LibGuides: SOCI.3620: Social Welfare Policy: Advocacy groups

Advocacy Groups, Associations, and Policy Research Organizations

Advocacy groups often put out alerts as legislation is proposed, collect and provide statistics and create their own policy papers on topics of concern. Think tanks and other agencies publish reports and assessments. The list below is comprised of conservative, liberal and non-partisan groups.

American Association of Retired Persons
AARP Research site provides information about issues affecting persons over the age of 50. Also search AGELINE listed under the Articles tab.
Brookings Institute
Cato Institute
"The Institute seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace." Pick an area and follow the links to PDF documents.
Center for Law and Social Policy
"CLASP is a national non-profit organization with expertise in both law and policy affecting the poor." One useful feature of its web page is a listing (with links) of its recent publications, which cover various issues relating to low-income Americans.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Think-tank working on fiscal policy and public programs affecting low- to moderate-income people. The Center conducts research and analysis over proposed budget & tax policies and to ensure the needs of low-income families.
Commonwealth Fund
"The Commonwealth Fund supports independent research on Health Care issues and provides opinion papers on these topics.
Institute for Policy Research
Northwestern University institute dedicated to stimulate and support excellent social science research on significant public policy issues and to disseminate the findings to the public.
IssuesLab
an open access archive of free, non-profit produced research on more than 30 issue areas. To focus your results, go to the advanced search page where you can use keywords.
Joint Center for Poverty Research
National Alliance to End Homelessness
National Poverty Center
Site provides info on measuring poverty,working papers, policy briefs, podcasts & other media sources.
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan source of data and analysis, and takes no advocacy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Think Tanks and Other Policy Research Organizations
Thank you, Kennedy School of Government.
Congressional Research Service
A division of the Library of Congress. They produce analytical, non-partisan reports on topics of interest to members of Congress.
Annenberg Foundation
Urban Institute
Urban Institue analyze policies, evaluate programs, & informs community development to improve social, civic, and economic well-being. It works in all 50 states & abroad in over 28 countries, sharing its research findings with policymakers, program administrators, business, academics, & the public, online through reports and scholarly books.