Printer Friendly Version| International Constitutions |
Compiled by:Gordon W. Miller |
This handout is written mainly for constitutions other than the United States Constitution. For sources on the United States use the handout entitled United States Constitution, or access it online at /polisci/uscons.html.
Table of Contents
LEO
- The following subject headings are suggested for use in LEO and other library catalogs e.g.
WorldCat.
Constitutions
[Country] - Constitutional lawKeywords:
A keyword search in an online catalog may locate additional sources on constitutions. A LEO search could be:
w/constitution and [country]
Reference and General Collection
- The Europa Year Book. London: Europa, 1959- . annual.
(Ref JN 1 E85). - Arranged by country. A "brief" description of the constitution is given for each country.
- Finer, S.E., ed. Five Constitutions. New York: Penguin Books, 1979.
(K 3157 E5 F58 1979b). - Constitutions of the United States, Soviet Union, Germany, and France along with several historical constitutions and declarations are printed here. Historical value.
- Fitzgerald, Gerald E. The Constitutions of Latin America. Chicago: Henry
Regnery, 1968.
(K 3157 E5 F5 1968). - Constitutions for Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico, and Venezuela are printed. Historical value.
- FitzGibbon, Russell H., ed. The Constitutions of the Americas (as of January 1, 1948). . Chicago: University of Chicago, 1948. ,br>(JF 11 F5)
- The text of twenty-two American nations. Historical value.
- Maddex, Robert L. Constitutions of the World. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.:
Congressional Quarterly, 2001.
(Ref K 3157 E5 M33 2001). - This work as a "structural summary" of eighty nations.
- Simons, William B. The Constitutions of the Communist World. 1980.
Germantown, Md.: Sijthoff & Noordhoff, 1980.
(Ref K 3157 E5 C66). - English language texts of constitutions as of 1979.
- Triska, Jan F., comp. Constitutions of the Communist Party-States. [1968].
Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace.
(JF 8 T7). - An earlier edition of the Simons title (above).
- United States. Congress. Official Congressional Directory. Washington, D. C.:
Government Printing Office, 1809- . annual.
(Ref JK 1011 U5). - This directory is useful for its section giving embassy contact information for all countries having diplomatic representation in Washington, D. C. This could be a source for constitutional literature/documentation for an individual country. Available for searching by keyword @ Congressional Directory .
- Zurcher, Arnold J. Constitutions and Constitutional Trends Since World War II; an
Examination of Significant Aspects of Postwar Public Law with Particular Reference to the New
Constitutions of Western Europe. 2nd ed. New York: New York University, [1955].
(JN 12 Z8 1955). - European emphasis. Following the essays the text of several constitutions are appended.
Indexes and Abstracts
- America: History and Life . 1964- .
- The standard, and comprehensive, index to American history.
- Humanities Abstracts . 1984- .
- This indexes scholarly journals. Although there are a lot of articles on constitutions most are dealing with historical aspects.
- International Political Science Abstracts . 1979- .
- An excellent "scholarly" abstracting service. It is especially strong on international issues and countries. It will include many journals not available in Carrier Library. All European languages are included.
- PAIS . 1972- .
- This index is very strong on international topics. Both scholarly and general articles are included along with some books, documents, and United Nations materials.
- Readers'Guide Abstracts . 1983- .
- This will have a lot of articles on constitutions but the indexing coverage is generally from popular periodicals.
- Social Sciences Citation Index . 1976-1986.
- This indexes the keywords in the titles of articles. It includes international topics and countries. The "Permuterm" index pairs keywords, e.g. constitution and Brazilian. It then lists the author. Locate the author, and the full citation" in the "Source Index." This can be a useful index to get started in your research.
- Social Sciences Abstracts . 1983- .
- Scholarly journals are indexed here. A lot on constitutions.
Electronic Text Sources
- Constitutions
- This is a site to several Constitutional web pages. Access includes international constitutions.
- International Constitutional Law.
(Electronic Text) - Constitutions from a number of nations, some in their original languages, are at this site.
This page is maintained by: Patricia Hardesty
© James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
