Policy Databases

Policy Commons

Use Policy Commons to find Organizations, Publications, and Topics. REGISTER FOR A FREE ACCOUNT IF YOU WISH TO SAVE MATERIALS AND CREATE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LISTS!

Home screen of Policy Commons with its three main components circled - Organizations, Publications, and Topics.

Sample organization search on the topic resilience retrieves 58 groups working in this space. The dashboard at the left provides filters by organization type, date, language, countries, funding sources, organization function, and topic.

Once you've created an individual account, you'll be able to save materials to lists. Lists may be private, shared with the NU community, or shared with all Policy Commons users.

Organization profile for the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

This example shows a group of Policy Commons topics being followed by a user. Weekly updates are e-mailed to the individual account holder's e-mail address (update frequency is chosen by the list owner).

 Shows the Policy Commons topics selected and followed by an account holder.

PolicyFile

Use PolicyFile to locate reports from public policy think tanks, non-governmental organizations, research institutes, university centers, and advocacy groups. U.S. and international coverage. Although PolicyFile is considerably smaller than Policy Commons, it has a unique feature called "organization political leaning" which can be helpful in selecting organizations with different viewpoints. Coverage is 1990 to present.

The illustration below shows a search for organization reports on social capital. The date range indicator at the left provides a quick timeline for to assess the level of research interest and writing on the topic.

Shows the results screen for a search on the term social capital.

This illustration shows the "organization political leaning" feature of PolicyFile. Organization political leaning is just one of a number of filters available in the PolicyFile dashboard at the left.

 

Shows how to sort search results by organization political orientation.

PolicyMap

Drawing from a database of over 50,000 indicators, PolicyMap offers  a mapping tool which supports  data-enhanced decision making. U.S. coverage.

Check the Data Directory for a list of indicators available for mapping.

Home screen of PolicyMap showing a map of the continental U.S.

 

Need more help?

Please e-mail Roxanne Palmatier, library contact for Political Science, Security and Resilience, Security and Intelligence Studies, International Affairs, and the Policy School.