This guide is intended for students and researchers studying American politics and government at the University of Oxford (both current and historical), who are using government publications to aide their studies. Oxford University students of American history, law and culture may also find this guide useful.
US government publications can provide researchers with information on official government procedure and legislation, the bureaucratic decision making process in Congress and the White House, and pivotal quantitative/qualitative data. They can support studies into political policies and implementation, or provide political/legal context to cultural/historical topics.
This guide is organised into the following sub-sections:
Records related to the Judicial Branch (such as Supreme Court rulings, federal and state legislation and other legal studies) and held by the Bodleian Law Library. Visit their guide for American Legal Resources for more information.
The VHL holds several physical government records which are held in the VHL Stack. Check via SOLO, using the government's Su Doc number (official government record number) - if you are unsure, use the Catalog of US Government Publications (link below). If we do not hold a physical copy at the VHL, it is worth checking the British Library holdings, as they have an extensive American federal records collection.
Below is some general advice for finding physical resources within SOLO:
The majority of books will be located under the J shelfmark (Political Science). Specific topics in this area include:
Other shelfmarks you may want to browse include:
