Whittemore Library: Political Science Resources: U.S. Federal Government

Overview of the US Federal Government

Branches of Government
Overview and diagram of the three branches of the US government and how they relate to one another.
Core Documents of Our Democracy
Access the text of the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Federalist Papers, and more.
Annotated Constitution (CRS)
Full text of the US Constitution with annotations from the Congressional Research Service to assist with Constitutional research.

Legislative Branch

The Legislative Branch
Explanation of the role of the legislative branch and sources of its power from the White House.
The federal legislative process
Series of videos from the Library of Congress which explain the stages of the federal legislative process
Congress.gov
Find pending bills, full text congressional debates, reports, and enacted laws at this flagship site.

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This website superceeds Thomas.gov.
United States Code
Laws which have been passed by Congress are organized by subject or topic in the permanent United State Code.

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The U.S. Code does not include regulations issued by executive branch agencies, decisions of the Federal courts, treaties, or laws enacted by State or local governments. Regulations issued by executive branch agencies are available in the Code of Federal Regulations. Proposed and recently adopted regulations may be found in the Federal Register.
Annotated United States Code (USCS)
The USCS includes the full text of the US Code as well as annotations including case law, regulations, books and law review articles related to the Code.
Guide to House and Senate Members
How to read a federal bill
How to explore a bill on Congress.gov, including a description of the information contained in each tab.
Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff
This report is designed to introduce congressional staff to selected governmental and nongovernmental sources that are useful in tracking and obtaining information on federal legislation and regulations.
Introduction to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress (Congressional Research Service 4/7/17)
Explains the legislative process, from how a bill is introduced through Presidential action.

Judicial Branch

The Judicial Branch
Explanation of the role of the judicial branch and sources of its power from the White House.
Federal Court Role and Structure
Supreme Court of the United States
Federal Court Statistics and Reports
Includes statistics on judicial caseload, court management and case load data tables.

Federal Court Decisions

US Supreme Court Opinions
Includes links to current opinions and bound volumes.

Executive Branch

The Executive Branch
Explanation of the role of the executive branch and sources of its power from the White House.
Official US Executive Branch Websites
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Regulations from executive agencies, organized by subject or topic..
The Federal Register (FR)
Daily Journal of the US government. Contains proposed and approved agency regulations, published in chronological order..