In your assignment for POLI 101, you will need to find the following kinds of information.
Some sources provide information from a single category, and some combine multiple categories.
The Almanac of American Politics and CQ's Politics in America both feature district profiles that include election results, information about representatives, and information about district demographics. These reference sources are published every two years (for each Congress). CofC Libraries has online access to the most recent Almanac and we have some older print editions for both publications. The current Almanac is a good place to start your research.
The websites listed here are a good way to visualize district borders and election results over time. Using the district maps from the American Redistricting Project would be a good way to quickly gather information about which representatives have served the district, and when.
In addition to information you find in the all-inclusive sources mentioned above, you can find biographical and political profiles of current and past representatives using the following sources.
For current or recent representatives, you may also find information about their campaign platform and legislative priorities by searching for their websites. You should be able to find a campaign website, plus an official (.gov) website for sitting representatives. ProQuest Congressional profiles include these links sometimes, too.
In addition to information you find in the all-inclusive sources mentioned above, there are other places you can find more information about your district.
For your project, you also need to find several sources discussing and/or analyzing your Congressional district. These could be articles from reputable newspapers or academic (peer-reviewed) journal articles.
Searching the library's Discovery Service or a relevant database such as the National Journal is a great way to find both of these kinds of sources. Useful search terms could include some combination of: a representative's name, your district name/number, and a particular issue or event. When combining terms, do an advanced search and place each term/idea/name on a separate line.
Provides data, content, and resources, including award-winning journalism, presentations, infographics and analysis to stay on top of key moments in politics and policy. Access includes the Research, RaceTracker, Almanac, Daybook, and Events modules. Access to these modules is available through the buttons at the top of page.
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Current and archived information from thousands of local, regional, national, and international news sources including newspaper titles, newswires, web editions, videos, broadcast transcripts, business journals, periodicals, government documents, and other publications. Also Included in this collection are Ethnic, African American, Military, Government & Defense, South Carolina news sources image editions of The Post and Courier and The State.
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