Homopolymer of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate sulfate (DMAEMASA) and its copolymer with N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAm) [P(DMAEMASA-co-DMAm)] were synthesized in the presence and absence of pore-forming agents NaHCO3, poly(ethylene glycol) 2000 (PEG), and sucrose (SUC). The polymers were characterized by equilibrium swelling measurements (ESVs) in distilled water (20-60 degrees C) and buffer solutions (I=0.1 M, pH = 2.2-10.0, 20 degrees C), FTIR, DSC, and SEM methods. The presence of DMAm in monomer feed and the use of pore-forming agents during the polymerization enhanced the swelling of polymers. ESVs of both porous and nonporous PDMAEMASA and P(DMAEMASA-co-DMArn) gels decreased with pH, and displayed a phase transition at pH = 5. Among the pore-formers, NaHCO3 made the highest contribution to the swelling of polymers, but poly(ethylene glycol) and sucrose slightly affected the swelling values of gels. Wile glass transition temperature (T-g) of nonporous DMAEMASA homopolymer was determined to be 168.4 degrees C, T(g)s of nonporous copolymer with 20-and 40-mol % DMAm were found to be 154.5 and 147.8 degrees C, respectively. Pore-formers decreased the Tg of homopolymer in the order NaHCO3 < PEG < SUC. In case of copolymers, NaHCO3 and PEG had nearly no effect on T(g)s, but sucrose led to approximately 7 degrees C decrease in T(g)s of copolymers.