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Political Science & International Relations: Both sides of an issue

Political science or international relations are two of the most interesting subjects one can study in college. Use this page to find out why.

Both sides of an issue: sources

One way:  "Opposing Viewpoints in Context"

Opposing Viewpoints in Context is the premier online resource covering today’s hottest social issues, from Offshore Drilling to Climate Change, Health Care to Immigration.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context helps students research, analyze and organize a broad variety of data for conducting research, completing writing assignments, preparing for debates, creating presentations and more.  

In addition to the engaging, streamlined interface and media-rich topic pages, the product's unprecedented collection of content and curriculum-focused tools that help students explore issues from all perspectives include:

  • Pro/con viewpoint essays
  • Topic overviews
  • More than 300 primary source documents
  • Biographies of social activists and reformers
  • Court-case overviews
  • Periodical articles
  • Statistical tables, charts and graphs
  • Images and a link to Google Image Search
  • Podcasts, including weekly presidential addresses and premier NPR programs
  •  

**Highly recommended**:

When you get to the Opposing Viewpoints site,  click on the "Browse"  tab to see the more than 110 issues you can use.

Can get to it  in either of 3 ways:

1. Click on the link above.

2.  From the Library homepage (www.lib.byu.edu), in the search box at the top, type " Opposing Viewpoints" and hit enter--it should be the the first entry that pops up (BYU students can only get acces to it by autheticating through the Library or other authentic BYU portal); or

3.  From the Library home page, click on "Database finder", then click on the letter "O" , it should be the tenth entry from the top.

Both sides of an issue: sources

Another way:  
"Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports"  
This page has been configured to redirect visitors to
 
 
(The link will take you through the Federation of American Scientists website (fas.org) which keeps the current library of CRS reports).

  

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for nearly a century.

CRS is well-known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective and nonpartisan. Its highest priority is to ensure that Congress has 24/7 access to the nation’s best thinking.

 http://www.phibetaiota.net/2013/07/congression-research-service-catalog/.