Black & white print. American Government 3e aligns with the topics and objectives of many government courses. Faculty involved in the project have endeavored to make government workings, issues, debates, and impacts meaningful and memorable to students while maintaining the conceptual coverage and rigor inherent in the subject. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. The book builds upon what students have already learned and emphasizes connections between topics as well as between theory and applications. The goal of each section is to enable students not just to recognize concepts, but to work with them in ways that will be useful in later courses, future careers, and as engaged citizens. In order to help students understand the ways that government, society, and individuals interconnect, the revision includes more examples and details regarding the lived experiences of diverse groups and communities within the United States. The authors and reviewers sought to strike a balance between confronting the negative and harmful elements of American government, history, and current events, while demonstrating progress in overcoming them. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement.

This volume gathers contributors from both the US and UK to provide a comparative examination of federalism in the Bush era, a period of huge change in national politics, but also one of significant shifts in US federalism in relation to social and socioeconomic issues.

Though Americans rarely appreciate it, federalism has profoundly shaped their nation’s past, present, and future. Federalism—the division of government authority between the national government and the states—affects the prosperity, security, and daily life of every American. In this nuanced and comprehensive overview, David Brian Robertson shows that past choices shape present circumstances, and that a deep understanding of American government, public policy, political processes, and society requires an understanding of the key steps in federalism’s evolution in American history. The most spectacular political conflicts in American history have been fought on the battlefield of federalism, including states’ rights to leave the union, government power to regulate business, and responses to the problems of race, poverty, pollution, abortion, and gay rights. Federalism helped fragment American politics, encourage innovation, foster the American market economy, and place hurdles in the way of efforts to mitigate the consequences of economic change. Federalism helped construct the path of American political development. Federalism and the Making of America is a sorely needed text that treats the politics of federalism systematically and accessibly, making it indispensible to all students and scholars of American politics. Chosen as one of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2012.

This is a study of the ways in which the federal, state, and local governments share responsibility for policies, producing a system that combines uniformity and diversity. While numerous empirical studies in recent years have detailed particular examples of reforms in federalism, there has been no widely accepted theory by which to evaluate the significance of those details. Thomas Anton synthesizes the particulars to discover what is true in general about the state of American Federalism. He uses a "benefits coalition" conceptual framework on which to organize his discussion.The author sees the purpose of American government as the creation and distribution of benefits to designated populations. He identifies three main types of benefits, which are directed toward individuals both outside and within government: (1) economic-the improvement of economic well-being; (2) juridical-assigning rights and obligations, as in determining eligibility to vote; and (3) symbolic-for example, in designating holidays and in fostering public activities that promote pride in and support for the system.Because of their profound affect on the quality of our lives as well as their increasing cost, the policies and programs jointly pursued by American governments are the focus of reform proposals that now occupy a prominent position on the national agenda. For these and other reasons, Anton's analytical and broadly defined discussion of American Federalism is especially timely. Author note: Thomas Anton is Professor of Political Science and Director of the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University.