The Almanac of American Politics
book by Richard E. Cohen
The Almanac of American Politics is a reference work published biennially by Columbia Books & Information Services. It aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United States through an approach of profiling individual leaders and areas of the country. The first edition of the Almanac was published in 1972. The National Journal published biennial editions of the Almanac from 1984 through 2014. In 2015, Columbia Books & Information Services became the publisher.
Overview
The Almanac is broken down alphabetically by state, with each congressional district in each state profiled separately. The information provided by the Almanac includes:
Demographic information on each district, including income, racial distribution, and other statistics.
Profiles of the Congressional representative from each district as well as each state's Senators, including voting record on key votes, advocacy group ratings, etc.; profiles of governors are also included.
Individually written profiles of each district, commissioned for the Almanac.
In-depth profiles of every governor, Senator, and House member.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Almanac of American Politics” as book by Richard E. Cohen. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as book by Richard E. Cohen. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7713198. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1972, 1984, 2014 and 2015.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Almanac of American Politics”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Almanac of American Politics primary sources, The Almanac of American Politics archive and Almanac research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Almanac of American Politics”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Almanac of American Politics” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.