The U.S. Constitution and Foreign Affairs

When looking at US foreign affairs, you will find the intersection of US and international legal research. Look at all three branches of the US federal government: executive, legislative and judicial. You will also have to consult the text of treaties to which the United States is a party and follow the current events reports from around the world. Human rights is yet another issue which may bear on a topic in foreign affairs.

There are many excellent resources for foreign affairs and Constitutional law, in print, via BU database subscriptions or on the Internet. As with any legal research project, law review articles are an important resource.

Government of the United States: Three Branches

Executive Branch

 

Legislative Branch

To keep track of pending legislation, find committee reports, copies of bills and other congressional documents, often in .pdf format, consult the Library of Congress' THOMAS. Also, at the Pappas Law Library, you can search Congressional Universe, a database of congressional documents from 1789 to present.

 

Judicial Branch


Worldwide News Sources

Law Review Articles

Index Search

An index includes specific terms describing the content of a book or article, in the form of an abstract. A search of an index will generate a list of article citations, with abstracts, collected by subject or topic. Try an index when the area you are researching is new to you, and you may not know the legal "terms of art".

Online, you can be much broader in your search when using an index. Also, in paper, you can browse an index to see what other keywords and search terms may be useful. Remember, a person has actually read the items, for example, law review articles, and selected terms which best describe the content of the article.

Using an index to legal periodicals to find law review articles only searches a small amount of information describing the law review articles, and finds a select number which will deal in some depth with the terms or phrases used in the search.

  • For law review article published prior to 1980, there are several paper indexes:
    • Index to Legal Periodicals (1803-1937) Law Indexes KF8.I53
    • Index to Legal Periodicals and Books
      • (1908-present) Law Indexes KF 8 I53
      • (1981 to present also online)
    • Legal Periodicals Retro (1918-1981, online)
  • For law review articles published after 1980
    • Current Law Index/Legal Resource Index/Legaltrac (1980-present)
  • Helpful Guides:

Full Text Search

When you search the full text, (think JLR on Westlaw or ALLREV on LexisNexis) you search all of the words which make up the text book or article. This can be several pages through hundreds of pages.

Use a full text database if you have a phrase or term of art which is quite specific, have a very particular topic or area of the law, or know a lot about the area you are researching. A very broad search of an online full text database may result in thousands of documents, some of which may be of little value or relevance to your research.

Your knowledge of how to effectively search the database is crucial. Try limiting your search with fields or segments, using Boolean connectors, limiting by date, etc. Examples of full text periodical databases include JLR on Westlaw and ALLREV on LexisNexis.


Print Resources for Constitutional Law and Foreign Affairs Research

Search the BU online catalog for books related to US foreign relations, including:

  • Foreign Relations of the United States, Law Annex JX 233 A3.
  • The Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations, Law Annex E183.7 .C36 1993 (Vol I-IV).
  • United States Practice in International Law, Law Annex KZ4113 .M87 2002.
  • Does America Need A Foreign Policy?: Toward a diplomacy for the 21st century, by Henry Kissinger, Law Annex JZ1480 .K57 2001.
  • Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy, Law Annex HV6431 .P55 2001.
  • The President, the Congress, and the Making of Foreign Policy, Law Annex JK570 .P74 1994.
  • Foreign Affairs (journal) Law Annex D 410 F67. Subscribe to the free email newsletter.

There are far too many to list here. Search by Word for "foreign relations and united states", etc. Once you locate a useful book, use the Subject links in the online catalog record to retrieve additional related items at Boston University's libraries.


BU Databases for Constitutional Law and Foreign Affairs Research

To use any the BU licensed databases on your laptop or home computer, you must take these simple steps to configure your browser for the BU proxy server.


Constitutional Law and Foreign Affairs Resources on the Internet

There are many useful Internet sites, for foreign relations research, including the following. :

Please also be sure to check any of the links on the Foreign Affairs and US Constitution Law Library Portal.

The MOST important of all is to remember that the reference librarians are here to assist you with your legal research. Never hesitate to ask us questions!

Page maintained by: Terri Gallego-O'Rourke
Last updated: November 2006