Legislative History: A Guide to Library Research

The Manual covers the following: 

• Michigan History
• Michigan's Constitutions
• The Legislative Branch
• The Executive Branch
• The Judicial Branch
• Michigan's Congressional Delegation
• Institutions of Higher Education
• Local Government
• Elections 
• General Information and Statistics

SAM provides detailed, public descriptions of federal assistance listings available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally recognized Indian tribal governments, Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups, and individuals.

Includes these collections:

• Congress Collection: A data-rich research and reference tool that provides historical analysis of members of Congress, their legislative voting behavior, interest groups, and their interactions in crafting public policy.
   
• CQ Almanac: Authoritative analysis on the major legislation and actions of congress for each year since 1945. Unique data on the voting patterns of Congress members provide insight into the legislative process and history of the institution. Users can follow the history of a policy issue with the Policy Tracker tool which links reports on the same issue for almost 70 years.
   
• CQ Researcher Plus Archive: A database of in-depth, authoritative reports on a full range of political and social-policy issues extending back to 1923. Each report is footnoted and includes an overview, background section, chronology, bibliography and debate-style pro-con feature, plus tools to study the evolution of the topic over time.
   
• CQ Magazine: A news magazine featuring in-depth reporting on public policy, politics, congressional legislation, and elections extending back to 1983, including: a complete wrap-up of news on Congress, the status of bills in play, behind-the-scenes maneuvering, committee and floor activity, debates, and all roll-call votes.
   
• Politics in America: The ultimate insider's guide to politics with authoritative information on each member of Congress and the district he or she represents.
   
• Supreme Court Collection: A blend of historical analysis, timely updates and expert commentary of Supreme Court decisions, biographies of justices, institutional history, and the U.S. Constitution. This database also contains extensive data on Court opinions and justice voting behavior that allows for easy quantitative analysis of the Court.
   
• Supreme Court Yearbook: A collection of annual reporting on the actions and opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court with clear, in-depth analysis of every decision made by the nation's highest court since the 1989-1990 term and the justices who ruled on them.
   
• Voting and Elections Collection: A database of elections data, authoritative analyses, concise explanations, and historical materials to help researchers investigate and understand voting and elections in America from 1789-present.
   

1923-present. Each single-themed, 12,000-word report is researched and written by a seasoned journalist, and contains an introductory overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro & con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.