Professor Thorson's Favorite Links
Sources of news, policy analysis, and general information I regularly use and recommend to students.
The links below are grouped by topic for convenience. Many are nonpartisan sources of data and analysis; some are explicitly partisan or ideological and are labeled as such.
News sites
National news
State and regional newspapers (California & region)
Policy analysis
Education policy
- What Works Clearinghouse
- Education Week
- Center on Education Policy
- PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education)
- Brookings – Education Policy
- EdSource
- CREDO (Stanford)
- Education Trust–West
Health care policy
- Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)
- California Health Care Foundation
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Brookings – Health Care Policy
Economic policy
Government reports
Federal government (U.S.)
- U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
- Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
- Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
- Open CRS (Congressional Research Service)
State government (California)
Think tanks
Nonpartisan or mixed
- National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
- Mathematica
- Bipartisan Policy Center
- Urban Institute
- Brookings Institution
- RAND Corporation
- Pew Research Center
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Partisan / ideological think tanks
Other political & economic analysis
Nonpartisan analysis and election coverage
- Roll Call
- RealClearPolitics
- Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball
- Rothenberg Political Report
- Cook Political Report
- The Economist
- OpenSecrets
- Pollster.com
- Rasmussen Reports
- FiveThirtyEight
- H-Net PSRT List
Public opinion
Partisan / ideological sites and blogs
California politics & public policy
California state government
- Office of the Governor
- California State Assembly
- California State Senate
- Supreme Court of California
- Assembly Office of the Chief Clerk
- California Research Bureau
- Official California Legislative Information
- California State Archives
California politics & policy organizations
- California Journal of Politics and Policy
- California Policy Research Center
- California Institute for Federal Policy Research
- Center for California Studies
- California Budget Project
- Institute of Governmental Studies (UC Berkeley)
- Tomas Rivera Policy Institute
- Hoover Institution
- RAND
- SPHERE Institute
- Brookings Institution
- California Forward
- California Legislature Roll Call Votes
- Little Hoover Commission
- Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
National public policy organizations
Information on U.S. government branches
Executive branch
Legislative branch
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. House of Representatives
- Library of Congress
- THOMAS (legacy legislative information)
- Legislative Histories (University of Michigan)
Judicial branch
Political science profession
Professional organizations
- Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM)
- American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- American Political Science Association (APSA)
Graduate program rankings
Internship opportunities
Federal internships
- CRS Report on Finding Federal Internships
- USAJOBS – Students & Recent Graduates
- GoGovernment – Student and Entry-Level Talent
- White House Internships
- U.S. Senate Internships
- U.S. House Internships
- GAO Student Opportunities
- CBO Internships
State internships and fellowships (California)
- Governor’s Internship Program
- Executive Fellowship Program
- Capital Fellows Program (overview)
- Assembly Fellowship Program
- Senate Fellowship Program
- Judicial Fellowship Program
Local and regional internships
University of Redlands & Stata help
Campus sites
- University of Redlands
- College of Arts and Sciences
- Public Policy Program
- Political Science Department
- Armacost Library
- Counseling Services
- Health Services
- Information Technology Services
- Registrar’s Office
- Faculty and Staff Search
- Academic Calendar
- Irvine Commons Menu
Stata help and tutorials
Miscellaneous sites
Arts and entertainment (local and regional)
- Redlands Bowl
- Redlands Symphony
- Redlands Community Chorus
- San Bernardino County Museum
- Disneyland
- Six Flags Magic Mountain
- Knott’s Berry Farm
- Universal Studios Hollywood
- On Camera Audiences
Social networking & tech
Search engines & directories
Bookstores
Movies & DVDs
- Harkins Theatres
- Krikorian Movie Theaters
- Rotten Tomatoes
- Yahoo Movies
- Apple Movie Trailers
- IMDb
- Box Office Mojo
- MovieFone
Travel & timesharing
- Timeshare Forums
- Orbitz
- Priceline
- Bidding for Travel
- DIS Boards
- Timeshare Users Group (TUG)
- Travelocity
- Expedia
Weather, air quality, and earthquakes
- Weather Underground – Redlands
- South Coast AQMD – Current Air Quality
- USGS – Recent California/Nevada Earthquakes
- USGS – Recent M3+ Earthquakes (U.S.)