Textbook focusing on American Government and the specificities of the American political system. In covering American government and politics, this text:
• introduces the intricacies of the Constitution, the complexities of federalism, the meanings of civil liberties, and the conflicts over civil rights;
• explains how people are socialized to politics, acquire and express opinions, and participate in political life;
• describes interest groups, political parties, and elections—the intermediaries that link people to government and politics;
• details the branches of government and how they operate; and
• shows how policies are made and affect people’s lives.

This is a free textbook written for introductory undergraduate courses in American politics and government, covering the creation and principles of the Constitution, the fundamentals of American public opinion and political behavior, and the basic functions of the three branches of government.

Table of Contents:

I. Module 1: Politics and Government
II. Module 2: Constitutional Framework
III. Module 3: American Federalism
IV. Module 4: Congress: To the Republic
V. Module 5: The Presidency: Design and Evolution
VI. Module 6: The Bureaucracy: Outputs of Government
VII. Module 7: The Courts: Guardians of the Constitution

American Government is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected Module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process. The book provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of American government and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. American Government includes updated information on the 2016 presidential election.

American Government is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected Module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process. The book provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of American government and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. American Government includes updated information on the 2016 presidential election.

This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. Governments decide who gets what, when, how (See Harold D. Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936]); they make policies and pass laws that are binding on all a society’s members; they decide about taxation and spending, benefits and costs, even life and death.Governments possess power—the ability to gain compliance and to get people under their jurisdiction to obey them—and they may exercise their power by using the police and military to enforce their decisions. However, power need not involve the exercise of force or compulsion; people often obey because they think it is in their interest to do so, they have no reason to disobey, or they fear punishment. Above all, people obey their government because it has authority; its power is seen by people as rightfully held, as legitimate. People can grant their government legitimacy because they have been socialized to do so; because there are processes, such as elections, that enable them to choose and change their rulers; and because they believe that their governing institutions operate justly.Politics is the process by which leaders are selected and policy decisions are made and executed. It involves people and groups, both inside and outside of government, engaged in deliberation and debate, disagreement and conflict, cooperation and consensus, and power struggles.In covering American government and politics, this text introduces the intricacies of the Constitution, the complexities of federalism, the meanings of civil liberties, and the conflicts over civil rights;explains how people are socialized to politics, acquire and express opinions, and participate in political life; describes interest groups, political parties, and elections—the intermediaries that link people to government and politics; details the branches of government and how they operate; and shows how policies are made and affect people’s lives.

The Basics of American Government offers a comprehensive overview of the American political system for students taking introductory courses in American national government and combines the best aspects of both a traditional textbook and a reader. The Basics of American Government is a collaborative effort among eight current and one former faculty members in the Department of Political Science & Criminal Justice at the University of North Georgia. Most of its chapters offer a piece of original scholarship as a case study bolstering the material in the chapter. Additionally, most chapters present a civic engagement-type exercise and discussion questions that are challenging and engaging, and help foster student participation in the political system. The purpose of this book is to offer a no-frills, low-cost, yet comprehensive overview of the American political system for students taking introductory courses in American national government.

Designed as a core or supplementary text for upper elementary, middle and high school teachers and students, Building Democracy for All offers instructional ideas, interactive resources, multicultural content, and multimodal learning materials for interest-building explorations of United States government as well as students’ roles as citizens in a democratic society. It focuses on the importance of community engagement and social responsibility as understood and acted upon by middle and high school students—core themes in the 2018 Massachusetts 8th Grade Curriculum Framework, and which are found in many state history and social studies curriculum frameworks around the country.

Building Democracy for All has been developed by a collaborative writing team of higher education faculty, public school teachers, educational librarians, and college students who are preparing to become history and social studies teachers. The primary editors and curators are from the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education. Contributing teachers come from school districts in the Connecticut River valley region of western Massachusetts (Amherst, Gateway, Westfield, Hampshire Regional, and Springfield). As an open resource, the book is being revised constantly by the members of the writing team to ensure timely inclusion of online resources and information.

Table of Contents
Topic 1. The Philosophical Foundations of the United States Political System
Topic 2. The Development of the United States Government
Topic 3. Institutions of United States Government
Topic 4. The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens
Topic 5. The Constitution, Amendments, and Supreme Court Decisions
Topic 6. The Structure of Massachusetts State and Local Government
Topic 7. Freedom of the Press and News/Media Literacy

Canvas course associated with the textbook: https://louis.pressbooks.pub/introamericangov/

Welcome to American Government! In this course, we will discuss how the American Governmental system is set up, operates, and functions. Additionally, you are going to become more aware of how the US government interacts with your everyday life. After taking this class, students should have a basic understanding of governmental and constitutional construction, as well as how the various branches of the US government operate. Students will also become aware of current events and the impact that trends in US politics have on reaction to these events. This course was created through Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment, a project led by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network (https://louislibraries.org) and funded with a $2 million Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant from the Department of Education. This project supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond. It features a collaboration between educational systems in Louisiana, the library community, Pressbooks, and workforce representatives to enable and enhance the delivery of open educational resources (OER) and interactive quiz and assessment elements for priority dual enrollment courses in Louisiana and nationally. Developed OER course materials are released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others. This includes a textbook and corresponding course available in Moodle and Canvas that can be imported to other platforms. For access/questions, contact Affordable Learning Louisiana (alearningla@laregents.edu). If you are adopting this resource, we would be glad to know of your use via this brief survey: https://survey.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_41Olbogjof6HUay

Moodle course associated with the textbook: https://louis.pressbooks.pub/introamericangov/

Welcome to American Government! In this course, we will discuss how the American Governmental system is set up, operates, and functions. Additionally, you are going to become more aware of how the US government interacts with your everyday life. After taking this class, students should have a basic understanding of governmental and constitutional construction, as well as how the various branches of the US government operate. Students will also become aware of current events and the impact that trends in US politics have on reaction to these events. This course was created through Interactive OER for Dual Enrollment, a project led by LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network (https://louislibraries.org) and funded with a $2 million Open Textbooks Pilot Program grant from the Department of Education. This project supports the extension of access to high-quality post-secondary opportunities to high school students across Louisiana and beyond. It features a collaboration between educational systems in Louisiana, the library community, Pressbooks, and workforce representatives to enable and enhance the delivery of open educational resources (OER) and interactive quiz and assessment elements for priority dual enrollment courses in Louisiana and nationally. Developed OER course materials are released under a license that permits their free use, reuse, modification and sharing with others. This includes a textbook and corresponding course available in Moodle and Canvas that can be imported to other platforms. For access/questions, contact Affordable Learning Louisiana (alearningla@laregents.edu). If you are adopting this resource, we would be glad to know of your use via this brief survey: https://survey.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_41Olbogjof6HUay