Web Links

National Election Studies Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior
The National Election Studies (NES) are the best academic polls available. While polls can sometimes be confusing to search and/or get simple answers from, this site has simple tables which draw on the full range of surveys dating from 1952 to 1996. The questions are just a sample of the vast resources available. Make sure you look at the section #5 on support for the political system. The trends in responses over time on such questions as trust in government and government responsiveness are fascinating.
http://www.umich.edu/~nes/nesguide/nesguide.htm

Gallup Poll Results
The Gallup Organization at Princeton University is one of the most highly respected polling centers. This portion of their Web-site will take some time to load, but it is worth it: what you will get is a table of contents of all their recent poll results. You can browse any topic of interest, but make sure to keep an eye out for issues relating to government power, legitimacy, and authority.
http://www.gallup.com/

Deconstructing Distrust
Authority and legitimacy are questions which are particularly important now that trust in government is declining in many Western countries. To get a better understanding of this, students might want to browse through some recent poll results. One of the best reports is called "Deconstructing Distrust" done by the PEW Center and its summary is presented here, showing how and why Americans tend to view their government in such poor standing.
http://people-press.org/dataarchive/signup.php3?DocID=75

The Tocqueville Files
An on-line version of Tocqueville's classic Democracy in America is available here; these arguments are central to recent analyses of social capital. Just below, you will note a series of articles by Robert Putnam. Prof. Putnam one of the premier researchers on the topic, and here are some of his essays, criticisms of his work, and his responses. Putnam's most famous article is called "Bowling Alone".
http://www.epn.org/links/civiclinks.html

Non-Western Sources on Contemporary Political Issues, maintained by Binghamton University
This site provides information from around the world on four of the most crucial socio-political issues: the environment, human rights, gender issues, and conflict resolution. Each topic is organized by region and country, making this well-organized site very suitable for rewarding research and/or browsing.
http://library.lib.binghamton.edu/subjects/polsci/home.html

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