Disciplines > American Government

Introduction to American Government, 5/e

Net Price - $29.99

Color edition

ISBN #978-160229-392-2         511 pages

Study Guide Available: $15.00 (ISBN #978-1-60229-977-1)

 
Copyright year: 2009

Charles C. Turner, California State University, Chico
Robert J. Bresler, Pennsylvania State University
Robert J. Friedrich, Franklin and Marshall College
D. Grier Stephenson Jr., Franklin and Marshall College
Joeseph J. Karlesky, Franklin and Marshall College
 

Description

The need persists for widespread mastery of the political system John Quincy Adams once described as “the most complicated on the face of the globe.” Adams was writing about 200 years ago, and things certainly haven’t gotten less complicated since then. In the early 2000s we have already experienced a number of political complications. We have faced three close and controversial presidential elections that have geographically and ideologically divided our nation into “red” and “blue” states. We have suffered a devastating terrorist attack on our own soil, plunging the nation into an open-ended and contentious “war on terror.” We have become embroiled in a long-lasting and divisive war with Iraq. We have seen the national economy reach great heights and disturbing lows, causing unemployment, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures in the private sector and a return of enormous deficit spending in the public sector. How do we make sense of all of these ups and downs of economics, ideology, and politics? We think the best approach is to take seriously our understanding of the political system in which all of these events take place. To that end, we offer today’s students a comprehensive, readable, and balanced study of the context, structure, and process of American politics.