Introduction to American Government

The available Supplements are listed below:

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Instant Access (and Coupons)

All students can have free Instant Access to an eBook for the first two weeks of class while they procure their textbook. They will also receive a 10%-off coupon valid at the BVT web store for the best possible price. Get instant access codes here.

Instructor’s Manual

The Instructor's Manual consists of chapter summaries, learning objectives, key terms, chapter and lecture outlines, peer-reviewed articles and YouTube videos, lecture suggestions and classroom activities to better assist you with your teaching curriculum.

PowerPoint Slides

This PowerPoint™ slide set combines figures, tables and text to further illustrate the principles discussed in the text.

Midterm Election Supplement (2023)

While the eyes of the world focus on American elections every four years—when we hold elections to choose the president—national elections actually take place across the country every two years. These midterm elections tend to garner less attention from the media, yet they often hold profound implications for the governance of the United States. So that your Introduction to American Government textbook can be as up-to-date as possible, we are providing this supplement, which focuses on the wide-ranging significance of the 2022 midterm election and its aftermath. Throughout it, subheadings are keyed to sections in the main text to which they are most related.

General Election Supplement (2024)

A key feature of democratic governments is their acceptance of change. While American political institutions have been remarkably consistent and durable in many ways, frequent elections and responsiveness to the electorate guarantee that new laws, new leaders, and new ideas emerge with some regularity. So that your Introduction to American Government textbook can be as up-to-date as possible, we are providing this supplement, which focuses on some of the significant issues that have developed recently in American politics. The sections are organized institutionally, focusing on Congress, the Presidency, and the Courts.

Exam Bank (Blackboard)

The Blackboard Exam Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. This file is an archive of per-chapter zipped Blackboard pool files.

Exam Bank (Canvas QTI)

The Canvas QTI Exam Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. This file is an archive of per-chapter zipped QTI pool files.

Exam Bank (Word)

The Exam Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions

Quiz Bank (Blackboard)

The Blackboard Quiz Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. This file is an archive of per-chapter zipped Blackboard pool files.

Quiz Bank (Canvas QTI)

The Canvas QTI Quiz Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. This file is an archive of per-chapter zipped Canvas QTI pool files.

Quiz Bank (Word)

The Quiz Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions.

Homework Bank (Blackbord)

The Blackboard Homework Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. This file is an archive of per-chapter zipped Blackboard pool files

Homework Bank (Canvas QTI)

The Canvas QTI Homework Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions. This file is an archive of per-chapter zipped Canvas QTI pool files

Homework Bank (Word)

The Homework Bank contains questions in a variety of formats including multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions.

The available Excerpts are listed below:

• Table of Contents  
• Preface  
• Chapter 2  
• Chapter 8  

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 nearly two hundred years ago, and things certainly haven’t become less complicated since then. In the early 2000s, we experienced a number of political complications, including several close and contentious presidential elections that geographically and ideologically divided our nation into “red” and “blue” states. We suffered a devastating terrorist attack on our own soil, plunging the nation into an open-ended and contentious “War on Terror.” We went to war with Iraq for the second time in a dozen years. We saw the national economy reach great heights and disturbing lows, causing unemployment and recession in the private sector and a return of enormous deficit spending in the public sector. We began to recognize the need for significant changes to deal with persistent and systemic racial injustices. We faced a deadly pandemic that forced us to restructure many aspects of our lives. How do we make sense of all 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.

A distinguishing feature of this book is the explicit recognition that economics and ideology significantly influence American politics. No student or instructor in a course on American government is immune to the ideological and economic forces that help shape the perennial pursuit of power in a democracy. Nor is any class or instructor untouched by recurring problems ranging from budget deficits and health care to unemployment and the underclass. Economics and ideology, in one way or another, intersect nearly all of them.

This text highlights, in several ways, the importance of economics and ideology in the context of American government. The chapter on public policy and economics explores the relationship between politics and economics, as does a series of “Politics and Economics” boxes (described later) found throughout the book. Students see how economic decisions have political consequences and how political decisions affect the economy. This is essential information in a day when economic topics frequently dominate electoral campaigns, television and internet news, and conversation both at the dinner table and via social media. However, the text assumes no prior knowledge of economics, and references to economic policy are free of confusing jargon.

Understanding differences among political beliefs is likewise essential at a time when the labels “liberal” and “conservative,” “left” and “right” are hurled about. Such terms can be baffling, particularly because their meanings have not been consistent. Consequently, the text underscores the importance of political ideology—the ideas people have about what government should or should not do and what kind of government they should have. This emphasis is reflected in a series of “Politics and Ideas” boxes (described later) that appear throughout the text. The chapter on political ideologies is nearly unique among shorter volumes on American government because it draws a road map that guides students through intellectual debates, past and present, in American politics. Additionally, the chapter that deals with civil liberties and civil rights probes ideological distinctions among Americans concerning fundamental freedoms. Such an encompassing survey of the spectrum of political ideas encourages students both to comprehend and to tolerate points of view other than their own, enabling them to gain further insight into political differences that exist nationwide.

New to the Eleventh Edition

American politics is a constantly changing montage of people and events, of facts and opinions. To keep up with our changing environment, and to make sure students have the most up-to-date information available, each new edition of Introduction to American Government undergoes a vigorous process of fact-checking and updating. In this edition, for example, readers will find revised weblinks and readings for further study; more critical thinking questions; and discussions of the latest events in American government, such as the 2020 presidential election, the Trump presidency and impeachments, the recent racial justice movements, the Barrett Supreme Court nomination and important recent Court decisions, the government’s response to wildfires and other disasters, and numerous discussions of the relationship between the US government and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, each chapter contains important new material and the most current available facts and figures.

Pedagogical Features

This textbook is not a “theme,” or point-of-view, book. Aside from emphasizing the importance of politics and political involvement, the book embraces no single ideological perspective; it does not attempt to make readers Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. To ensure a single voice in this presentation, one author has served as general editor.

The goals are knowledge of and critical thinking about American politics and government. Accordingly, we have designed the book to encourage students to engage the material. Passive reading is not enough; understanding so important and complex a subject necessitates active intellectual involvement.

To aid in learning, this textbook incorporates several serviceable pedagogical features.