Synopses & Reviews
Based on the best-selling, full-length text THE CHALLENGE OF DEMOCRACY: GOVERNMENT IN AMERICA, Tenth Edition, this brief version maintains the same framework and motifs in a shorter format. The pedagogy is linked to two main themes: the conflicting values of freedom, order, and equality, and the majoritarianism versus pluralism debate. Extensively updated, this edition includes new examples, figures, data, and discussions about current issues. The authors have also added a balanced retrospective of the Bush presidency, as well as a focus on globalization and its implications and new comparative features that place the U.S. in a global context. The Seventh Edition also includes access to AmericansGoverning.org, an online learning environment designed specifically to engage students in the political process through a variety of media, including original videos, campaign commercials, writing excerpts, simulations, and additional sources. Additional media tools include the new "In Our Own Words" feature?downloadable chapter overviews in MP3 format narrated by the authors?and marginal references to the award-winning site, IDEAlog.org.
Review
"I have long enjoyed the book, particularly its emphasis on value tradeoffs and ideology."- Mikel Wyckoff, Northern Illinois University
Review
"It does the best job of integrating theory throughout all of the textbooks."- John Tuman, University of Nevada - Las Vegas
Synopsis
This best-selling American government text is highly acclaimed for the non-ideological framework it uses to explore three themes: freedom, order, and equality as political values; majoritarianism versus pluralism debate; and globalization's effect on American politics. Extensively updated, this edition includes new examples, figures, data, and current discussions. The authors include balanced coverage of the first two years of the Obama administration, coverage and analysis of the 2010 mid-term election, and a retrospective of the Bush presidency. THE ESSENTIALS version of the text replaces both the Seventh Edition of the Brief version and the Second Edition of the Student Choice version. The Eighth Edition can be packaged with Aplia, which offers students automatically graded homework assignments. Organized by chapter, Aplia helps provide students immediate, detailed explanations, and helps them come to class better prepared for discussion. For more on Aplia and other media available with this text, click on Supplements.
About the Author
Kenneth Janda (Ph.D., Indiana, 1961) is the Payson S. Wild Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Northwestern University. He has published extensively in the areas of political science, research methodology, and the use of computer technology in political science. In 2000 he won the Samuel Eldersveld Lifetime Achievement Award from the Political Organizations and Parties Section of the American Political Science Association. In 2009 he received the APSA's Frank J. Goodnow Award for distinguished service to the profession and the Association. Jeffrey M. Berry (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1974) is the John Richard Skuse Professor of Political Science at Tufts University. His books include THE OUTRAGE INDUSTRY (2014), THE NEW LIBERALISM (1999), and THE REBIRTH OF URBAN DEMOCRACY (1993). He is twice the recipient of the Leon Epstein Award, first for his book A VOICE FOR NONPROFITS (2003) and more recently for LOBBYING AND POLICY CHANGE (2009). He is also the recipient of the Samuel Eldersveld Career Achievement Award from the Political Organizations and Parties section of the American Political Science Association. Jerry Goldman (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins, 1974) is professor emeritus of political science at Northwestern University and research professor of law at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. His research interests are judicial politics, constitutional law, and information technology and politics. He is the founder and director of Oyez, a multimedia judicial archive at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. He has received many awards, including the American Bar Foundation's Silver Gavel for increasing the public's understanding of law, the Roman and Littlefield Prize for Teaching Innovation, and the first APSA CQ Press Award for Teaching Innovation. Kevin W. Hula (Ph.D., Harvard 1994) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola University Maryland, where he teaches the introductory American Government course, as well as courses in the presidency, intelligence organizations, and interest groups. His research is in interest groups and the executive branch. He is author of Lobbying Together: Interest Group Coalitions in Legislative Politics, for which he received the Emerging Scholar Award from the APSA's Political Organizations and Parties section.
Table of Contents
1. Dilemmas of Democracy. 2. The Constitution. 3. Federalism. 4. Public Opinion, Political Socialization, and the Media. 5. Participation and Voting. 6. Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections. 7. Interest Groups. 8. Congress. 9. The Presidency. 10. The Bureaucracy. 11. The Courts. 12. Order and Civil Liberties. 13. Equality and Civil Rights. 14. Policymaking and the Budget. Appendix. The Declaration of Independence. The Constitution of the United States of America. h