Debating Reform: Conflicting Perspectives on How to Fix the American Political System

by Richard J. Ellis (Editor), Michael Nelson (Editor)

As much as policy topics like abortion and same-sex marriage elicit spirited reactions from your students, aren’t you looking for ways to get students out of their partisan corners? Ellis and Nelson have found that debating concrete proposals to reforming the political system encourages their undergraduate students to leave ideology behind and instead, to sift through competing claims and evidence.

Connecting classroom conversation directly to political institutions, students not only grapple with reform ideas but also join the discussion without the crutch of spouting opinion. With pro and con pieces written specifically for this volume, students consider and evaluate arguments from top scholars, thoughtfully exploring the ways government could work better.

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Richard J. Ellis is Mark O. Hatfield Professor of Politics, Policy, Law, and Ethics at Willamette University.