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• Courses

  • Capitol Hill Day - custom training

  • Media Training

  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony

  • Speechwriting: Preparing Speeches and Oral Presentations

  • Tracking and Monitoring Legislation

  • Using Grassroots, Coalitions, and the Media to Get Your Message Heard

  • Working with Congress and Congressional Staff
     

Capitol Learning Audio Courses

• Drafting Effective Federal Legislation and Amendments in a Nutshell

• Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective

• Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007

• How to Organize a Capitol Hill Day

• How to Work the Hill Like a Pro

• Keys to Effective Presentations: Invigorate Your Delivery and Increase Your Confidence

• Lobbying for Foreign Agents and Foreign Principals

• Lobbying the Executive Branch and Independent Agencies

• Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress

• PACS in a Nutshell

• Researching Federal Legislative Histories: Bills, Resolutions, Committee Hearings, and Committee Reports

• Researching Legislative Histories: Finding Legislative Intent in Bills and Committee and Conference Reports

• Researching Federal Legislative Histories: Statutory and Code Research

• Statutory Construction: A Primer on How to Read and Understand Statutory Text

• Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action
  

• Publications

  • Congressional Deskbook

  • Congressional Directory

  • Federal Regulatory Process Poster

  • How to monitor and influence policy at the federal level Chart

  • Media Relations Handbook

  • Real World Research Skills

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• Congress by the Numbers

• Congress – Published Schedules

• Congressional documents online

• Congressional Leadership and Committees

• Essential PAC Web Sites

• Essential Washington and Hill web sites

• Federal Budget Links and Research Tools

• Glossary of Congressional and Legislative Terms

• Leadership of Congress

• Legislation and legislatures

• Legislative Glossary

• Pay and Perquisites of Members of Congress

• What's the deal with...?

• Visiting Washington, DC

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• "Campaign Finance Legislation in the 108th Congress," by Joseph Cantor, RL32650, October 27, 2004 (37-page pdf )

• "Churches and Campaign Activity: Analysis Under the Tax and Campaign Finance Laws," by Erika Lunder and L. Paige Whitaker, RL34447, April 14, 2008 (15-page pdf )

• "Comparison of Selected Senate Earmark Reform Proposals," by Sandy Streeter, RL33295, March 6, 2006 (24-page pdf )

• "Congressional Gifts and Travel: Legislative Proposals for the 109th Congress," by Mildred Amer, RL33237, January 17, 2006  (10-page pdf )

• "Congressional Gifts and Travel, Legislative Proposals for the 109th Congress," by Mildred Amer, RS22317, November 8, 2005 (5-page pdf )

• "'Dear Colleague' Letters: A Brief Overview," by R. Eric Petersen, RS21667, January 4, 2005 (5-page pdf )

• "DOE Budget Earmarks: A Selective Look at Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy R&D Programs," by Fred Sissine, RL33294, March 3, 2006  (11-page pdf )

• "Lobbying and Ethics Rules Changes in the 110th Congress," by Jack Maskell, CRS Memorandum, September 24, 2006 (23-page pdf )

• "Lobbying and Related Reform Proposals: Consideration of Selected Measures, 109th Congress," by R. Eric Petersen, RL33293, March 23, 2006 (32-page pdf )

• "Lobbying Congress: An Overview of Legal Provisions and Congressional Ethics Rules," by Jack Maskell, RL31126, December 27, 2006 (28-page pdf )

• "Lobbying Disclosure and Ethics Proposals Related to Lobbying Introduced in the 109th Congress: A Comparative Analysis," by R. Eric Petersen, RL33234, January 13, 2006  (18-page pdf )

• "Lobbyists and Interest Groups: Sources of Information," by Zina Watkins, RS20725, May 9, 2008 (6-page pdf )

See also

• Lobbying and Advocacy Sourcebook

• Open CRS

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• Election Law Blog - Rick Hasen

• Election Law @ Moritz - Moritz College of Law, Ohio State

• More Soft Money Hard Law - Bob Bauer

• Nonprofit & Foundation Advocacy Blog - Alliance for Justice

• Political Activity Law - Eric Brown

• Supreme Court of the United States Blog (SCOTUSBLOG) - from Akin Gump

• Votelaw - Edward Still
   

• American League of Lobbyists (ALL)

  • Code of Ethics

• C-SPAN

  • C-SPAN Archives

• capitolhearings.org - live coverage of Senate (audio) and links to House Committee hearings (audio and video), from C-SPAN

• Center for Public Integrity - "nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization in Washington that concentrates on ethics and public service issues."

• Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW)

• Citizen Lobbying Kit - from The Conservative Caucus

• The Coin-Operated Congress - from Mother Jones magazine

• Congress: Email your Senator and your Representative

• Congress.org

• Congressional Legislative Staff Association (CLSA)

• Congressional Management Foundation (CMF)

  • Communicating with Congress: How Capitol Hill is Coping with the Surge in Citizen Advocacy (also available as 52-page pdf )

• Congressional Quarterly (CQ)

  • CQ Floor Video

  • CQ MoneyLine

  • Midday Update (free)

• CQ MoneyLine

• Economic Research Institute (ERI)

  • Nonprofit Organization Information - including Form 990 search

  • Nonprofit Salaries

• Federal News Service

• FedSpending.org

• Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

• Fundrace Neighbor Search - ignore the lawn signs, see which candidates your neighbors really support

• GalleryWatch

• Grassroots Lobbying Manual - from The San Francisco AIDS Foundation

• GuideStar - nonprofits information

• Influence

• "Internet and Online Sources of U.S. Legislative and Regulatory Information," by Richard McKinney (9-page pdf )

• Investigative Research Specialists

  • Research Starting Points

• KnowWho (cookies required)

• LegiStorm - congressional salary information

• Lobbying: The Basics - from The Democracy Center

• Lobbying Congress Integral Part of U.S. Democratic System, by Wendy S. Ross, USIA Congressional Affairs Writer, 1993

• Lobbyists.info - from Columbia Books

• LOUIS (Library Of Unified Information Sources) - the Library Of Unified Information Sources, a project of the Sunlight Foundation (louisdb.org)

• MetaVid - "free and open archiving of the audio/video congressional record since 2006"

• National Whistleblower Center

• Nonprofit Advocacy and Lobbying - from Independent Sector

• OnTheIssues - "Every Political Leader on Every Issue"

• OMB Watch

  • FedSpending.org - searchable database of Federal spending

• OpenCongress

• opencrs - "Congressional Research Reports for the People"

• OpenSecrets.org - "The online source for money in politics." From the Center for Responsive Politics.  Highly Recommended  Includes:

  • donor lookup

  • lots-o-links

  • PAC donations with links to FEC records by PAC

  • White House Guests Database

• Political Advocacy Groups, a large list from Kathi Carlisle Fountain, Political Science Librarian at Washington State University Vancouver Library  Recommended  

• Politico - Lobbying

• PR Newswire

  • Domestic Policy News (usnewswire.com)

• Preview of the United States Supreme Court (includes links to merit and amicus briefs)

  • Supreme Court Primer  (11-page pdf )

• Project Vote Smart - biographical information on elected officials

• RegScan

• Roll Call

• Special Libraries Association (SLA)

• The Center for Public Integrity

• The Hill

• Today in Congress - committee schedules from the Washington Post

• Trade Associations - from Google

  • By Industry

• United States Capitol Historical Society (USCHS)

• What You Should Know as a Federal Employee, Contractor, Cooperative Agreement Participant, or Grantee - from the Dept. of Energy

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• ASAE CareerHQ.org

• associationjobs.com

• Federal Government: 2008 Salary Tables - from OPM

• LegiStorm - congressional salary information

• LobbyJobs

• Opportunities in Public Affairs

• Public Affairs Council Job Openings

• Roll Call Jobs

• Washington Post Jobs

• "Less Than Half of U.S. Workers Know or are Committed to Their Organization's Goals," FranklinCovey, PRNewswire, March 15, 2004  (The full report, "xQ Report Based on Harris Interactive Database," is available as a 28-page pdf )

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• American Research Group

  • Margin of Error Calculator

  • Sample Size Calculator

• Blogometer - from National Journal

• Gallup

  • Gallup Brain - "a searchable, living record of more than 70 years of public opinion"

• Mason-Dixon Polling and Research

• The Note - ABC News

• OnTheIssues - "Every Political Leader on Every Issue"

• the polling company

  • Polling term definitions

• PollingReport.com

• Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

• Rasmussen Reports

• Survey USA

• Voting Record / Ratings

  • American Conservative Union

  • Americans for Democratic Action

  • National Journal

• Zogby

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• Media Relations Handbook, by Brad Fitch

• Bacon's Media Directories

• Burrelle's Media Directory

• C-SPAN Archives

  • C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle - "index to the C-SPAN video recordings of the House and Senate floor proceedings"

• C-SPAN Media Guide

• The Capital Source

• Gebbie Press

• News Media Yellow Book

• PR Newswire

• State Newspaper List

• Toastmasters

• US Newspaper List

• Yahoo - News and Media

• Society of Professional Journalists

  • Code of Ethics (also available as a 1-page pdf )

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• American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)

• Council of State Governments (CSG)

• Governing Magazine

  • 13th Floor (blog)

• Government - States from Hieros Gamos

• Governments on the WWW: United States of America

• International City/County Management Association (ICMA)

• Links to State and Local Resources - from USA.gov

  • American Hometowns – Cities, Counties and Towns

  • Local Governments

  • State Government

  • Tribal Governments

• National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL)

• National Association of Counties (NACo)

  • Find a County

• National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

  • 2008 Partisan Composition of State Legislatures

• National Governors Association (NGA)

  • 2008 Gubernatorial Elections

  • State of the state analysis - 2008  (18-page pdf )

• National Institute on Money in State Politics (FollowTheMoney.org)

• National League of Cities (NLC)

• Secretaries of State Contact Information - from the National Association of Secretaries of State

• State and Local Government on the Net - Highly Recommended

• State and Local Governments - links from The Library of Congress

• State Government Affairs Council (SGAC)

• Stateline.org - Funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts

  • Governors' speeches

  • State of the state speeches

• State Lobby Links - from The Center for Public Integrity

• State Lobbyists - list from Google search

• State Services Organization (SSO)

• StateScape

  • State Legislature and Legislation Links

  • State Newspapers

• Stateside Associates

• U.S. Conference of Mayors

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See also our list of political books and government classics

 

Congressional Deskbook: The Practical and Comprehensive Guide to Congress, Fifth Edition

Legislative Drafter's Deskbook: A Practical Guide

Congressional Directory 2008 110th Congress  2nd Session

Media Relations Handbook for Agencies, Associations, Nonprofits and Congress

 

The Almanac of American Politics	Politics in America 2008	CQ's State Fact Finder 2007	Washington Information Directory (WID)
The Almanac of the Unelected 2008	CQ Federal Staff Directory (subscription)	Washington Representatives Spring 2008	National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States 2008
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Federal Regional Yellow Book	Lobbying, PACs, Campaign Finance: 50 State Handbook	United States Government Manual	The Lobbying Manual: A Complete Guide to Federal Law Governing Lawyers and Lobbyists
Bacaon's Internet Media Directories	Bacaon's Media Directories	News Media Yellow Book	Gebbie Press All-in-One Directory
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Yale Book of Quotations	The Business Writer's Handbook	On Writing Well	Elements of Style
Basic Interests	Interest Group Politics	The Interest Group Connection: Electioneering, Lobbying, and Policymaking in Washington	Interest Group Society
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The Book of the States 2007	The Council of State Governments	State Legislatures Magazine	Guide to State Legislative Lobbying
The Lobbying and Advocacy Handbook for Nonprofit Organizations	Public Affairs in Practice	Total Lobbying	The Third House
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Sam Smith's Great American Political Repair Manual	Cities and the Wealth of Nations