American Politics Today

This item is Out of Print

According to a 2008 study by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, today's students express dissatisfaction and irritation with the current political system, which they find inefficient, corrupt, and inaccessible. One student described politics right now as "a lot of talk, no action." American Politics Today combats this popular belief that the political system is broken and the political process bewildering. With vivid, up-to-date examples and a student-friendly analytical framework based on "three key ideas about politics," Bianco and Canon demystify American politics by challenging popular misconceptions and showing how American politics actually works, demonstrating the effectiveness and power of a political process that is often confusing to students.

For example, the bureaucratic failures in New Orleans after Katrina, the seemingly preposterous "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska, and the foreign policy and domestic political convulsions surrounding the Iraq War might all seem to confirm students' suspicions that government doesn't work. But Bianco and Canon dig below the surface of political events and show how each has a logical explanation, rooted in both the constitutional system and in our complex, chaotic, but ultimately effective politics. American Politics Today helps students make sense of our politics and government and understand why things turn out the way they do in today's political environment.

Bianco and Canon helps students develop the skills they need to make sense of politics, even when it initially appears senseless.

 

• Three Key Ideas about politics work as analytical tools that show students how American politics actually works, demonstrate the efficacy of the political process, and help students think critically about the sound bites they hear from politicians and the media.

   

  • politics is everywhere

     

  • political process matters

     

  • politics is conflictual

     

  These Three Key Ideas are applied throughout every chapter, in the boxed features, and on the student StudySpace.

   

You Might Also Like American Politics Today
ISBN: 9780393934717
Hardback
$126.95 We The People
ISBN: 9780393935233
Hardback
$116.25 Faultlines
ISBN: 9780393930160
Paperback
$30.71