LibGuides: Political Science: Datasets

Political Survey Datasets

There are several high quality, open access resources for locating survey data, polling data, and other research datasets. The following is a non-exhaustive list of useful options:

ICPSR
International group of more than 750 research institutions providing data and methods of analysis for the social science research community.
General Social Survey
A wide battery of social, cultural, and political attitude questions asked roughly annually/bi‑annually of U.S. households since the 1970s. Useful for longitudinal attitude analyses. Public use data is free. You may need to register on the provider site. Data typically available in formats such as SAS / SPSS / Stata / ASCII.
American National Election Studies (ANES)
ANES is a collaboration of Duke University, University of Michigan, The University of Texas at Austin, and Stanford University, with funding by the National Science Foundation. ANES produces high quality data from its own surveys on voting, public opinion, and political participation.
Cooperative Election Study
The Cooperative Election Study is the largest academic survey of the American public and a core resource for understanding public opinion and American elections. Download CES datasets and documentation from 2005-2024 through Tufts University. Reports and working papers also available.
Harvard Dataverse
Harvard Dataverse is a repository for research data. It includes millions of research datasets, including in the Social Sciences. It contains CES, ANES, data from news organizations, university studies, and other relevant data.
The Odum Institute
The Odum Institute at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has a large archive of public opinion data, including more than 1,000 Harris Polls from as early as 1958, the National Network of State Polls collection, the Carolina Poll (1977–2005), Monmouth University Polling Institute polls (2011+), the Southern Focus Poll (1992–2001), and some USA Today polls (1984–1993). Please note that some datasets are restricted to UNC-CH affiliates.
American Perspectives Survey / Survey Center on American Life
The Survey Center on American Life, a project of the American Enterprise Institute, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that conducts original survey research focusing on critical issues in American public and private life. Data is available to the public after a period of six to twelve months. Datasets are available to download as Stata and SPSS files. Registration for a free account required to download datasets.
MIT Election Data + Science Lab
Clearinghouse for data sets and studies on elections and how they're conducted. Find election data and research tools produced by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Election Data + Science Lab and others.

Other Useful Resources & Repositories

Pew Research Center - Tools & Datasets
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. They release many U.S. public opinion datasets covering politics, religion, policy attitudes, media, etc. After an embargo period many are open for public use.
Gallup Polls
Gallup polls began in 1935. Locate Gallup Organization polls, briefings, reports, and other publications in OneSearch. Some volumes are only available via Gallup Analytics subscription available for use at Claremont Colleges and UCLA Libraries.
Gallup News
Gallup News is a division of Gallup, Inc., an American analytics and advisory company. It publishes data-driven articles, reports, and analysis based on its public opinion research, which tracks global and U.S. attitudes on a wide range of social, economic, and political topics.
Roper Center (iPoll database)
Roper polls were initially conducted for Fortune Magazine in the late 1930s. The Roper Center hosts an archive of their U.S. public opinion polls. Microdata requires paid subscription (which we no longer have at Pollak Library), but a lot of question-level metadata is searchable and browsable for free. Full iPoll database access is available locally at UCI and UCSD.
U.S. Census Bureau Datasets
Data files, for public use, with all personally identifiable information removed to ensure confidentiality. Users analyze, extract, customize and publish stats.
National Center for Education Statistics Datalab
Choose and launch the educational dataset you would like to analyze in PowerStats. Data tools provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Data.gov
Data.gov was launched in 2009 and is managed and hosted by the U.S. General Services Administration. You will find data, tools, and resources to conduct research, design data visualizations, and more.
Google Dataset Search
Dataset Search is a search engine for datasets. Using a keyword search, users can discover datasets in thousands of repositories across the web. Search

International Data

World Bank Open Data
The World Bank provides free and open access to global development data. Search by indicator, data type, population, or country. Browse themes to specify specific demographic profiles or topics such as education, gender, health, poverty, economic policy, water, environment, agriculture, food, energy, cybersecurity, and more.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Data Explorer
Search and access the OECD’s datasets, covering a wide range of topics. Browse the catalogue or filter by policy area or policy issue.
World Trade Organization Global Trade Data Portal
Library of freely accessible trade data resources through the World Trade Organization. Search by geographical reach, industry focus, or specific data types.
International IDEA
International IDEA is an intergovernmental organization (IGO) with a mandate to support sustainable democracy worldwide. The Voting from Abroad Database provides comparative data on external voting practices for 216 countries and territories around the globe. Interactive tools, including maps and graphs, allow comparison by region and sub-region, filter and export raw data for further analyses.

Useful Books & Bibliographies

Here are a few resources for understanding the history of polling and social surveys along with early methodologies. The bibliographies list books and articles on the methods of polling and survey research. There are abstracts for every entry and an index. They are not a guide to actual polls and their results, but are useful for understanding the practice of public opinion polling and how it may affect the results.

Best, S. J., & Radcliff, B. (2005). Polling America: An encyclopedia of public opinion. Greenwood Press.

Geer, J. G. (2004). Public opinion and polling around the world: A historical encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.

Young, M. L. (1992). Dictionary of polling: The language of contemporary opinion research. Greenwood Press.

Schmeller, M. G. (2016). Invisible sovereign: Imagining public opinion from the Revolution to Reconstruction. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Converse, J. M. (1987). Survey research in the United States: Roots and emergence, 1890-1960. University of California Press.

Almasy, E., Balandier, A., & Delatte, J. (1976). Comparative survey analysis : an annotated bibliography, 1967-1973. Sage Publications.

Walden, G. R. (1996). Polling and survey research methods, 1935-1979: An annotated bibliography. Greenwood Press.

Walden, G. R. (1990). Public opinion polls and survey research: A selective annotated bibliography of U.S. guides and studies from the 1980s. Garland Pub.

Walden, G. R. (2003). Survey research methodology, 1990-1999: An annotated bibliography. Greenwood Press.