The Almanac of American Politics is a reference work

Reference work

A reference work is a compendium of information, usually of a specific type, compiled in a book for ease of reference. That is, the information is intended to be quickly found when needed. Reference works are usually referred to for particular pieces of information, rather than read beginning to end...

 published biennially by the National Journal Group. It aims to provide a detailed look at the politics of the United States

Politics of the United States

The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...

 through an approach of profiling individual leaders and areas of the country.

The Almanac is broken down alphabetically by state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

, with each congressional district

Congressional district

A congressional district is “a geographical division of a state from which one member of the House of Representatives is elected.”Congressional Districts are made up of three main components, a representative, constituents, and the specific land area that both the representative and the...

 in each state profiled separately. The Almanac provides a large amount of information, including:

• Demographic
  Demographics of the United States
  As of today's date, the United States has a total resident population of , making it the third most populous country in the world. It is a very urbanized population, with 82% residing in cities and suburbs as of 2008 . This leaves vast expanses of the country nearly uninhabited...
  
   information on each district, including income, racial distribution, and other statistics.
• Profiles of the Congressmen
  United States Congress
  The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
  
   from each district as well as each state's Senators, including voting record on key votes, advocacy group
  Advocacy group
  Advocacy groups use various forms of advocacy to influence public opinion and/or policy; they have played and continue to play an important part in the development of political and social systems...
  
   ratings, etc.; profiles of governors are also included.
• Individually written profiles of each district, commissioned for the Almanac.

In addition, an overview look at each state is given, including prospects for the upcoming presidential

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 election and demographic trends.

The 2012 Almanac is 1,838 pages long, and quite hefty, even in paperback

Paperback

Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...

. The Almanac was first published in 1972

1972 in literature

The year 1972 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Fiction:*Richard Adams - Watership Down*Jorge Amado - Teresa Batista Cansada da Guerra *Martin Amis - The Rachel Papers...

; subsequent editions have appeared biennially since 1973. The main editors were originally Michael Barone

Michael Barone (pundit)

Michael Barone is a conservative American political analyst, pundit and journalist. He is best known for being the principal author of The Almanac of American Politics, a reference work concerning US governors and federal politicians, and published biennially by National Journal...

, now a writer at U.S. News and World Report; Grant Ujifusa; and Douglas Matthews. Matthews stopped contributing after the 1980 edition. Barone and Chuck McCutcheon authored the 2012 edition. The 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010 editions were authored by Barone and Richard E. Cohen

Richard E. Cohen (National Journal)

Richard E. Cohen is a journalist and author. He is a congressional correspondent for POLITICO. He received the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for distinguished reporting on Congress in 1990. He wrote a biography of Dan Rostenkowski, Rostenkowski: The Pursuit of Power and the End of the Old...

, the congressional correspondent for the National Journal

National Journal

National Journal is a nonpartisan American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969. Times Mirror owned the magazine from 1986 to 1997, when it was purchased by David G. Bradley...

, and edited by Charles Mahtesian.

External links

• Almanac of American Politics page at the National Journals site