Governing the Government

Bloggers are lucky that the Web provides so much information about the three sections of the U.S. government. Government agencies now have easy-to-access websites where you can obtain documents, statistics, and forms (unfortunately, most of these items are written in legalese that is still not easy to understand). Fortunately, many bloggers are willing to slog through these documents and explain it to the rest of us so that all U.S. citizens can keep well-informed about government matters, if they want.

White House ConfidentialBlogs About the Executive Branch of Government

These blogs focus on the presidential administration and officials working out of the White House.

Oval Office 2008

http://www.ovaloffice2008.com/

Subheaded "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding on what to have for lunch," a quotation from Benjamin Franklin, this is a nonpartisan blog on the race for the White House in 2008. Cheerfully inviting all sites and bloggers to provide a link, blogger Daniel Owen provides information with wit and charm.

White House Briefing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A599-2004Jan8.html

The Washington Post hosts this blog by Daniel Fromkin that collects news items about the President and his staff from blogs, news outlets, and international media.

The White House

http://www.whitehouse.gov

George W. Bush's White House staffers keep the public up-to-date on the issues of our times. Article authors unnamed.

Supreme Court WatchBlogs About the Judicial Branch of Government

The following blogs are about judging judges and commenting on influential court cases.

D-Web Law Blogs

http://www.home.ix.netcom.com/~fpdfls2/BlogRecap4.htm

These blogs (no author attribution) are organized by circuit and summarize the cases and rulings on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the font size is very small, and the quantity of text very high, so you have to really want to read these.

Judicial Watch

http://www.judicialwatch.org/

Conservative website that keeps track of stories about the Supreme Court and the U.S. judiciary.

The Supreme Court

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

The official website of the U.S. Supreme Court provides the usual array of details about its organization and structure. The site lists dockets, oral arguments, merit briefs, judge opinions, and visiting information, and, what I thought most interesting, bar admissions, court rules, and case holding guides.

SCOTUSblog

http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/

The Supreme Court of the United States blog is staffed by members of a law firm called Goldestein & Howe, one of the few Supreme Court litigation firms in the United States. Based in Washington, DC, the firm's blog even has its own staff reporter. SCOTUS is one of the most popular law blogs because it regularly monitors all the cases under review by the Supreme Court. SCOTUS has launched a second blog to cover the Supreme Court nomination process: Supreme Court Nomination Blog http://www.sctnomination.com/blog/.

Congress on the WebBlogs About the Legislative Branch of Government

These blogs provide insider knowledge about the United States legislative branch. The blogs post updates about policy changes and debates.

The U.S. Congress

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

With links to House and Senate pages, this site offers discussion forums for hotbed issues, listings for state and local issues, bills in Congress, the White House and its occupants, the Supreme Court, and election issues. It may not have pizzazz, but it's from the official source.

From the Roots

http://www.fromtheroots.org/

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee maintains this blog devoted to sharing information about ideas and positions necessary to remove Republicans from Congress.

Swing State Project

http://www.swingstateproject.com/

A group blog that covers election and campaign news, focusing on key races across the nation. The site appears to be affiliated with Democrats. This blog will be a vital resource during the 2008 presidential elections but is important as other elections come up before that time.