Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video

• https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_how_state_budgets_are_breaking_us_schools. 
  How State Budgets are Breaking U.S. Schools. America's school systems are funded by the 50 states. In this fiery talk, Bill Gates says that state budgets are riddled with accounting tricks that disguise the true cost of health care and pensions and weighted with worsening deficits — with the financing of education at the losing end.
   
• Women Political Candidates 
  http://www.c-span.org/video/?310692-3/women-political-candidates. 
  Susannah Shakow talked about why women should run for political office, and how she encourages them to do so. Professor Fox talked about his research into why more women do not run for political office. This was the opening portion of a “Women In Politics” Symposium held at the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University
   

Web Resource

• http://data.sagepub.com/sagestats
  A comprehensive and searchable database of state-level information (requires subscription).
   
• http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/00.    
  U.S. Bureau of the Census Web site that lists state rankings on population, per capita income, employment, poverty, and other social and economic indexes.
   
• www.csg.org/csg/default. 
  Web site of the Council of State Governments (CSG), an organization that represents elected and appointed officials in all three branches of state government. Publishes on a wide variety of topics and issues relevant to state politics and policy.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video

• http://www.c-span.org/video/?301677-1/richard-nixon-new-federalism 
  Panelists discussed what President Richard Nixon did during his presidency to shift power from the federal government to state and local governments. Video clips were shown of the August 8, 1969, speech in which President Nixon called for a policy of New Federalism, and of the October 20, 1972, ceremony as President Nixon signed into law the General Revenue Sharing Bill. The panel was made up of Nixon administration officials who were involved in implementing the policies. They showed slides during their presentations, including a March 1973 audio tape of President Nixon. Professor Warshaw moderated.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iIlVrzvCH8 
  The year is 1819 and Chief Justice John Marshall authors one of the seminal cases about federalism. In an opinion that combines textualist and structuralist arguments, Justice Marshall reasons that the U.S. Constitution provides for implied legislative powers in the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article 1, Section 8 to further execute enumerated powers. With one famous line, Justice Marshall sets forth a historic precedent for flexible interpretation by stating that "We must never forget, it is a constitution we are expounding." Perhaps just as importantly, Justice Marshall also explains why in a system of government based on federalism, states can not freely impede federal actions.

Web Resource

• http://www.ncsl.org. 
  Web site sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures and dedicated to state-federal issues.

• www.nga.org. 
  Web site of the National Governors Association, which includes a section devoted to state-federal relations.

• www.publius.oxfordjournals.org. 
  Web site of Publius, a scholarly journal dedicated to the study of federalism.

• www.supremecourtus.gov. 
  Web site of the U.S. Supreme Court; includes text of the Court’s opinions.

• www.ncsl.org/statefed/statefed.htm. 
  This Web site, sponsored by the National Conference of State Legislatures, is dedicated to state-federal issues.

• www.constitution.org/index.shtml. 
  This Web site, sponsored by the Constitution Society, discusses the pros and cons of prominent constitutional debates.

• http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/. 
  This Web site, sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute, provides information on historical political documents and useful teaching materials on constitutional history.

• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/help/constRedir.html. 
  This Web site, sponsored by the Library of Congress, provides access to such historical political documents as The Federalist Papers.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyx4r8h1o9c  
  Sanford Levinson, author of Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance, on what we can learn from state constitutions at the national level.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFMbIHdefaQ  
  Professor Kevin Gutzman, author of James Madison and the Making of America, discusses the revolutionary constitutions in Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Web Resource

• http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/?s=founding+documents. 
  This Web site, sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute, provides information on historical political documents and useful teaching materials on constitutional history.

• www.camlaw.rutgers.edu/statecon/ 
  Sponsored by Rutgers University, this Web site for the Center for State Constitutions Studies offers a broad spectrum of information about state constitutions.

• www.constitution.org/cons/usstcons.htm.  
  This Web site provides links to the full text of the constitutions of all fifty states and to state Web sites.

• Initiative and Referendums in State Constitutions:
  http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/initiative-referendum-and-recall-overview.aspx

• Privacy Protections in State Constitutions: 
  http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/privacy-protections-in-state-constitutions.aspx

• Term Limits in State Constitutions: 
  http://www.ncsl.org/research/about-state-legislatures/term-limits-provisions-state-law-and-constitutions.aspx

• www.iandrinstitute.org.   
  Web site for the Initiative and Referendum Institute at the University of Southern California, a clearinghouse for information about the initiative and referendum processes of the states.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrZuZy15TRA  
  Why a government’s budget is different than a household’s

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/video/inplay/everything-to-know-about-obamacarein-2-minutes/2013/10/04/469ae328-26d5-11e3-b3e9-d97fb087acd6_video.html. 
  Everything you need to know about Obamacare in two minutes.

Web Resource

• www.cbpp.org.  
  Web site of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Founded in 1981, the center studies fiscal policy and public programs at the federal and state levels that affect low-income and moderate-income families and individuals. An excellent source of information on state budget issues.
   
• http://www.census.gov/library/publications/2011/compendia/statab/131ed.html.
  The U.S. Census Bureau provides an online version of the Statistical Abstract of the United States. Section 8, “State and Local Government Finances and Employment,” provides a wealth of information on state and local government revenue and spending. The Census Bureau has announced that it is ceasing publication of the Abstract after 2012 as a budget-cutting measure. The 2013 version is to be published by a private company, ProQuest.

• www.gao.gov. 
  Home page of the Government Accountability Office, which is tracking the use of ARRA stimulus funds in sixteen of the largest states.

• www.nasbo.org. 
  Web site of the National Association of State Budget Officers.

• www.ncsl.org. 
  Web site of the National Conference of State Legislatures. NCSL’s fiscal program produces periodic state budget and tax updates and tracks state actions to close budget gaps.

• www.recovery.gov.  
  The federal government’s Web page dedicated to tracking ARRA.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• http://fairvote.org.  
  Web site of the Center for Voting and Democracy, which promotes voting and advocates instant-runoff voting and the abolition of the electoral college.

• http://pewresearch.org.  
  Web site of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, which conducts surveys and publishes studies that look at the demographic trends affecting politics.

• www.electionline.org/  
  This Web site, sponsored by the Election Reform Information Project, provides updates on election law at the local, state, and federal level.

• www.fec.gov/general/whatsnew.shtml  
  This official Web site of the Federal Elections Commission provides updates on campaign finance law and the regulations that govern the financing of federal campaigns.

• www.lwv.org  
  The official Web site of the League of Women Voters, this site provides a wealth of voter education information.

• www.nass.org  
  The official Web site of the National Association of Secretaries of State, this site provides information on such issues as digital archiving efforts being made at the state level.

• www.rockthevote.com/home.php   
  Rock the Vote designed this Web site to attract young people to become engaged in the political process through voting and other means of political participation.

• The following two Web sites, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Elections Commission, provide information on the Help America Vote Act: 
  www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/hava/hava.html
  http://www.eac.gov/about_the_eac/help_america_vote_act.aspx

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• http://ballotpedia.org 
  A wiki providing information on candidates and ballot measures in all the states.

• http://fivethirtyeight.com. 
  Nate Silver’s blog covering electoral polling and politics at the national and state levels.

• http://influenceexplorer.com. 
  Web site run by the Sunlight Foundation provides data on campaign finance and lobbying expenditures

• http://moneyline.cq.com. 
  CQ-Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine Web site, which provides information on campaign finance, lobbying and lobbyists, and parties and candidates.

• http://www.democraticnationalcommittee.org/.  
  Web site of the Democratic National Committee.

• www.followthemoney.org. 
  Web site of the National Institute on Money in State Politics, which tracks political donations and lobbying in all fifty states.

• www.gop.com. 
  Web site of the Republican National Committee.

• www.irs.gov/Charities-&-Non-Profits/Political-Organizations/Political-Organization-Filing-and-Disclosure. 
  The Internal Revenue Service’s Political Organization Filing and Disclosure Web site.

• www.ncsl.org. 
  Web site of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

• www.opensecrets.org. 
  Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization tracking money in politics.

• www.publicintegrity.org. 
  Web site of the Center for Public Integrity, which produces, among other investigative journalism reports, pieces on campaign finance and lobbying activity in the states and Washington, D.C.

• www.uspirg.org   
  This Web site of the Federation of State PIRGs (public interest research groups) provides information on powerful interest groups and what members of the public are doing to engage such groups.

• www.politics1.com  
  This Web site proclaims itself as the most comprehensive online guide to American politics. Provides links to candidates for most major offices in all the states.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• http://www.ncsl.org/blog.aspx.   
  The National Conference of State Legislatures’s blog, offers coverage of state issues.

• http://stateline.org. 
  A foundation-sponsored news service that provides daily news about state government.

• www.alec.org. 
  Web site for the American Legislative Exchange, an influential conservative organization that drafts model legislation. Both legislators and private-sector interests are members.

• www.csg.org. 
  Web site for the Council of State Governments, which provides training and information to state government officials.

• www.ncsl.org. 
  Web site of the National Conference of State Legislatures that includes a wealth of information about legislative structures and procedures as well as the major issues faced by legislators.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• http://library.cqpress.com.   
  The CQ Press Electronic Library, which features an online voting and elections collection with a component for gubernatorial elections.

• www.csg.org.   
  Web site of the Council of State Governments, a forum for state officials to swap information on issues of common concern, such as drugs, water, and other policy matters.

• www.naag.org. 
  Web site of the National Association of Attorneys General, which has become increasingly prominent as state attorneys general have banded together on a number of high-profile cases.

• www.nga.org. 
  Web site of the National Governors Association, which shares information among governors and also lobbies the federal government on their behalf.

• www.stateside.com. 
  Web site of Stateside Associates, a lobbying firm that keeps close tabs on policies and actions in the states.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• www.abanet.org. 
  Web site of the American Bar Association, the largest voluntary professional association in the world, with a membership of more than 400,000.

• www.brennancenter.org. 
  Web site of the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan center at New York University that conducts research and advocates on a range of judicial topics, including state court reform and campaign financing.
   
• www.justiceatstake.org. 
  Web site of the Justice at Stake Campaign, a nonpartisan effort working to keep courts fair and impartial.

• http://www.ncsc.org. 
  Web site of the National Center for State Courts, an independent nonprofit organization that assists court officials to better serve the public.

• http://www.bjs.gov. 
  Web site for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which provides statistics and other information on a variety of justice system–related areas, including courts, sentencing, crimes, and victims.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• www.aspanet.org. 
  Web site of the American Society for Public Administration, the largest professional association for those who work for or study public agencies.

• www.governing.com. 
  Web version of Governing magazine, which is dedicated to covering state and local issues. Includes numerous stories and other resources on agency leaders and performance, e-government, and more.

• www.pewstates.org. 
  State and Consumer Initiatives section of the Web site of the Pew Charitable Trusts is home to a number of analyses of government effectiveness and efficiency, including the Government Performance Project.

• www.flra.gov  
  The official Web site of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), an agency that deals primarily with union-labor relations and collective bargaining practices.
   
• www.mspb.gov  
  The official Web site of the Merit Systems Protection Board, an agency whose primary responsibility is the fair and nonpartisan employment practices in the government. 
   
• www.opm.gov   
  Official Web site for U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the primary human resources office for employees of the federal government.
   
• www.osc.gov  
  The official Web site for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the primary office concerned with whistleblower litigation.
   
• www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html  
  This Web site provides links to the official Web sites of the fifteen executive departments of the president’s cabinet.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• http://votesmart.org/elections/offices#.VDaTXPldX_Y.  
  Project Vote Smart provides free, nonpartisan information about officials, candidates, legislation and voting.

• www.brookings.edu. 
  Web site of the Brookings Institution, one of Washington, D.C.’s oldest think tanks, which pursues independent, nonpartisan research in such areas as metropolitan policy and governance.

• www2.icma.org/main/sc.asp 
  Web site of the International City/County Management Association, whose mission is to create excellence in local government by developing and fostering professional local government management worldwide.

• www.naco.org. 
  Web site of the National Association of Counties, the only national organization that represents county governments in the United States.

• www.natat.org. 
  Web site of the National Association of Towns and Townships, which seeks to strengthen the effectiveness of town and township governments by exploring flexible and alternative approaches to federal policies to ensure that smaller communities can meet federal requirements.

• www.nlc.org. 
  Web site of the National League of Cities, the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments in the United States.

• www.usmayors.org. 
  Web site of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is the official nonpartisan organization of the 1,183 U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 or more.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• www.ampo.org.  
  Web site of the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the national organization for MPOs. AMPO is mainly oriented toward transportation issues, but the site includes downloadable studies and publications on a range of issues facing metropolitan areas.

• www.metro-region.org. 
  Web site of Portland, Oregon’s Metro, a rare example of a true regional government in the United States; includes the history of Metro’s formation and information on a range of its activities.

• www.narc.org. 
  Web site of the National Association of Regional Councils, an organization of metropolitan planning organizations that seeks to promote cooperation between governments; covers urban, suburban, and rural governments.

• http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/teaching/PLSC541_Fall08/tiebout_1956.pdf. 
  Charles Tiebout’s 1956 article, “A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures”, published in the Journal of Political Economy in response to the free rider problem in local governance.

• http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/. 
  Web site of an organization created to research and advocate for “smart growth” in the United States. 

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video

• http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution. 
  Sir Ken Robinson makes the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personal learning—creating conditions where kids’ natural talents can flourish.

Web Resource

• http://nationsreportcard.gov.  
  Home page of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the program that administers standardized tests to all fourth and eighth graders across the United States.

• Www.aasa.org. 
  Web site of the American Association of School Administrators. Founded in 1865, AASA has more than 13,000 members worldwide. Its mission is to support and develop individuals dedicated to the highest-quality public education for all children.

• www.aft.org. 
  Web site of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents the economic, social, and professional interests of classroom teachers. The AFT has more than 3,000 local affiliates nationwide, 43 state affiliates, and more than 1.3 million members.

• www.cep-dc.org. 
  Web site of the Center on Education Policy, a national independent advocate for more effective public schools.

• www.ed.gov. 
  Web site of the U.S. Department of Education, which oversees the federal government’s contributions to public education.

• www.edexcellence.net. 
  Web site of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, whose mission is to advance the understanding and acceptance of effective reform strategies in primary and secondary education.

• www.edreform.com. 
  Web site of the Center for Education Reform, a national organization dedicated to the promotion of more choices in education and more rigorous education programs.

• www.edweek.org. 
  The Web site of Education Week, a weekly publication devoted to primary and secondary education and funded by Editorial Projects in Education. Education Week publishes Quality Counts, an annual evaluation of K–12 education in all fifty states.

• www.nea.org. 
  Web site of the National Education Association, which is dedicated to advancing public education. The organization has 2.8 million members at every level of education, from preschool to university graduate programs, and affiliates in every state, as well as in more than 13,000 local communities across the United States.

• www.nsba.org. 
  Web site of the National School Boards Association, a not-for-profit federation of state associations of school boards across the United States.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Video

• http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.  
  Steven Pinker discusses the decline of violence over the past 2000 years.

Web Resource

• https://www.ncjrs.gov/. 
  Web site of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service, providing statistics on a variety of topics involving crime.

• www.amnesty.org. 
  Web site of Amnesty International; it gives readers a sense of how the rest of the world views the U.S. criminal justice system through recent and archived material.

• www.fbi.gov. 
  Web site of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which offers information on national and international criminal activities as well as crime prevention tips.

• www.manhattan-institute.org. 
  Web site of the Manhattan Institute; includes archived articles from the institute’s City Journal, which addresses such issues as the effects of racism.

• http://www.nij.gov/Pages/welcome.aspx. 
  Web site of the National Institutes of Justice, the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice; the agency researches crime control and justice issues, particularly at the state and local levels.

• www.sentencingproject.org. 
  Web site of the Sentencing Project, which offers data and information about racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system.

• www.vera.org. 
  Web site of the Vera Institute of Justice, a nonprofit organization that conducts research, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to improve the justice system.

Web Resource

• www.americashealthrankings.org.  
  Home page of America’s Health Rankings, a twenty-year project tracking health indicators at the state level.

• www.astho.org. 
  Web site of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

• www.familiesusa.org 
  Web site of FamiliesUSA, a liberal advocacy group that promotes a more activist government policy.

• www.healthyamericans.org. 
  Web site of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public health.

• www.kaiserhealthnews.org. 
  Home page of Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit news organization covering state and federal healthcare issues, funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

• www.kff.org. 
  Web site of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that offers a wealth of detail on state healthcare initiatives in general and Medicaid in particular.

• www.naccho.org. 
  Home page of the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

• www.statehealthfacts.kff.org. 
  A Kaiser Family Foundation Web site that provides detailed information on state healthcare policies.

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Web Resource

• www.ted.com/topics/climate+change. 
  Web site for many articles and videos on the topic of climate change.

• www.ecos.org. 
  Web site for the Environmental Council of the States, an association of state environmental agencies; provides a clearinghouse of information for its members.

• www.globalchange.gov. 
  Web site for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which integrates research on climate change performed by thirteen federal agencies.

• http://heartland.org/issues/environment. 
  Web site for the Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank in Chicago that sponsors conferences and research and that is skeptical about the role of humans in causing climate change.

• www.icleiusa.org.  
  Web site for ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA, the domestic branch of an international organization that provides grants and technical assistance to local governments seeking to improve energy efficiency.

• www.pewclimate.org. 
  Web site for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, which supports and disseminates research related to climate change; includes useful summaries of state actions.