Core Documents of U.S. Democracy

To provide American citizens direct online access to the basic Federal Government documents that define our democratic society, a core group of current and historical Government publications was made available via GPO Access. These titles contain information which is vital to the democratic process and critical to an informed electorate. This page archives and updates the GPO Access page, with some additions.

Because this page was mainly a collection of links from various web sites, it was not migrated to govinfo.gov. The U.S. Government Publishing Office now maintains the page as Cornerstone Documents.

Cornerstone Documents

• Articles of Confederation
• The Bill of Rights
• A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873
• The Constitution of the United States of America
• The Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis and Interpretation (browse list)
• The Declaration of Independence
• Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789
• Emancipation Proclamation
• The Federalist Papers
• The Gettysburg Address

Congressional

• Congressional Bills, 1993 to present; older bills available in Cornette Library
• Congressional Directory, 1997 to present; older editions available in Cornette Library
• Congressional Pictorial Directory, 1997 to present; browse list
• Congressional Record (Bound Edition), 1999-2001; older volumes available in Cornette Library
• Congressional Record Daily, 1994 to present
• Congressional Record Index (Daily), 1983 to present
• Public and Private Laws, 1995 to present; older laws available in Cornette Library
• United States Code, 1994 to current edition

Presidential

• Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
• Budget of the United States Government, 1996 to present; also available from 1923 to present from FRASER
• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders, April 13, 1945 through January 20,1989
• Compilation of Presidential Documents, browse list for daily or weekly compilations back to 1992; older volumes available in Cornette Library
• George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress
• U.S. Presidential Inaugurations: A Resource Guide
• Thomas Jefferson Papers at the Library of Congress

Judicial

• Supreme Court Decisions, 1893 to present. May browse or search (FindLaw.com)
• Supreme Court Decisions, 1991 (vol. 502) to current bound volume. May browse (U.S. Supreme Court)
• Supreme Court Decisions, Opinions. Click on "Opinions of the Court" to browse recent opinions (U.S. Supreme Court).
• Supreme Court Decisions, 1937-1975. Zip file, may browse only (FDsys)
• Supreme Court Decisions, 1992/1993-1999/2000. Browse only (Federal Bulletin Board)

Regulatory

• Code of Federal Regulations, 1992 to present
• Federal Register, 1994 to present

Demographic

• Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1878-2012; now published by ProQuest, print copies available in Cornette Library

Economic

• Economic Indicators, 1995 to present. (FDsys)
• Economic Indicators, 1948 to present. (FRASER)
• Economic Report of the President, 1995 to present

Miscellaneous

• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
• United States Government Manual, 1995-1996 to present
• Our Documents
  • 100 Milestone Documents (list)