Cities

Massachusetts City and Town Websites
A listing from the Massachusetts Municipal Association

National League of Cities
The oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States.  Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.

Counties/Regions

National Association of Counties
Contains public policy and legislative information, current and archival issues of NACo publications, and recent research studies.

National Association of Regional Councils
Includes extensive information on economic development activities by regional planning agencies.

Massachusetts

Commonwealth Communities
Information on the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts provided by state agencies and official city/town websites.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Website

Massachusetts Community Profiles
Published by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development

Massachusetts Governemnt Resources
Link to UMass Government Documents Collection

Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth
Independent, nonpartisan research and educational institute. MassINC brings together diverse perspectives – including those held by conservatives and liberals, business and labor, advocates and policy makers – to focus on the challenge of achieving the American Dream in Massachusetts.

All States

Council of State Governments
Nonprofit organization that seeks to foster excellence in state government. Webpage includes information on the activities of regional organizations, issue alerts which inform members of breaking news that affects state government, press releases, and suggested state legislation on a variety of issues.

Stateline.org
Operated by the Pew Center on the States, this site attempts to inform policy makers and citizens about innovative public policies. Includes a political almanac with factual, economic, and demographic data covering all the states.

State and Local Government on the Net
Comprehensive site listing links to city, town, county, regional, and state government sites.

United States

American National Election Studies
ANES' mission is to inform explanations of election outcomes by providing data that support rich hypothesis testing, maximize methodological excellence, measure many variables, and promote comparisons across people, contexts, and time.

FedStats
Provides access to the full range of official statistical information produced by the Federal Government without having to know in advance which Federal agency produces which particular statistic.

Federal Government Resources
Link to UMass Government Documents Collection

OMB Watch
A nonprofit research, educational, and advocacy organization that focuses on budget issues, regulatory policy, nonprofit advocacy, access to government information, and activities at the Office of Management and Budget.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States.

United States Government Manual
Official handbook of the Federal Government- it provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the United States participates, and boards, commissions, and committees.

Institutes, Organizations, Associations, Non-Profits

Annenberg Public Policy Center
Conducts and disseminates research, hosts lectures and conferences, and convenes roundtable discussions that highlight important questions about the intersection of media, communication, and public policy.

Association of Public Policy and Analysis
Nonprofit dedicated to improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education.

Brookings Institution
A private, independent, nonprofit research organization which seeks to improve the performance of American institutions, the effectiveness of government programs, and the quality of U.S. public policies.

Center for Governmental Research
An independent nonprofit research organization focusing on municipal, county and metropolitan government, including studies on management and financial analysis.

Center on Budget and Policy Analysis
A policy organization working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals.The Center conducts research and analysis to inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these debates.

Economic Policy Institute
Nonpartisan think tank that focuses on economic issues. DataZone tables track historical trends in labor markets and living standards. Other features include analysis of key government data, opinion pieces and issue guides.

Heartland Institute
A nonprofit public policy research organization serving the nation's federal and state elected officials, journalists, Heartland Members, and other opinion leaders. Founded in 1984, Heartland was the first think tank in the nation to focus on free-market solutions to state and local public policy problems.

Heritage Foundation
Think tank whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

Moving Ideas: the Electronic Policy Network
Posts ideas and resources from leading progressive research and advocacy institutions, as well as promotes high-quality websites and publishes original content. Their goal is to improve collaboration and dialogue between policy and grassroots organizations, and to promote their work to journalists and legislators.

National Center for Policy Analysis
Includes in-depth analysis and reports on issues such as taxes, health care, Social Security and welfare. Also includes a Daily Policy Digest.

Public Agenda Online
Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization. Its two-fold mission is: help leaders better understand the public's point of view on major policy issues, and help citizens better understand critical policy issues so they can make their own more informed and thoughtful decisions. The site analyzes some two dozen public policy issues.

RAND
A nonprofit institution that helps improve public policy through research and analysis. The RAND Home Page provides online access to RAND Abstracts and to the full-text of selected reports, issue papers, research briefs and other RAND Publications, as well as a link to the full-text of the RAND Research Review, which reports on public policy issues studied in RAND's research programs.

Urban Institute
Research concerning social and economic issues as well as the government policies and public and private programs designed to address them.

Nonprofit Locators

Guidestar
Provides comprehensive data on more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations.

National Nonprofit Registry
National registry listing more than 686,000 nonprofit tax-exempt organizations.

Political Advocacy Locator

Political Advocacy Groups: A Directory of United States Lobbyists
An extensive, annotated listing of political advocacy groups, also known as pressure groups, interest groups or lobbyists. Also included is a measure of the relative power of the group and whether or not they rate members of Congress. 

Polls/Survey Data

LexisNexis Academic
Click on "Reference" and select "Polls & Surveys" for information from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. Includes sources in opinion polling such as Gallup, Harris, Roerp; ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, Los Angeles Times, New York Time, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues.

PollingReport