A lso know as subject guides, are written by Librarians who have found the best collection of resources on the web.
Political Science and Public Policy Resources: Public Policy Issues Sources on the Web by Michigan State University well annotated list of links to think tanks, associations, policy driven web sites for public policy organizations.
Public Administration: Information Sources by Columbia University links to books and indexes, plus web links to governmental and non-governmental organizations.
Public Administration and Urban Studies by Georgia State University links are annotated and listed by topics like budget, non-profit organizations, statistical data, transportation statistics or urban development to name a few.
Internet Crossroads in the Social Sciences by University of Wisconsin allows you browse subjects or search by keyword. Each link is abstracted and leads to 650+ United States and International Government and Non-Government sites.
Local Documents Online by CSU Long Beach links to local California city or county legal codes/ordinances or descriptive data on cities.
State and Local Government Information by the Library of Congress links to directories, state, county and city web sites.
State Government and Politics by the University of Michigan links to directories, associations, think tanks, legislation and other items dealing with policy at the state level.
Public Finance Subject Guide by California State University, Long Beach contains web links to sources concerning public finance.
These are directory type of search engines, specific to public administration and policy type of information.
California Planners' Information Network (CALPIN) is a directory of key officials that are involved in local planning. There is data from an annual survey on the mandatory general planning elements, i.e. land use, housing, open space, conservation, safety, noise and technology.
FedWorld by U.S. Department of Commerce is a searchable and directory of federal agencies.
FirstGov for Nonprofits by United States General Services Administration is a directory of federal agencies that provide services for nonprofits, i.e. governments, organizations. They also provide a specific Government to Government directory .
Functional City Links by National City Government Resource Center is a directory to associations that deal with public safety, economic development, public works, finance, etc.
Google U.S. Government Search by Google Search Engine is a searching site. Only web address from the united states government or a state government are searched.
GovSearchEngine is a directory to federal, state, local government and court web sites.
HUD User Bibliographic Database by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allows you to search for articles, research reports, books dealing with housing policy, building technology, economic development, urban planning, etc.
Image Collection by Project Public Spaces. A browsable or searchable collection of pictures of cities, public spaces, events, people, etc. NOTE some are purchase only.
Public Policy Institutes by Great Plains (ND) Public Policy Institute. An unique alphabetical listing of state and regional public policy institutes. They lack Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) which has many studies and reports on California. Issues include children, economy, government process, immigration, environment, etc. PPIC also publish a newsletter with SPHERE Institute called California Policy Review.
State and Local Employees by FirstGov is a directory, but also can be searched by keywords. The topics include disasters, infrastructure, grants, technology to name a few.
State and Local Government on the Net is a directory linking to state government, agencies, counties, and cities. It is also searchable for topics in local government.
State Legislatures Internet Links by National Conference of State Legislatures searchable by state or topic.
California State Association of Counties check under counties close-up for links to counties, legislative information and budget information and documents.
ICMA: International City/County Management Association provides papers on topics from ethics, local government, performance management, public safety, smart growth or transportation to name a few. Scroll down looking at the left column for this long list of topics. Many are free but some have a charge. There is also a large list of links to state, local and national government associations .
League of California Cities provides advocacy for cities in housing, public safety, community development, etc. Legislation is provided as well as, city charters, news, magazine articles, and listing of consultants.
National Association of Counties provides reports and speeches under issues and interest area for counties, i.e. public safety, e-government, etc. The County resource center tab has reports but you must be a member to read the information.
National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration an association gives accreditation to program in public administration. There are links to financial aid for students and initiatives of the association.
National Conference On State Legislatures provides reports. TIP: under federal-state issues find links to policy studies.
National Governors Association provides examples of best practices, links to governors pages, media links to town hall meetings and federal regulation information.
National League of Cities has topical reports and studies. They include areas like citizen participation , afterschool programs , transportation to name a few.
Southern California Association of Governments gives links to information important to Southern California, i.e. transportation, commuting, housing, etc.
Congressional Budget Office provides briefs, studies, technical papers, and testimony on topics like education, government management, intergovernmental relations to name a few.
Estrategy.Gov by U.S. General Services Administration. Use the library on the left column, the information center provides speeches, powerpoints and articles on e-gov initiatives, case studies, best practices, security, smart card to name a few.
Little Hoover Commission is a bipartisan, independent state body that promotes efficiency and effectiveness in state programs. Currently the Governor's reorganization plans are reviewed.
Political Science and Public Policy Resources: Think Tanks, Research Organizations, and Advocacy Groups by Michigan State University. An alphabetical annotated list of web sites on or related to think tanks, public policy institutes, advocacy organizations, and public policy experts focusing on public policy issues.
Brookings Institute a think tank and produces testimony, research, analysis on governance and metropolitan policy.
John F. Kennedy School of Government by Harvard University provides lots of research centers . Many of these centers provide reports or studies . The faculty write working papers that can be searched by topic . The centers that would relate to public policy and administration are Joint Center for Housing Studies (which provides links to housing based web sites) or Taubman Center for State and Local Government (which provides links to working papers ).
National Center for Public Analysis provides private-sector solutions to public policy problems with papers, best practices on topics like taxation, state and local spending, budgeting, privatization, unions to name a few.
National Academy of Public Administration provides annotated links to professional materials, not listed here, that deal with city/county policy issues.
American City and County by the publisher of the magazine. The site provides current news and controversies on cities and counties.
Government Technology a magazine that deals with technology solutions for state and local government. The site has news, white papers, research reports, market reports and case studies on eGovernment, security, workforce, transportation to name a few.
Reason provides a libertarian viewpoint on topics like air traffic, air quality, energy and electricity, light rail, toll lanes, etc. They also have viewpoints on specific California issues .
StateLine provides comprehensive and comparative information on the public policies of all 50 states. The information is accessed either by issues (such as economics, education, health care, politics or welfare) or by the state. There are statistical data tables for teenage pregnancy, cigarette usage, electricity usage, student spending and taxation.
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