Political Science: Blogs

Guide to Resources and Reference Assistance for Political Science

Assessment Questions

Who is the author?
Political affiliation? Former affiliation?
Is the blog hosted by another site?
Is the blog archived?
Does it have a blog roll? What is the ideology of the blogs listed?
Does the blog link to other blogs? What kinds of blogs?
When was it last updated?
Do you have to register with the blog ot post comments?
Are comments allowed?

Adapted from the work of Librarian Erik Sean Estep of East Carolina University. Thanks also to Marquette University Professor John McAdams for his suggestions.

Stand Alone Blogs

Ideologically Idiosyncratic:

Real Clear Politics
A good place to start: a daily list of good blog posts from many sources.
FiveThirtyEight Politics
Founded by Nate Silver, prides itself on data-driven analyses.
Daily Caller
Quick political analysis by the irrepressible Mickey Kaus, a former senior editor at The New Republic.
Andrew Sullivan (New York Magazine)
Former TNR editor Andrew Sullivan approaches politics from a variety of perspectives; liberal on social issues, conservative on economic, and an evolving (in the direction of dovishness) hawk. Sullivan writes with gusto.
Mischiefs of Faction (Vox.com)
Politifact.com
Purpose: to fact-check statements by politicians.
Operated by the Tampa Bay Times staff; won a Pulitzer Prize.
WisOpinion.com
Another daily list of best blog posts from many sources, this time about Wisconsin only.

Conservative:

Liberal:

Blogging Blue
"Blogging Liberally in the Badger State". Founded in 2007 by Zachary Wisniewski.
Daily Kos
Talking Points Memo
Huffington Post

Blogs of Political Journals

Blogs attached to online versions of political journals

The Plank from The New Republic
The Plank (all politics-from various writers at TNR)
Bench Memos from National Review
Bench Memos - This Week in Liberal Judicial Activism (Ed Whelan)
The Corner from National Review
The Corner (all politics-from various writers at NRO)

Blogs Attached to General Publications

Ideas-Lab - hosted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"a collection of community bloggers with views from across the political spectrum."
The Volokh Conspiracy - Reason
Conservative ...
Glenn Greenwald - The Intercept
Liberal ...
The Fix - The Washington Post
The Caucus - New York Times

Page Attributions

– Adapted from a handout created by Erik Sean Estep, North Carolina Reference Librarian at East Carolina University.
– Thanks to Professor John McAdams of Marquette University's Political Science Department for his suggestions on blogs to include.