Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy, Brief Edition, Election Update (8th Edition)

by George C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Lineberry

Learn how American politics affect public policy. Adopting a public policy approach to American politics, Government in America looks at government’s impact on the daily lives of Americans. This text introduces the main features of American politics and asks “how should we govern?” and “what should government do?” In looking at the evolving nature of our democracy and the changing scope of our government, Government in America helps students see that politics drives what government can—or cannot do—for the people. A better teaching and learning experience. This program provides a better teaching and learning experience—for you and your students. Here’s Personalize Learning. Reach every student at each stage of learning, engage them in active rather than passive learning, and measure that learning. Refined after a decade of real-world use and compatible with learning management systems like Blackboard, the new MyPoliSciLab is a customizable digital learning experience that supports each individual student’s and educator’s success. Emphasize Outcomes. Keep students focused on what they need to learn. A new design facilitates print and digital reading experiences and turns this book’s learning objectives into a clear learning path. On MyPoliSciLab, practice tests help students achieve these objectives by creating personalized study plans. Engage Students. Students—each one is different. Reach all of them with the new MyPoliSciLab Video Series, which features this book’s authors and top political scientists discussing the big ideas in each chapter and applying them to enduring political issues. Improve Critical Thinking. Students get a lot of information about politics; your challenge as an instructor is to turn them into critical consumers of that information. Using interactive data to answer political questions introduced in this book’s infographics, Explorer is a hands-on way to develop quantitative literacy and to move students beyond punditry and opinion. Analyze Current Events. Prepare students for a lifetime of following political news. Both in this book and on MyPoliSciLab, coverage of the 2012 elections and more keeps politics relevant and models how to analyze development in the American political system. Get up-to-the-minute analysis on MyPoliSciLab’s blogs or reflect on a theoretical case with a simulation. Support Instructors. Make more time for your students with instructor resources—Test Bank, Instructor’s Manual, and PowerPoint Presentation with Classroom Response System (CRS)—that offer effective learning assessments and classroom engagement. This Book a la Carte Edition is an unbound, three-hole punched, loose-leaf version of the textbook and provides students the opportunity to personalized their book by incorporating their own notes and taking the portion of the book they need to class — all at a fraction of the bound

Genres: School, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Political Science, Reference

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this like 6 times before I took the exam...

[Finn Cronin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very Informative, but stole my soul every night before notes were due.

[Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

DNF over halfway through, it was pretty alright though. Definitely much better than I expected though.

[Darrin Jackson]

Although this book is boring, like every other textbook. It is a very good resource for learning and studying AP Government

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main Takeaways:
1. Politics is everywhere. Whether you are looking for funding for your organization, paying sales tax when buying an ice cream, or going to school, the government is closely involved.
2. In a democratic society, it is ultimately the political action of the people that determines policy, albeit the extent of which may vary.
3. The American system has an intricate system of checks and balances that make it much harder for one person/institution to hold too much power.

Thoughts:
Considering I read an AP edition, I’m not surprised that it was boring. I find that books that center around tests are just very often extremely boring. I guess this shows how testing can ruin the joy in learning. Oh well.
Still, this book has its merits. Everything is explained relatively clearly, and if someone understands this book well, I’m sure they can do well on the AP government exam (hopefully that will be me). However, I think the book sometimes takes too many words on examples to a point where it does not help. Also, many of the pictures felt superfluous for me. The book did have some very neat diagrams and flow charts though.

They also conveyed the importance of politics and political action well.

Overall, it makes sense to read this book for AP government. Maybe the non-study/AP edition will be a more interesting read though.

[Katre Ans · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wretched. Soul-sucking. Helped me pass AP Government & Politics with flying colors. I regret every evening spent bent over this stupid book. I am so glad I had it as a resource.

SPOILERS: most of the characters die.

[Belle Meade School]

320.473

[KC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, it's an AP textbook! I get it!!! You don't need to rub it in with the densest writing I've ever read!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading this textbook for a class I am taking for teacher recertification. I already read the first half for the first semester--it's a really good book.
I finished my class with A! This textbook is very interesting!

[Janise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a very conservative slant to it, made it a challenge to read without feeling irritated at the state of the government.

[columbialion]

Textbook for PoliSci

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. It gives thorough explanations of the way that politics work. It also has an online study site that can test you on all of the knowledge.

[Splen · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPRING 2011 (St. Philip's College)
Federal Government
Prof. Dr. Gregory Hudspeth

[Amanda W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good textbook all in all. A good review over the US Government as a whole. I could see this as a high school text book over a college book in some ways though.

[Elijah McCarty · Rating 5 out of 5]

GUD BOOOK!!!!!!!!!

[Heather West · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading the green label, study edition.