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Almanac of American Politics, 2006

BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Barone, M. and R. E. Cohen. (2005). Almanac of American Politics, 2006. Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group.

PURPOSE

This almanac was published as a guide to governors and members of Congress, a description of each state and congressional district, and includes maps, voting records, campaign expenditures, and census data for each district and state. This material is published biannually and is a reference resource for students of government, statistics, public policy, whether they are at the college, graduate, or professorial level.

AUTHORITY

The two authors are not academics; however, both are reporters and can provide an objective summary of political data, giving the book authority, rather than a political bias. The publisher, National Journal, was referred to as “the nation’s most respected, nonpartisan source of information about how Washington’s policy-making machinery really works” (Barone, 2005, 1907) by Newsweek. As the work was published in 2005, it is current for research dealing with the 108th Congress, as well as providing summaries of 2000 Census Data. But the almanac is not chronological. Each separate edition deals with a different session of Congress.

SCOPE

The almanac is obviously limited to American politics. Its design makes it easy to use; however, with the extensive use of data and long biographies and descriptions, the book is probably good for use at a college or university library and possibly a metropolitan public library.

FORMAT

At the very beginning of the almanac, after the contents, the author includes a guide to usage of the almanac and what each section refers to. The guide also tells where the data comes from. It provides an abbreviations list for all of the various acts, groups, and parties that are included and referred to within the almanac. The guide also identifies the key votes of the 108th Congress. Each state summarized is organized in the same way, providing a familiar layout as one uses the almanac more and more.

ARRANGEMENT

The almanac is arranged alphabetically by state and an index is included in the back of the book.

ENTRIES

Within each state “chapter”, the following components can be found: an overview of the state, a map that breaks the state down into counties, as well as the congressional district(s), demographics of the state, how the state voted in the last presidential election, a breakdown of the congressional districts, and biographies of the Governor, Senators, and U.S. Representatives. Election results are included for all three groups. Voting records, group ratings, and key votes are included for the congressmen and women. For each congressional district as a part of each representative’s biography, demographics are provided for the congressional district.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Special features include the photographs available of each Governor, Senator, and U.S. Representative. The almanac also includes statistical breakdowns of each Congressional district and each state, including voting behaviors, providing a quick resource for a librarian needing fast information about past elections.

USE

The almanac can be used for gathering statistical data about a state, maps of a state or congressional district, biographies of elected officials (Governors, Senators, and Representatives), voting behaviors of the legislators, ratings of the legislators, and background of the state, especially from a political perspective.

CRITIQUE

According to Amazon.com, this almanac is available for $44.07. The book jacket shows the list price when it was published as $89.95. Regardless, the repackaging of the data available in this one volume makes the book an invaluable tool for use in a college or university library. Students needing information about states, elected officials, and demographics can turn to this “ready reference” resource and quickly be able to use it without much training or guidance. The only problem with it is that once the library starts buying it each two years, it will probably want to continue to do so, which can add up book buying costs. Even so, the information contained within this volume and how easy to use it is, makes it an important addition to a college library’s reference collection.

REFERENCES

• Barone, M. and R. E. Cohen. (2005). Almanac of American Politics, 2006. Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group.
• Information originally posted on LI813 Spring 2007 Class Wiki; information last updated there, May 7, 2007.

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