Subject Guides: Politics and International Relations: News and Social Data

Current newspapers

Nexis This link opens in a new window
Personalisation is available via the link above.

Alternative link without personalisation if you have problems with the link above (please clear the cookies and cache in your browser): Nexis.
Nexis is a major source of global news and business information. It provides full-text access to over 34,000 publications, with more than 12,000 news sources including UK daily and regional newspapers, current affairs magazines, and professional journals. Updated daily; back issues archive varies by title.

Nexis also includes 80 sources of company information, plus thousands of biographies of government officials, politicians, celebrities, investors and business contacts.

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Financial Times (FT.com) This link opens in a new window
The first time you use FT.com you will need to register via the link above using your University of York email address.

After you have registered you can login direct at FT.com: Select Sign In > Enter your University of York email address > Click the SSO Sign in button > Login using your IT username and password.

You can login to FT.com from both on and off-campus including via your mobile device (see FT Apps & Mobile for details of the available apps).
FT.com gives online access to all the stories and features from the daily newspaper along with an FT ePaper which is a digital replica of different editions of the printed newspaper with an archive back to 2005.

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Times 1985 - present (Nexis) This link opens in a new window
Also includes access to The Times website (thetimes.co.uk) from 2011.
Gives access to the full-text of The Times from 1 July 1985 and The Times website (thetimes.co.uk) from 23 December 2010.

For The Times 1785 - 2019 see the entry: Times Digital Archive, 1785 - 2019

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The Economist, London edition. 2000-
In addition to online access 2000-, the Library subscribes to the printed edition: the current issue can be found in the Morrell Lounge on the ground floor, and 1991- in G Periodicals, Compact Store 1.
New Statesman
The New Statesman is a leading progressive political and cultural magazine in the United Kingdom. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, the New Statesman has notably recognised and published new writers and critics, as well as encouraged notable careers. Today, it is one of the most respected and influential titles in the United Kingdom.
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Contributors to The New Statesman have included J M Keynes, Bertrand Russell, George Orwell, Virginia Woolf, Christopher Hitchens, Martin Amis, J B Priestley, Clive James, Rowan Williams, John Berger, Claire Tomalin, Andrew Marr and John Gray. Today, it is read across various platforms by opinion-formers and decision-makers from all sectors — government, academia, the foreign policy establishment and think tanks, business, the media and the arts. The mission of its award-winning writers and editors is to analyse and explain the defining political, economic, geopolitical and cultural events and ideas shaping and changing the world today.

Economist Historical Archive, 1843 - 2015 This link opens in a new window
A complete facsimile edition of The Economist with full-colour images, topic and area supplements and surveys, a gallery of front covers and a selection of exportable financial tables.

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Historical news archives

17th & 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers This link opens in a new window
A digitised version of the newspapers, news-books, pamphlets, ephemera, and other early forms of newspapers from the Reverend Charles Burney Collection held at the British Library. The collection includes almost 1 million pages from around 1,270 titles and while the majority of these originate from London, there are also some English provincial, Irish and Scottish papers, and a few examples from the colonies.

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17th & 18th Century Nichols Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
This collection gives access to the full text of material from the Nichols newspaper collection held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The collection covers the years 1672 to 1737 and includes more than 300 newspaper and periodical titles along with over 250 pamphlets and broadsheets.

The material covers a broad range of important events and topics in both British and international early modern history, including the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Jacobite rebellion, the deaths of notable monarchs and the Treaty of Utrecht.

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British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Includes: Parts I & II (1800-1900); Part III (1741-1950); Part IV (1732-1950); Part V (1746-1950); Part VI (Ireland, 1797-1950).

Also known as: 19th Century British Newspapers
A major collection of almost 6.4 million facsimile pages from more than 240 national, regional, and local newspapers published between the 1700's and 1950. The collection includes both daily and weekly publications with titles from established country or university towns, the industrial towns of the Midlands and the North, and from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Newspapers associated with particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule have also been included along with penny papers aimed at a working class and clerical readership.

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American Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
A collection of full text archives of American newspapers with page and article facsimile images. The University has access to: Atlanta Constitution; Atlanta Daily World; Chicago Defender; Chicago Tribune; New York Times; New York Tribune; Washington Post.

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Financial Times Historical Archive, 1888-2010 This link opens in a new window
This fully-searchable facsimile edition of the FT offers the complete run of the London edition of the paper from its first issue onwards. Every individual article, advertisement and market listing is included and shown individually and in the context of the full page and issue of the day.

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Guardian, 1821-2003 and Observer, 1791-2003 (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
The Guardian from 2004 onward is also available via YorSearch.
The Observer from 2004 onward is also available via YorSearch.
A full text archive of page and article facsimile images of the Guardian (1821 - 2003) and the Observer (1791 - 2003).

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Irish Times, 1859 onwards (excluding the most recent 2 years) and Weekly Irish Times, 1876 - 1958 (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
The Irish Times current content is also available via YorSearch.
A full text archive of page and article facsimile images of The Irish Times (1859 onwards, excluding the most recent 2 years) and The Weekly Irish Times (1876 - 1958). Coverage includes The Times Pictorial.

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Times Digital Archive, 1785 - 2019 This link opens in a new window
A full-image archive of every page published by The Times (London) from 1785 until 2019. The text within the images is fully searchable at the article level.

For The Times from 2020 onwards see the entry: Times 1985 - present.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

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Times of India, 1838 onwards (excluding the most recent 9 years) (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Times of India current content is also available via YorSearch.
A full text archive of page and article facsimile images of The Times of India from 1838 onwards (excluding the most recent 9 years).

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Social and economic data

UK Data Service This link opens in a new window
To access data you will need to create a personal account.
Consolidates and integrates four services established and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC): the Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS), the Secure Data Service, the Survey Question Bank and elements of the ESRC Census Programme.

The UK Data Service provides a unified point of access to more than 6,000 collections of high quality social and economic data, including UK Census data, government-funded surveys, longitudinal studies, international macrodata, qualitative data and business microdata.

For help with this resource, take a look at our Quick Guide.

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Statista This link opens in a new window
Please note that the University has access to the core Statista database. You will not have access to Statista Global Consumer Survey and Statista Company Database.
Statista is a comprehensive statistics platform giving access to over 1.5 million data sets (with more added daily) and revenue forecasts for over 400 industries. Data and statistics are aggregated from 22,500 sources on 85,000 different topics. Updates to data sets, depending on content type, occur monthly, quarterly, six monthly and yearly. Statista also includes many thousands of downloadable reports, studies and dossiers.

The University has access to the core Statista database. You will not have access to Statista Global Consumer Survey and Statista Company Database.

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CIA World Factbook
Compiled by the United States Central Intelligence Agency, a free source of summary social and economic data for all countries, updated annually. Provides a global ranking for each variable.
data.gov.uk
Designed for the general public, "to help people understand how government works and how policies are made". All publicly-released UK government data in one searchable website.

Economic and Social Data Service (ESDS) This link opens in a new window
- see entry for UK Data Service.

Eurostat
The European Commission's official portal to publicly-available social and economic data about EU member states. English, French or German-language interface available.

Gender Equality Data and Statistics This link opens in a new window
GenderStats is an electronic database of gender statistics and indicators. It offers statistical and other data in modules on several subjects. It is updated continuously and coverage includes themes that range from health and education to political participation and poverty.
Historical Data UK This link opens in a new window
The UK Historical Data repository has been developed jointly by the Bank of England, ESCoE and the Office for National Statistics. The site is both a repository of historical UK data and relevant statistical publications, as well as a hub that links to other data websites and sources. The focus is on macroeconomic and financial market data but the site includes a range of disaggregated economic data at a sector, industry and regional level. More granular, historical microdata on the UK economy and other social science data is provided by the UK Data Service repository.
ILOSTAT (International Labour Organization) This link opens in a new window
Labour market statistics for over 100 indicators and 230 countries, areas and territories, dating back to 1952 in some cases. Updated annually. Customised data tables can be created online and downloaded in .csv format.
International Historical Statistics, 1750-2010 This link opens in a new window
Includes 260 years of statistical data covering a wide range of key economic and social indicators. Data is available on the Americas and Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. Data tables can be downloaded as PDFs and/or Excel files.

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National Statistics (Office for National Statistics) This link opens in a new window
The website of the UK Office for National Statistics. Site includes full texts of the latest press releases (plus a searchable archive); and a substantial collection of free-to-access online statistical publications, such as "The Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", "Social Trends", "United Kingdom Economic Accounts", and others (usually most recent edition only). Also Census 2001, and the newly developed Neighbourhood Statistics service, providing access to "a vast range of social and economic aggregate data on a consistent small-area geography" (searchable by postcode).

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OECD iLibrary Statistics This link opens in a new window
26 statistical databases from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Coverage includes national accounts, economic indicators, financial affairs, social expenditure, and further series relating to industry, agriculture, energy, employment, health, migration, development and aid, for all 30 OECD member countries and other major economies.

Each data series has a searchable abstract indicating origin, start date, periodicity, content etc. Data tables can be constructed according to your own specifications for viewing online, then exported into a spreadsheet package for further processing.

For information about OECD Health Data, please see the separate entry.
Population Reference Bureau - Population and Health Data This link opens in a new window
This database contains data on 136 population, health, and environment variables for more than 220 countries, 28 world regions and sub-regions, and the world as a whole. (Not all countries have data on all variables).
UNdata This link opens in a new window
UNdata is maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). It provides a single point of access to a number of leading United Nations statistical databases offering a great starting point for tracing all forms of statistics and statistical indicators. It is replacing the United Nations Common Database.

Sources of data include WHO health data, refugee data from UNHCR, UNESCO data, and World Telecommunications Union statistics among many others. Topics covered encompass the full range of United Nations statistics from population trends, health, international trade and commodity data, human development, demographic and population trends.

Other key features of the site include useful country profiles and glossaries of key terms.

World Bank Data
The Data Catalog is a listing of freely available World Bank datasets, including databases, pre-formatted tables, reports and other resources.

Read our Practical Guide to Finding Data

Data tools

Google Public Data Explorer
Use a Google interface to customise and visualize data from free-to-access sources.

Politics and International Relations

News and Social Data

Finding News and Social Data

Current newspapers

News Sources

Historical news archives

Social and economic data

Social and Economic Data

Data tools

Data Tools