The Logic of American Politics, 5th editionThe American people&BAD:—and their government&BAD:—are deeply at odds over how best to overcome the obstacles currently facing the country. After observing the strains of intense partisanship and divided government, your students are probably asking what logic, if any, can be found in politics. The new fifth edition of Logic reaffirms this best-seller&BAD:’s place as the most accessible &BAD:“smart&BAD:” book on the market. Weaving together historical context, current politics, and analytic concepts, Logic builds students&BAD:’ understanding of political institutions and practices as imperfect solutions to collective action problems.Consistently praised for its engaging narrative, Logic hooks students with great storytelling while arming them with a &BAD:“toolkit&BAD:” of institutional design concepts&BAD:—command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, delegation.Walking students through examples of how each concept works, the authors also highlight passages that apply collective action themes so students cannot miss key points.Up-to-date in its coverage of such hot-button issues as health care and financial reform, the midterm elections, and racial profiling and immigration, this fifth edition also pays special attention to political polarization. Throughout the book, the authors consistently return to the country&BAD:’s divide&BAD:—among constituents and in government&BAD:—as they guide students through the fundamentals of American politics.More than 100 tables, figures, and maps offer visual context to an array of political data and analysis, while over 230 carefully chosen photographs enhance the book&BAD:’s examples and insights. Bolded key terms, a glossary, annotated reading lists, review questions, and a companion website help students read, think, and study.For more information about Logic, click here. Lone Star Politics, 2nd editionLone Star PoLitics pays homage to the legendary political history of Texas while exploring how myth clashes with the reality of the state&BAD:’s day-to-day governance. How has Texas developed and flourished, but also failed to respond fully to new challenges? Explaining who gets what and how within the state, this Nogadoches author team provides an engaging narrative on the evolution of Texas politics, setting it in context with other states&BAD:’ constitutions, policymaking, electoral practices, and school systems. Updated to cover recent events, the second edition includes new discussion and expanded coverage of: ★ the results of the 2010 gubernatorial elections; ★ the impact of the Great Recession on Texas; ★ the legislative process and the organization of the legislature; ★ the &BAD:“Texas two-step;&BAD:” ★ state education policy; ★ the controversial reauthorization of the Texas Department of Transportation; and ★ the effect of recent court cases.Highly regarded &BAD:“Texas vs. ______&BAD:” boxes (which compare Texas to other states) and &BAD:“Texas Legends&BAD:” boxes (which showcase figures and institutions that have shaped&BAD:—and continue to influence&BAD:—Texas politics) have been enhanced in every chapter. Concise and a great value, Lone Star Politics provides well-crafted content and numerous tables, figures, maps, and photos at an affordable cost.For more information about Lone Star Politics, click here.

This new edition of the bestselling The Logic of American Politics is thoroughly updated and covers the dramatic 2016 election results with a thorough analysis of those results. It arms students with a revised introduction to institutional design that makes concepts such as command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, and delegation easier for students to master and apply, so they clearly see how the American political system was devised and why it works the way it does. Authors Samuel Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, and Lynn Vavreck build students' critical thinking through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems. This new edition continues to delve into partisan differences among voters and in government and highlight the increasingly partisan nature of campaigns. By exploring issues such as the Affordable Care Act’s troubled implementation, the increasing legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage in the states, and the debate over immigration, the book illustrates how the institutional structures of government, federalism, and even campaigns can help voters make sense of their choices. The concluding chapter on policymaking examines the noticeable logic that guides American policy, as shown through issues like health care reform, global climate change, and the federal budget. Students glean insights into the sources of policy problems, identify possible solutions, and realize why agreement on those solutions is often so hard to achieve.

A core American politics textbook, complete with a range of free teaching ancillaries The American political system is extraordinary and complex. Samuel Kernell and Gary Jacobson help students develop a sophisticated appreciation of the possibilities and limits of American politics. Encouraged to think and not merely to memorise facts, students will come to understand why political institutions, the politicians who occupy them, and the citizens who monitor and respond to their actions, behave as they do. A nation as large and diverse as the United States faces enormous challenges. Kernell and Jacobson analyse political institutions and practices as (imperfect) solutions to problems facing people who need to act collectively, highlighting throughout the text such obstacles as conflicts over values and interests, the difficulty of agreeing on a course of action, and the problem of free riding. They describe how the choices made to resolve such problems at one moment affect politics in the future, long after the problems have faded.The intelligible logic of American politics is analysed further in three sets of thematic boxes that appear throughout the text: The Logic of Politics boxes dissect the design of various political institutions in light of the objectives they were intended to achieve Strategy and Choice boxes, new to the second edition, show how officeholders and those seeking to influence them employ institutions to advance their goals. Politics to Policy boxes show how public policies reflect the institutions that produce them and evaluate institutional capacity to solve America's problems. Public policy is treated as an integral subject and is examined throughout the book, rather than in separate chapters that are often left unassigned. Politics into Policy boxes, in particular, extend the authors' analysis, looking at such issues as: the tightening of the borders in the wake of terrorists attacks, how smoking evolved from a private to a public issue, and the decades-long battle over campaign finance reform.Special features include: * Chapters open with lively and topical stories that draw students in* Thematic questions at the beginning of each chapter serve both to preview important themes and to get students thinking critically. * An abundance of carefully produced or selected tables, figures, photographs, and other visuals, thoroughly updated for the second edition, illustrate and expand on the text. Captions enrich or exemplify points of discussion. New exercises on the accompanying website help students learn to interpret the graphic presentation of data. * Key terms are defined in boldface on first use, summarized at chapter end (with page numbers), and defined in a glossary at the back of the book. * Chapter objectives, summaries, and electronically-graded quizzes to help students review and study the material are offered on the web at logic.cqpress.com. Annotated suggested readings lists and endnotes assist students in their exploration of American politics beyond the pages of the book. Additionally, the Logic website provides CQ Weekly articles that illustrate the logic in contemporary American politics, as well as links to the best relevant sites on the Internet.Adopters will receive a free subscription to CQ's Politics Daily e-newsletter. Unlike general news sources that focus on national polls and punditry, CQ Politics Daily analyses th

Logic now with a free supplement analyzing the midterm elections. Coming in December, this valuable supplement will provide an insider's guide to the 2010 midterm elections. When placing your order, be sure to use the ISBN on this page to ensure that your students receive the supplement packaged FREE with their textbook. The Logic of American Politics, 4th Edition The logic of American politics? Are those snickers from your students as they deride the phrase an oxymoron? By helping them see that political institutions and practices are imperfect solutions to collective action problems, distinguished scholars Samuel Kernell and Gary C. Jacobson-and new coauthor Thad Kousser-reveal a rationale to the U.S. political system and give students a window through which they can not only view American politics but also come to understand it. Known for its engaging narrative, the book's new edition continues to weave historical context, current politics, and analytic concepts into a text that gently strengthens students' theoretical understanding while hooking them with great storytelling. In order to make the argument fully accessible to a student audience, the new edition highlights passages that apply the collective action and institutional design themes presented in the introduction. The fourth edition has been revised and updated throughout, and will include full coverage of the 2008 elections. Two major developments in the new edition deserve special note: a new section in the first chapter introduces students to a "toolkit" of institutional design concepts-command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, delegation-and examples of how they work.With this toolkit, students learn the concepts for exploring America's governmental system in later chapters. with a fully revised final chapter, Logic looks forward to assess the implications of its argument for widely promoted reforms of policy and institutions. Tables, figures, photographs, cartoons, bolded key terms, a glossary, annotated reading lists, review questions, and exercises help illustrate core ideas and aid in review and study. A series of thematic boxes further the book's analytic framework: Logic of Politics examines the design of various political institutions in light of the objectives they were intended to achieve. Strategy and Choice shows how officeholders and those seeking to influence them employ institutions to advance their goals. Politics to Policy highlights how public policies reflect the institutions that produce them and evaluate institutional capacity to solve the nation's problems. For more information about The Logic of American Politics, 4th Edition, click here. Lone Star Politics Texas is in a bit of a dilemma-it is a rapidly growing state saddled with a constitution that was written by conservative farmers in 1876. Texas's government struggles to meet the needs of an increasingly diversified population and the challenges of an economy driven by large multi-national corporations, many on the cutting edge of the information age. How has Texas developed and flourished over the years, but failed to fully respond to these changes? Lone Star Politics explicitly focuses on the disconnect between the outsized myth of Texas with its legendary political history and the reality of the state's day-to-day governance to help explain who gets what resources and how they are distributed. The engaging and accessible writing style makes this a book that students of all levels will actually want to read. And when they do, they'll get both description and analysis, a balance of institutions and behavior, as well as comparisons of Texas with other states.,p> "Texas vs. _______" feature boxes use narrative, tabular data, and critical thinking questions to show how Texas works differently from the rest of the country, while "Texas Legends" boxes show how certain celebrated figures and institutions influence Texans and their identity as well as shape Texas politics today. For more information about Lone Star Politics, click here.