THINK

Description

Introduction—Government, Politics, and the Policymaking Process

1. A Changing America

2. The American Constitution

3. The Federal System

4. Civil Liberties

5. Civil Rights

6. Public Opinion

7. Political Participation

8. The Media

9. Interest Groups

10. Political Parties

11. Campaigns and Elections

12. Congress

13. The Presidency

14. The Federal Bureaucracy

15. The Federal Courts

16. Economic Policymaking

17. Foreign and Defense Policymaking

New Issues and Developments: The new edition focuses on a number of important new issues and political developments, including the unsuccessful Republican efforts to repeal healthcare reform, the impact of state budget cuts on higher education, the Supreme Court ruling in the Westboro Baptist Church free speech case, state voter ID laws, partisan media and political polarization, the impact of Americans for Tax Reform and the Taxpayer Protection Pledge on the policymaking process, congressional redistricting, medicare reform proposals, presidential powers and the use of force in Libya, FDA regulations requiring more prominent health warnings on cigarette packages, public employee pension funding, the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to allow the Walmart gender discrimination case to proceed as a class action lawsuit, and Congress’s vote to raise the debt ceiling after a protracted struggle.

Neal Tannahill has taught courses in American government and politics at Houston Community College for more than 30 years. The primary focus of his career has been helping students to master course content, successfully complete courses, earn degrees, and achieve their academic goals. He is the author of a series of textbooks including American Government, Texas Government, and American and Texas Government.

Neal Tannahill welcomes your comments and suggestions about this Think American Government text at neal.tannahill@hccs.edu or ntannahill@aol.com.

With an engaging visual design, an inexpensive price, and filled with contemporary content, THINK American Government 2012 Edition, 4/e is the American Government text your students will actually read. Informed by the latest research and including numerous real-world examples, it allows instructors to bring current events directly into the classroom with little additional work–and at less than half the cost of a traditional text.

·    An engaging visual design provides a clear explanation of the core concepts of American government and promotes critical thinking, but does so in a highly engaging fashion that will capture and keep your students’ attention.

·    Engaging in-text features that draw students into particular aspects of American Government, including Breaking News features that help students understand the key issues related to recent news stories and Take Action boxes that offer specific guidance on getting involved in the political process.

·    Important pedagogical features designed to ensure students focus on and learn key concepts in the course, including What We Will Learn—key questions that appear at the beginning of each chapter to prime students—and What We Learned – summaries at the end of each chapter.  Each chapter concludes with multiple choice Test Yourself quizzes.

·    Value-Priced – less than half the costs of most American Government textbooks

With an engaging visual design, an inexpensive price, and filled with contemporary content, THINK American Government 2012 Edition, 4/e is the American Government text your students will actually read. Informed by the latest research and including numerous real-world examples, it allows instructors to bring current events directly into the classroom with little additional work—and at less than half the cost of a traditional text.