Created by a professor at George Mason University, this website provides an extensive directory of websites related to everything from education to Virginia and the internet. The website provides some introductory articles, such as an excellent overview of energy in Virginia that includes graphs and history. Each section also includes a list of links. The Virginia Government section alone contains more than 100 links to further resources. While each external website is of excellent quality, it may take time to navigate from such a large body of links to the right resource.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is an organization of mayors throughout the United States. The website contains a number of press releases and reports on issues facing mayors and local government, which range from a few pages to hundreds of pages in length. The Mayors at a Glance feature is perhaps the most useful feature those studying Virginia government. Users can search for mayors by last name, city, state, and population. Each mayor featured has a picture, contact information, and short biography. Does your jurisdiction have a mayor? Try finding out more about mayors in your area.

Commonwealth Data Point is an excellent tool for understanding the basic implementation of financial expenditures. Find out budget data, or what was purchased on the state credit card. The website also provides demographic data, such as university enrollment and food stamp use. While browsing the website, you may want to consider how state and local governments implement policy decisions. What changes could you make to policy or spending practices?

This website is part of President Obama's Open Government Initiative. It provides free, open access to quanitative datasets created by the Federal government. Some state/local governments have also added data, but as yet Virginia is not one of them. Data sets include categories such as geography and environment, education and transportation. This data provides excellent primary source material, and offers many opportunities to create and interpret maps, diagrams, tables, charts, graphs, and spreadsheets.

Gapminder provides free access to statistics (usually gathered from the United Nations) presented in moving data visualization charts. These statistics aren’t boring—data sets flow over time and offer surprising insights into public health, trade, and other issues. Users can select states such as Virginia and compare them to hundreds of countries throughout the world, including China, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. Statistics track a variety of indicators, including income, insurance “uncoverage,” immigration, and “best teeth.” Users can watch a video tutorial, as well as videos applying the information to real-world scenarios. This website is particularly useful for anyone learning about graphs, public policy issues, and the relationship between Virginia and the rest of the world.

Oyate is a Native organization working to see that Native American lives and histories are portrayed honestly. One function of the organization is reviewing books featuring Native American peoples, histories, and cultures, and providing a list of positive books and books to avoid. The website also offers teaching materials. Some materials are free, and others (such as books and DVDs) may be purchased from Oyate. Everyone can benefit from reading the Living Stories about the classroom experiences of some Native American parents and students.

This website was created by the British government to educate students about Parliament in the United Kingdom. It includes lesson plans, games, and resources for students of varying ages. It's also an interesting glimpse into another country's legislative branch. How does it work? How is it similar or different from our legislative branch?

The Virginia General Assembly has created a quick form to look up your state elected officials. By filling in your address, you can find who represents your interests in the Virginia Senate and House of Representatives, as well as in the U.S. Congress. The website also provides contact information for your legislators, as well as a convenient link to each legislator’s official website.

This website provides a comprehensive list of local newspapers throughout the state of Virginia, from Alexandria to Wytheville. In addition to standard local papers, there is also a list of Virginia magazines and college newspapers. This index of local Virginia newspapers is an excellent jumping-off point for information about local communities and government.

This website offers five lesson plans and associated political cartoons every day. Such frequent updates ensure that each lesson plan covers the latest issues. By necessity, each lesson plan is fairly brief. It offers a brief overview of background on the political cartoon, a list of discussion questions, the state where the cartoon was published, and links to articles about the issue. The main page also offers a comprehensive index of political cartoonists, which includes the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Fredericksburg Freelance-Star, that visitors may want to use for research purposes or simply a quick laugh.