Pro/Con Resources : Finding Evidence to Support Arguments

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Getting Started
Where Are Opinions Expressed?
Who's Expressing Specific Ideologies?
Who's Providing Balanced Points of View?
Where Can I Find Laws, Regulations, and Supreme Court Opinions?
How Can State Laws Support My Argument?
Internet Sources Comparing State Statutes by Topic
Print Sources with Citations to State Law Comparisons
Databases to find State Laws, Regulations, and Court Decisions
Where do I find Law Review articles?

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Getting Started

This guide to finding evidence to support pro/com arguments relies on four basic search strategies best used in combination with one another:

• Knowing where opinions are expressed
• Understanding which periodicals and resources express specific ideologies
• Knowing how to look for information from different and alternate perspectives
• Finding resources that provide "balanced" points of view

Additionally, you'll find links to Internet sources that compare state statutes, print sources with citations to state law comparisons, and databases that focus on the kind of information you need.

Please note: Selected Internet resources in this guide will only be accessible to Penn State University students and researchers with a Penn State Access Account. This guide is recommended for use by students in:

• CAS 215 : Argumentation

For additional help with any of these resources, or to schedule an appointment, please contact Debora Cheney, Foster Communications Librarian and Head, News & Microforms Library, 814-863-1345.

NOTE: All sources are on the Libraries' Databases by Title (A-Z List) unless otherwise noted.

Where Are Opinions Expressed?

Consider places opinions are expressed ... these might include congressional hearing testimony, editorials, and commentaries in newspapers and periodicals.

• LexisNexis Congressional provides congressional testimony from government officials and witnesses invited to provide information and background.
• PolicyFile (Public Policy Research and Analysis) provides information from associations and think tanks. You might also find policy-related information at ".org" web sites as well.
• Public Opinion Polls for Communications Research provides links to a variety of polling databases.
• On the Issues provides views from political candidates, members of Congress, and the President.
• Newspaper Databases : Try These First, the News & Microforms Library's Web page with links to databases to start your search for newspaper articles.

Who's Expressing Specific Ideologies?

Solid pro/con research includes understanding which periodicals and resources may express opinions from specific ideological slants — for example, conservative or liberal, left vs. right, Catholic vs. Unitarian — or from a different geo-political perspective, like international views vs. U.S. views.

• The O'Toole News Magazine Collection is located in the News & Microforms Library (Ground Floor, Pattee, West) and is an excellent source for current articles on today's controversial issues.

Who's Providing Balanced Points of View?

Look for resources that seek to provide balanced points of view from which you can better understand the range of issues and perspectives.

• CQ Researcher (contemporary and public policy issues) is an excellent resource for an overview of an issue or topic area. You'll also find excellent references to related resources and a Pro/Con page that argues different sides of a topic in a clear and straightforward manner.
• CQ Weekly "The CQ news team - by far the largest on Capitol Hill, with more than 100 reporters, editors and researchers - covers virtually every act of Congress, delivering nonpartisan news and analysis unavailable anywhere else."
• National Journal provides public policy information from the Executive Branch point of view.
• The Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (available online to researchers with a Penn State Access Account) includes the Opposing Viewpoints series available in print. The Contemporary World Issues series is another print source which includes research on a variety of topics.
• GAO (Government Accountability Office) is a government agency that provides oversight and review of government programs. At GAO most reports are full-text.
• The Congressional Research Service [CRS] provides research reviews for members of Congress on legislation. Browse the CAT for CRS publications available at the University Libraries.
• GalleryWatch provides comprehensive bill histories for legislation since the 105th Congress (1997/98) to the present. Also includes Line item budget information for FY 1978 to the present.
• The Government, Politics, & Public Policy subject list of databases lists Libraries-subscribed databases to use when researching topics that touch on government or political issues.

Find more magazine articles in

• ProQuest Research Library

Where Can I Find Laws, Regulations, and Supreme Court Opinions

The Social Sciences Library's Law Web pages provide a good starting point for this research. Use the Federal Rules and Regulations pages to learn how to find and use regulations. Supreme Court opinions are found in the United States Statutes at Large in print and online at LexisNexis Academic and Westlaw Campus. For additional resources, consult the Libraries' Law [subject list of databases].

To find information on selected congressional bills that have received national attention, try the "Political News/Hot Topics" link at LexisNexis Congressional. These bills are under consideration or have been recently enacted by Congress. For each hot bill, you can retrieve bill tracking reports, bill text, and discussions from the Congressional Record. Hot Bills are updated monthly. LexisNexis Congressional's editors have also selected topics on major issues of the day. For each Hot Topic, there are articles from major national and regional news sources. Hot Topics are updated monthly as well.

How Can State Laws Support My Argument?

Legal researchers are often called upon to compare laws from multiple states on a particular topic. Comparing a few states is straightforward, but a comprehensive survey of state laws is notoriously tedious to compile. Before beginning, it is worthwhile to find out if a survey on your topic already exists.

This brief guide lists selected sources that either themselves compare state constitutions and statutes, point to the location of comparisons, or aggregate state constitutions or statutes together for searching. Because state laws change frequently, previously compiled surveys are quickly outdated. Even with a survey in hand, the careful researcher will ultimately locate and review each statute they wish to compare. For assistance in creating a survey, locating a previously compiled survey, or updating a survey, please consult a reference librarian.

Internet Sources Comparing State Statutes by Topic

• The National Conference of State Legislatures offers substantive, comparative articles on state laws. See the "Issue Areas" tab and browse the wide range of topics and subtopics. For each, activities of states at the forefront of the issue are mentioned, and for many topics there are tables listing state laws and bills with citations.
• The National Association of Secretaries of State provides comparative views of issues related to state voting and elections through news items, fact sheets, and short reports.
• The National Governors Association provides news on current issues in state government. See the Center for Best Practices for reports and publications on an extensive list of issues explaining which states are implementing creative solutions to thorny problems. Some tables are descriptive only and do not provide citations.
• Google search the term "compare state laws" and/or limit search by "site:.edu" or "site:.gov" for a wide set of search results.

Print Sources with Citations to State Law Comparisons

• Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest
  Contains state-by-state summaries (with citations) of many subjects, including attorneys, banking, commercial code, corporations, garnishment, limitation of actions, personal property, sales, trade secrets, and witnesses. These volumes are updated and republished annually.
• National Survey of State Laws
  Provides citations and brief summaries of state laws on a highly selective list of topics and contains a series of tables comparing state laws on topics ranging from abortion and antitrust to wills and whistleblowers. General categories include business and consumer law, criminal law, education, employment, family law, civil law, real estate, and taxes. The tables include citations to state statutes. New editions of this book appear every other year.
• Statutes Compared: a U.S., Canadian, Multinational Research Guide to Statutes by Subject
  Provides citations to periodically published comparisons of state and Canadian province statutes, such as those appearing in loose-leaf publications. It is slightly out of date, but still very useful.
• Subject Compilation of State Laws
  Provides citations to law review articles, books, and other sources in which state statutes are compared on a wide variety of topics. Covers 1960 forward, currently published annually. It is non-cumulative so, to be thorough, researchers must check many volumes.

Databases to find State Laws, Regulations, and Court Decisions

• Westlaw Campus
  State Statutes — all 50 states included.
• LexisNexis State Capital
  Select Statutes. Search across all state statutes by keyword.

Where do I find Law Review articles?

• Index to Legal Periodicals Full-Text
  For example, search for law journal articles that compare state laws or about a specific court case or the legal aspects of a topic.
• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
  For example, search for law journal articles that compare foreign laws.

For additional state law research sources, including those that detail amendments over time, consult U.S. State Law Sources, a section of the United States Law Sources research guide (Harvard Law School) as well as the Social Sciences Library Law Web site.