LibGuides: Researching a Country: Government & Economics

CIA World Factbook

The CIA World Factbook provides some general information, such as a profile of the country's demographics (people). However, it provides lots of statistical data and more in-depth information about the economy and government than in our "Getting Started" resources.

There are 2 ways to find the information on a given country:

From the opening page, click on a region or continent on the map to get a linked list of countries to choose from.
On the opening page, click on a drop down box in the upper right corner to get a list of countries to choose from.

CIA World Factbook

Country Reports and Forecasts in the Library Databases

The Library's databases provide a variety of reports on specific countries. You can use the EBSCOhost databases or ProQuest Central to find these reports.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window This general scholarly collection provides journals in most academic fields, including biological sciences, economics, communications, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences and women's studies. Use the “Choose Databases” feature to search multiple EBSCOhost databases simultaneously.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window ProQuest Central is the largest single periodical resource available, bringing together complete databases across all major subject areas, including Business, Health and Medical, Language and Literature, Social Sciences, Education, Science and Technology, as well as core titles in the Performing and Visual Arts, History, Religion, Philosophy, and includes thousands of full-text newspapers from around the world.

The video (below) explains how to find these databases in EBSCOhost databases. The process would be similar in the ProQuest databases.

Reference Books on Government

These are eBooks that you can access just by clicking on the book's title:

Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts by Joseph R. Rudolph (Editor)
ISBN: 9781610695527
Publication Date: 2015-12-07
An indispensable reference that will help students understand the major ethnic conflicts that dominate the headlines and shape the modern world.
Counterterrorism by Ph.D., Frank C Shanty (Editor)
ISBN: 9781598845440
Publication Date: 2012-08-17
This two-volume set examines modern nation-state legislative, diplomatic, military, and non-military attempts to combat terrorism within and outside state borders. The articles which comprise this comprehensive reference work address counterterrorism efforts employed by the international community prior to and following the events of September 11, 2001.
Media Laws Across the World by Junhao Hong; Tuo-Yu Su
ISBN: 9781593328054
Publication Date: 2016-05-01
Hong and Su compare the evolution of media laws across the world, focusing on representative countries in North America, Western Europe and Asia and analyzes the political, economic, cultural and societal reasons for the evolution. Moreover, the authors cover issues that are related to many newly emerged legal aspects such digital media law issues, libel law issues, copyright issues, and cyber-privacy issues.

The books below are in the Reference section (on the 1st floor) of the Library and cannot be checked out. You can scan pages for your use. Distance students can contact the library for assistance with these books.

You can find suggested citations in various citation styles for these books in SuperSearch.

Crime and Punishment Around the World by Graeme R. Newman (Editor)
ISBN: 9780313351334
Publication Date: 2010-10-19
* Four volumes covering Africa, the Americas, Asia/Pacific, and Europe * More than 200 essays written by academics, government officials, and independent experts * Four world maps and sixteen regional maps depicting distribution of murder rates, prison, corporal punishment, and death penalty rates *
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Children's Issues Worldwide by Irving Epstein (Editor)
ISBN: 0313336148
Publication Date: 2007-12-30
From the skyrocketing AIDS rate in Haiti to the oppressive pollution in industrial China, from the violent street culture of Nigeria to the crippling poverty in Nicaragua, from child trafficking in Thailand to child marriages in India, this jam-packed six-volume set explores all these issues and more in an unprecedented look at the world's children at the dawn of the 21st century.
The Statesman's Yearbook by Nicholas Heath-Brown (Editor); Tom Alvarez (Editor); Sharan Aujla (Editor)
Call Number: JA51 .S7
ISBN: 9781137440082
Publication Date: 2016-08-19
Covers political, economic, social and cultural aspects of each country.
World Police Encyclopedia by Michael J. Palmiotto (Editor); Dilip K. Dass; Das K. Das; Dilip K. Das (Editor)
ISBN: 0415942500
Publication Date: 2005-12-09
The increasingly international nature of crime underscores the need for countries to work together to control crime and terrorism. For there to be effective and efficient cooperation on the international level, it is necessary for countries to understand the structure of other police systems. The World Police Encyclopedia fulfills this need by providing a systematic survey of the police systems of all the member nations in the United Nations and Taiwan.

Helpful Links

Library Home Page
Get Help from a Librarian
Need help? Ask a librarian.
Schedule a Research Appointment
Meet one-on-one with a librarian for 25 minutes to discuss your research.
Get an Article from Another Library
Request an article from another library.
Get Books, Media, etc. from Another Library
Request materials from beyond LCSC.

Human Capital Report

The World Economic Forum's Human Capital Report ranks 130 countries on how well they are developing and deploying their talent. The index takes a life-course approach to human capital, evaluating the levels of education, skills and employment available to people in five distinct age groups, starting from under 15 years to over 65 years. The aim is to assess the outcome of past and present investments in human capital and offer insight into what a country's talent base looks like today and how it is likely to evolve into the future.

You can view overall rankings or "choose an economy" in a drop-down box on the left side of the page to view the statistics for an individual country.

Human Capital Report

World Bank Databank

The World Bank is an international organization with 189 member countries who fund and govern it.

Its official title is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It began with reconstruction of Europe after World War II. It still provides funding for reconstruction projects after war and natural disasters. But its main focus now is poverty alleviation. Governments of low- and middle-income countries borrow from the World Bank to fund projects, such as building schools, hospitals, and highways.

When you go to a bank to ask for a loan, they will ask you for documents about how much money you make and how you spend it. The same goes for the World Bank. Countries provide them with a lot of data about how they generate income and how well they are doing in various sectors of the economy.

They share this information with the world through their DataBank. You can use this data to generate custom tables with specific pieces of information on countries that you choose, for years that you choose.

World Bank DataBank

Reference Books on Economics