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Updated to include coverage of the events of the first year of the Obama Administration, this best-selling new textbook brings the real world of politics into the classroom and prepares students to be strong critical thinkers and more effective citizens.
Utilizing an emphasis on causal questions and an integrated, comparative perspective, this book equips students with the critical thinking tools used by political scientists to see through the simplified or inaccurate claims made everyday in newspapers, online, and on television. It enables students to gain a deeper understanding of American politics and begin to answer for themselves some of the most interesting and provocative questions about cause and effect in our society.
In a clear, engaging style that has been enthusiastically praised by instructors and students alike, the authors establish for students a substantive foundation on the fundamentals of our government while enlisting them in an effort to solve the lively, fascinating puzzles political scientists continue to confront every day.
List of contents
Brief Table of Contents:
1 Thinking About American Politics
2 Political Culture
3 The Constitution
4 Federalism
5 Civil Liberties
6 Civil Rights
7 Public Opinion
8 Political Participation
9 Voting, Elections, and Campaigns
10 Media and Politics
11 Political Parties
12 Interest Groups
13 Congress
14 Presidency
15 The Federal Court System
16 The Bureaucracy
17 Economic and Social Policy
18 Foreign Policy
19 State and Local Governments
Summary
Preparing students to be good political decision-makers and effective citizens, this engaging book emphasizes and explores causal questions in American politics. It trains students to apply critical thinking tools-tools pulled directly from a social scientist's playbook-to start answering those questions, see past today's headlines, and understand why things really happen in our political world.
This exciting text is written in a clear, straightforward style brimming with rich, real-world examples. It not only covers the fundamentals of American government and politics in a highly accessible, engaging fashion, but also arms students with the tools to separate political fact from fiction. Using this book, students will develop the critical thinking skills to see through the simplistic sound bites and partisan assertions they're subjected to by the pundits and politicians.
Students reading this text will be fitted with armor against the partisan bickering and hyperbolic media coverage that causes so many of them to become cynical about politics. They will come away from the text not only excited by political questions, but with the means to explore possible answers as more thoughtful and empowered citizens. Given that the American government course is often the first and only social science course many students will take, this book helps ensure that students come away from it able to think and view their world critically - as social scientists do and truly educated citizens must.
