional resources that can be used in the classroom.

A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787-1825 http://elmer.lib.tufts.edu:8080/aas_portal/index.xq Ever wonder about the results of the 1823 election for the position of lieutenant governor in Connecticut? Maybe so, maybe not, but it's hard not to get excited about this very ambitious site dedicated to American election results. Assembling all of this data has been a decades-long process, and much of this work was done by Philip J. Lampi, an expert in the area of early American politics. This ongoing project represents collaboration between the American Antiquarian Society and Tufts University Digital Collection and Archives. With funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the project will eventually include data from all 25 states that existed during this time period. First-time visitors to the site may wish to read over some of the introductory materials in the "About" section. After that, they can navigate over to the "Quick Search" function, or they can also browse by candidate, office, year, or state. Finally, visitors can also take a look at their data entry progress area, and they may also wish to download data for offline analysis.

The A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science http://www.ucsusa.org/scientific_integrity/interference/a-to-z-guide-to-political.html Descriptions of several situations in which "scientists who work for and advise the federal government [in the 21st century] have seen their work manipulated, suppressed, [and] distorted." Also includes a link to a list from December 2006 of "names of more than 10,000 scientists of all backgrounds from all 50 states -- including 52 Nobel Laureates" who "signed a scientist statement on scientific integrity, denouncing political interference in science." From the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School: The Federalist Papers http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed.htm Complete collection of the 85 articles urging the citizens of New York to ratify the new United States Constitution. They were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, and were first published from October 1787 to August 1788. From the Lillian Goldman Law Library in Memory of Sol Goldman at Yale Law School.

Ballot Measure Database http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/elect/dbintro.htm Database of state ballot measures, covering the current election and selected elections back to the early 1900s. Search by state, topic area, date, and election type (general, primary, or special). Entries include ballot number, title, status, and summary, when available. From the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Bill of Rights Institute www.billofrightsinstitute.org Founded in September 1999, the mission of the Bill of Rights Institute is to educate young people about the words and ideas of America's Founders, the liberties guaranteed in our Founding documents, and how our Founding principles continue to affect and shape a free society.

Bureau of the Public Debt http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov "The Bureau of Public Debt [of the U.S. Department of the Treasury] is responsible for the accounting for and reporting of the debt in accordance with statutory direction." This site explains the difference between the public deficit and debt ("accumulated deficits plus accumulated off-budget surpluses"). It includes a FAQ, information about government securities (such as savings bonds and Treasury bills), fraudulent schemes involving alleged U.S. securities, and related material.

Capitol Hill History Project http://www.capitolhillhistory.org/ The Capitol Hill Community Foundation has established the Ruth Ann Overbeck Capitol Hill History Project in order to give the neighborhood a better knowledge of its past and a deeper understanding of the everyday lives of its citizens. The Overbeck Project captures the history of this community, thriving residential neighborhood, a small town within a large city, by recording the recollections of its longtime residents and preserving other records of its fascinating past.

(Caucuses) How Do Caucuses Work? http://people.howstuffworks.com/question721.htm This essay explains how caucuses work, and outlines the differences between presidential primaries and caucuses, which are both "a means for each political party to let voters nationwide select their party's presidential nominee." The Iowa caucus (the first of the presidential election year) is used as an example. Includes links to further information about the U.S. presidential election system. From HowStuffWorks.

(Caucuses) Iowa Caucus 2008 http://www.iowacaucus.org/ Official website for the Iowa Caucus, in which political party members gather in January to make policy decisions and to select candidates, and which is the earliest step in the electoral process for U.S. presidential candidates. Provides background about the caucus (such as how the caucuses began, how they work, and how Iowa gained its first-in-the-nation status) and links to candidate websites. Also includes links to facts about Iowa.

Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University) http://www.civicyouth.org/ CIRCLE "conducts research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25." Its website features quick facts on youth voting, civic education, trends (by race, ethnicity, and gender), youth demographics, non-college youth, and community service. Also includes fact sheets, reports, data sets, and links to related sites.

Congress in the Classroom http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_programs_CongressClassroom.htm National, award-winning education program now in its 16th year. Developed and sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, the workshop is dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information on teaching about Congress.

Congress.org http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/ A tool for increasing voter participation, this nonpartisan site allows you to track the status of appropriation bills (so far only one has passed both House and Senate), follow key votes, write your federal, state and local representatives or post messages to them online, and see what actions have been proposed by a variety of groups.

Constitution Finder http://confinder.richmond.edu "This database offers constitutions, charters, amendments, and other related documents [for countries around the world]. Nations of the world are linked to their constitutional text posted somewhere on the Internet." Browsable by country. Includes links to texts in languages other than English. From the University of Richmond School of Law.

Conversations on the Constitution [Macromedia Flash Player] http://www.abanet.org/publiced/conversations/constitution/ Website created by the American Bar Association. As its mission statement declares, "This project is designed to further dialogue in schools and in the workplace about American constitutional principles and values." Within the site, visitors can peruse a list of topics, such as war powers, the establishment of religion, and cruel and unusual punishment. Each area has a brief overview of each topic, and then three "starter" questions. These starter questions feature a list of specific queries, accompanied by brief illustrations (such as political cartoons and the like) that can be used at the dinner table, the boardroom table, or just about any table. Finally, interested parties can also take a few interactive tests on such areas as Supreme Court rulings and students’ rights in the classroom.

Core Documents of U.S. Democracy http://www.gpoaccess.gov/coredocs.html An electronic collection of current and historical United States government documents which define the American democracy. These legislative and legal, regulatory, presidential, demographic, and economic documents are selected and authenticated by the Government Printing Office's GPO Access service. Includes the Bill of Rights, Constitution, Federalist Papers, and statistical reference sources. Subjects: Government publications; United States.

C-Span http://c-span.org/ C-SPAN is a private, non-profit company, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service. Our mission is to provide public access to the political process. C-SPAN receives no government funding; operations are funded by fees paid by cable and satellite affiliates who carry C-SPAN programming.

C-SPAN: American Political Archive http://www.c-span.org/apa/homepage.asp? \Cat=Series&Code=APA&ShowVidNum= 6&Rot_Cat_CD=APA&Rot_HT=206&Rot_WD= &ShowVidDays=60&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30 The site contains a wide variety of unique audio programs culled from materials at the National Archives, presidential libraries, the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress and other sources. One place to start is by listening to any one of the oral histories recorded by different members of Congress who served in World War II or Vietnam, such as former Senator Max Cleland or Representative Sam Johnson. Visitors will want to peruse the archived programs, which include those on Indira Gandhi, Medal of Honor recipients, and stories from the Iraq War. Visitors will definitely want to take a look at a 1967 interview with former President Dwight Eisenhower in which he talks about his time at Columbia University and his memories of a wide range of prominent figures in American history, such as George Meany.

Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/herblock-home.html Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock Legendary political cartoonist Herb Block left no pressing issue (or political party) unturned during his long career, which spanned most of the 20th century. Along the way, he picked up three Pulitzer Prizes, including one in 1973 that he won with his Washington Post colleagues for their coverage of the Watergate scandal. In 2002, the Herb Block Foundation donated over 14,000 of his original drawings and more than 50,000 preparatory sketches to the Library of Congress. A very small, yet excellent, selection of some of those renderings may be viewed at this site, which complements an in situ exhibit at the American Treasures Gallery in Washington, D.C. The drawings here include several that deal with the nuclear power plant disaster at Chernobyl, the Republican Party’s so-called "Contract with America" in the 1990s, and television campaign advertisements. Each drawing is accompanied by a brief explanation of the work, along with specific information on when each cartoon originally appeared. A timeline of Herb Block’s life and a checklist of objects that are included in the exhibit round out the site. The site might also be well used by political science and government in order to complement more traditional classroom materials.

The Equal Rights Amendment http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/ Site about the continuing viability of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), "first proposed in 1923 [and] still not part of the U.S. Constitution. The ERA has been ratified by 35 of the necessary 38 states." Features history, a FAQ, discussion of strategy for passage, links to current legislation, and related material. A project of the Alice Paul Institute in collaboration with the ERA Task Force of the National Council of Women's Organizations.

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention (1774 -1789) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/ The Continental Congress Broadside Collection (253 titles) and the Constitutional Convention Broadside Collection (21 titles) contain 274 documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress, resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Most broadsides are one page in length; others range from 1 to 28 pages. A number of these items contain manuscript annotations not recorded elsewhere that offer insight into the delicate process of creating consensus. In many cases, multiple copies bearing manuscript annotations are available to compare and contrast.

ExpectMore.gov http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/ The Office of Management and Budget allows you to explore its performance appraisals of government programs by performance level, by topic, or by keyword. Each entry contains a summary of the appraisals and the improvement plan.

FactCheck.Org (Annenberg Political Fact Check) http://factcheck.org/ Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania - established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels. A nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics - monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Federal Judicial Center [pdf] http://www.fjc.gov/public/home.nsf Created by an act of Congress in 1967, the Federal Judicial Center has served as a clearinghouse of information about the federal court system for four decades: court system, its history, and its judges. From its homepage, visitors can go to one of the primary sections: "Federal Judicial History" (contains biographies of federal judges since 1789, the histories of individual courts, and summaries of landmark decisions), "Publications & Videos", and "Educational Programs & Materials". In the "Publications & Videos" area, visitors can use the search engine to look for specific items of interest, or they can also browse the archive’s contents by subject or by date of publication.

Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training" http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/diplomacy/ Window into the lives of American diplomats. Transcripts of interviews with U.S. diplomatic personnel capture their experiences, motivations, critiques, personal analyses and private thoughts. These elements are crucial to understanding the full story of the creation of a structure of stable relationships that maintained world peace and protected U.S. interests and values.

Getting the Message Out! National Political Campaign Materials, 1840-1860 [Real Player] http://dig.lib.niu.edu/message/ Round about the middle of the 19th century, many politicians relied on the time-honored practices of broadsheets, barn-sized advertisements, newspaper endorsements, and other such forms of promotion to get the word out about their campaigns. This website, created by the Northern Illinois University Libraries, provides a close examination of this national popular political culture from 1840 to 1860 through images of the period, along with a few lively recordings of campaign songs of the day. Visitors will want to start by reading over some of the campaign histories, which offer brief synopses of the candidates and the major issues they grappled with at the time. Additionally, there are brief biographies of each major candidate (such as James K. Polk and James Gillespie Birney). After getting up to speed, visitors will want to browse through the different multimedia offerings here, and they should definitely listen to some of the catchy political jingles. Some that should not be missed include the ever-popular "A Bumper Around Now My Hearties!" and "Come to the Contest".

History of the Federal Judiciary http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/index_bdy! OpenPage&BaseTarget=sitecontent Portion of the Federal Judicial Center’s Web Page presents basic reference information about the history of the federal courts and the judges who have served on those courts since 1789. It was compiled by the Federal Judicial History Office in furtherance of the Federal Judicial Center’s statutory mandate to "conduct, coordinate, and encourage programs relating to the history of the judicial branch of the United States government." The history section of the Center’s Web page presents six topical links.

The History of the Supreme Court [pd] http://www.historyofsupremecourt.org/ While some citizens may find the United States Supreme Court to be a distant institution, nothing could be farther from the truth. During its annual sessions, the Court addresses a myriad of issues of immediate and enduring importance, including eminent domain, freedom of expression, the death penalty, and so on. With funding from New York Life, this very thorough website was created to complement a major television series on the history of the Supreme Court that will soon appear on PBS. The site's materials were written by educators from across the country, and they present the institution's history thematically, thereby making it easier to use in the classroom. Within each one of the site's sections, users will find essays and teaching materials on gender equality, social rights, personal liberties, and equal access to schools. The site also includes a very nice interactive timeline of landmark cases handed down since 1792. Finally, the site also includes a searchable encyclopedia of terms and court cases of note.

History of the United States Capitol http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate/capitol/index.html Change and growth have ultimately been the threads that bind the Capitol's history together. As the nation grew, so did Congress and the Capitol. As a result, the Capitol has been a continual work in progress for more than 200 years. This history site was created by architectural historian William C. Allen and is sponsored by the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. This document contains elaborate photos and 12 chapters that chronicles the design and politics of the U.S. Capitol from the beginning of its construction in 1793 to the present. Teachers, students, architects, and historians will find this site to be a rich and intriguing source of information.

IBM Center for the Business of Government http://www.businessofgovernment.or The IBM Center for The Business of Government connects public management research with practice. Since 1998, we have helped public sector executives improve the effectiveness of government with practical ideas and original thinking. We sponsor independent research by top minds in academe and the non-profit sector, and we create opportunities for dialogue on a broad range of public management topics. Center has awarded nearly 300 research stipends to leading public management researchers in the academic and non-profit communities that have resulted in over 200 reports; publications focus on the major management issues facing all governments today: e-government, financial management, human capital management, managing for performance and results, market-based government, and innovation, collaboration and transformation; Center produces The Business of Government Hour - an interview program with government executives who are changing the way government does business (has interviewed over 275 government executives about their careers, agency accomplishments and management, and the future of government in the 21st Century - Deputy Secretaries, Under Secretaries, Chief Financial Offi cers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Operating Officers, and Commissioners from a range of federal agencies as well as state and local government executives).

Images of American Political History http://teachpol.tcnj.edu/amer_pol_hist/ More than 500 public domain images in the field of American political history are here. These range from reproductions of art from colonial times to scanned photographs from the present day. Search for images by keyword, or browse by time period or general topic. The images are in JPEG format, with thumbnail previews linked to full-sized images. From the Teaching Politics site at the College of New Jersey. Subjects: United States -- Politics and government -- Pictorial works | United States -- History -- Pictorial works.

Legislative History Process http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/legchart.html

List of United States Political Appointments That Crossed Party Lines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._political_appointments_ that_crossed_party_lines This list includes only: executive branch appointees, appointed by the President; independent agency appointees.

MAPLight.org [pdf] - http://www.maplight.org/ Iinnovative database brings together three unique data sets: bill texts, legislative voting records, and supporting and opposing interests for each bill. This data allows users to determine the contributions given by interests supporting and opposing each bill and the average donations given to legislators voting "Yes" and "No" on each bill. Currently, MAPLight.org covers the California Legislature and the U.S. Congress and first-time visitors may wish to start by watching the six-minute introductory video which explains all of the bells and whistles on the site. After that, visitors can click on either the "California" or the "U.S. Congress" sections of the site to learn about current voting patterns related to interest groups (such as teachers unions and the health insurance industry), legislators, and pending bills. Moving on, the site also offers up a presidential money race widget that can be customized in a variety of ways. Visitors may also wish to sign up to receive email updates and they are also welcome to send along feedback.

Museum of Democracy http://www.museumofdemocracy.com/ Unprecedented opportunity to view political history through the lens of the largest collection of political and campaign memorabilia ever assembled. The core of the collection is the Jordan Wright Collection. Consisting of more than 1.2 million individual items, this collection contains important pieces beginning with the George Washington presidency and includes material from every candidate in every presidential campaign since. The collection includes buttons, pendants, correspondence, speeches, clothing, dolls, recordings, film and video that cover the entire history of American political campaigns. From the original flag that flew at George Washington’s first inauguration to computerized video from the 2004 race, this collection breathes life into the history of politics in America.

The National Archives http://www.archives.gov/index.html Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you.

National Governors Association http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga With the wide range of issues that confront and bedevil even the most experienced state governor it makes sense that there is a bipartisan organization that offers some coherence to the shared problems confronting many such leaders. Based in Washington DC, the National Governors Association (NGA), serves as the collective voice of these elected officials and also oversees the NGA Center for Best Practices, which focuses on state innovations and best practices on a wide range of policy issues. On their webpage, visitors can learn about the latest actions taken by the NGA, read opinion articles from various governors, and take a glance at the different policy initiatives underway in different states, such as Arkansas’s Governor Mike Huckabee’s "Healthy America". Visitors will definitely want to take a look at the publications area of the Center for Best Practices where they will find something of value contained within a host of sections, including those that deal with workforce retention and information technology.

National Voting Rights Museum and Institute http://selmavotingrightsmuseum.org/ The civil rights struggle in Selma, Alabama did not begin or end at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. The events of that day had their embryonic start at the beginning of the birth of our nation and continues today in efforts to remove all barriers to achieve freedom from tyranny and oppression. The revolutionary actions which were the basis for the establishment of democracy in America provide the basis for the respect and love for the rights of persons, both human and civil. It is in this tradition of respect for freedom and the rights of persons, including the right to vote, that was the impetus for the founding of the National Voting Rights Museum & Institute.

Political Advertising - University of Iowa Communication Studies Resources http://www.uiowa.edu/~commstud/resources/pol_ads.html Links to current articles on political advertising, and relevant web sites.

Political Arithmetik - Where Numbers and Politics Meet http://politicalarithmetik.blogspot.com/ Blog by Charles Franklin, a professor at University of Wisconsin, who teaches statistical analysis of polls, public opinion and election results. He helps people understand issues like political bias in poll samples and questions, and provides historical context for current data.

Political Assassination: The Violent Side of American Political Life http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/assassinations.cfm This essay discusses the history and timing of political assassinations and assassination attempts in the U.S. The site notes that nine presidents have been the objects of assassination attempts, as have been one president-elect, three presidential candidates, eight governors, and many other political figures. "No other country with a population of over 50 million has had as high a number of political assassinations or attempted assassinations." From the University of Houston.

Politics and Prose - Bookstore and Coffeehouse http://www.politics-prose.com/

Politics and Tech Tools - Blogs, Aggregators and Tracking Tools http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/oct06/Gordon-Murnane.shtml Librarian Laura Gordon-Murnane provides an excellent review, with links, of the top liberal and conservative blogs, candidate blogs, official party blogs, and local political blogs.

Politifact http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/ A project of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly. In the months ahead, the news staffs of both organizations will examine major claims by presidential candidates and rule on their veracity: 1) Truth-O-Meter will help voters sort fact from fiction in the campaign; 2) Attack File analyzes the truth behind attacks on candidates and provides supporting links. The site is browsable by candidates and issues.

PollingReport.com http://www.pollingreport.com/ Everyone likes polls, even if they don’t always like the results. There are a number of ways to keep tabs on recent and informative polls, PollingReport.com is one of the most comprehensive ways to do so online. Users can look over the site’s primary thematic areas ("Elections", "National Security", and "In the News"). Within each thematic area, visitors can look over the results of recent polls, read the questions asked of participants, and learn about each poll’s methodology and sample size. The site doesn’t have a search engine, but it doesn’t take much time to look through the contents. The site has a number of paid subscription services.

Political Feeds http://www.political-humor.net/ Directory of political feeds for Australia, Canada, the UK, Asia, and the US, including political humor, local and state government, blogs from all parts of the political spectrum, and more.

The Politico http://www.politico.com This online news site has "the mission of covering the politics of Capitol Hill and of the presidential campaign, and the business of Washington lobbying and advocacy." Includes news, opinion pieces, photos, blogs, and other material about Congress, politicians, the 2008 presidential election, and other political topics. From the publishers of the free Politico print newspaper available in the Washington, DC area.

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute [pdf] http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x271.xml Quinnipiac University's Polling Institute is perhaps one of the best known polling centers in the United States, and its work is frequently cited by major media outlets. Staff members at the Institute are also called upon to offer commentary on the voting habits and preferences of a broad swath of the American public. Visitors to their site can start their journey by clicking on the "Releases by State" area on the left-hand side of the homepage. Here they will find the results of recent polls conducted at the state and national level. From there, visitors will want to visit the "Polling Regional Definitions" where they can learn about how each state is divided up for polling purposes. Also, the site allows users to search all of their press releases by area (such as individual states or "swing states") and timeframe.

Angus Reid Global Scan: Election Tracker http://www.angus-reid.com/tracker/ This site "monitors democratic conditions around the world, by reviewing background information, assessing the latest campaign news and events, describing trends in voting intention, and reporting on the outcome of a particular ballot." From Angus Reid Consultants, a polling company.

Secretaries of Defense http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/secdef_histories/ Biographies of U.S. secretaries of defense from 1947 to the present, including Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Cheney, Caspar Weinberger, William Cohen, Les Aspin, George Marshall, and others. The essays cover the life events leading up to each person's time in office, and highlights of their careers in the position. From the U.S. Department of Defense.

Secretaries of State, 1789-2005 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/1682.htm

Seven Ways To Find Local Political Blogs http://www.personaldemocracy.com/node/1140 What's going on in state and local politics. Also state-by-state blogroll at Governing's blog, The 13th Floor.

Signers of the Declaration http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/declaration/ This series of essays covers topics related to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, including historic sites and buildings associated with the signing, and biographical sketches of the signers of the Declaration, such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson. Provides text and history of the Declaration and suggested reading. Based on a book that was issued by the National Park Service in observance of the U.S. bicentennial.

Society for History in the Federal Government http://www.shfg.org/ Founded in 1979 as a non-profit professional organization to promote study and broad understanding of the history of the United States Government and to serve as the voice of the federal historical community. To achieve its goals, the Society brings together historians, archivists, archaeologists, curators, librarians, editors, preservationists, and others interested in government history.

State Capitol Building Histories http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/statecap/cap01.htm Chronicles the rich and often colorful architectural history of the American State Capitol Buildings.

Stateline.org http://www.stateline.org Online since January 1999, Stateline.org continues to serve as a fine resource for those with a penchant for state government and various developments that bear directly on all 50 states. Funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, the site now includes a host of new and improved features. From their well-designed homepage, visitors can view a list of top stories and read original content as well as news reports created by Stateline.org staff writers. Those persons looking for coverage on specific topics will want to look through their list of issues, which include education, elections, homeland security, and transportation. The staff members have also created an online archive of governors’ addresses from their respective states dating back to 2000. The site is rounded out by the inclusion of their fine annual report "State of the States".

The Thicket, at State Legislatures http://ncsl.typepad.com/the_thicket/ The Thicket is a blog about the state legislative institution and federalism written by and for legislative junkies. Contributors are among the nation's foremost statehouse observers at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Part of the mission of State Legislatures magazine and NCSL's Trust for Representative Democracy. State Legislatures is the national magazine of state government and policy, published 10 times a year by NCSL. The Trust for Representative Democracy is a grassroots campaign to strengthen understanding and support for American democratic institutions.

Third Parties in American Politics: Rich History, Many Roles http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=August&x=20040830165442frllehctim0.307461 2004 interview with Professor J. David Gillespie covers the role of third parties in American politics. Topics include constraints on third-party participation, media coverage of third parties, and specific third parties such as the Anti-Masonic Party of the early 1800s, the Progressive Party (Bull Moose Party) from the early 1900s, and the Reform Party, which was founded by Ross Perot in the 1990s. From the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs.

What Is the History of "Third Parties" in the United States? http://www.thisnation.com/question/042.html An introduction to the types of third parties in U.S. government and politics. Features a table listing parties, third party presidential candidates, voting percentages, and electoral votes. Parties listed include Free Soil, Populist, Progressive (Bull Moose), American Independent, Reform, and Green. From a company that publishes an online American government and politics textbook.

UK Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline and Bios http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/pm_and_pol_tl.shtml From Sir Robert Walpole, Whig, (1721 - 1742) through Margaret Thatcher, Conservative, (1979 - 1990).

UK prime Miniisters and Politics and Timelines http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/timelines/primeministers_pol/ index.shtml Scandals, conflicts, collusion and corruption - political journey through nearly 300 years of high ideals and low cunning from Tony Blair to Robert Walpole (first man to hold prime ministerial powers).

University of Oklahoma Political Communication Center http://www.ou.edu/pccenter/ University of Oklahoma Political Communication Center in the Department of Communication is recognized nationally and internationally as a major resource for political research; additionally, it is committed to contributing to the analysis of political communication, and to the historical preservation of our political discourse. The Political Communication Center houses the Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive, a repository with the largest and most comprehensive collection of political broadcast advertising in the world. With more than 80,000 commercials, the archive includes political advertisements dating back to 1936 for radio and 1950 for television. The purpose of the archive is to preserve these valuable historical materials and to make them available for scholarly research and professional use.

VoterWatch http://www.voterwatch.org/ "Nonpartisan nonprofit organization" has created this searchable database of videos of Congress at work. Browse by date or topic, or search by keyword of member of Congress or both.

Voting http://www.sci.wsu.edu/math/Lessons/Voting/ This site explains how votes are interpreted when one political candidate does not win a majority in an election. Topics addressed include plurality, run-offs, and the Borda method (named after 18th century Jean-Charles de Borda), a ranking system which assigns a certain number of points to each place. Includes examples. From the Washington State University Department of Mathematics.

KIPnotes.com

We Bring the Library 2 U

Copyright (c) 2001

646-229-3439
kipz@aol.com

KIPnotes.com

We Bring the Library 2 U

Copyright (c) 2001

646-229-3439 kipz@aol.com

646-229-3439
kipz@aol.com