united states government: our democracy textbook pdf united states government: our democracy textbook pdf

I think that's important to show that most of the world's nations do operate with a democratic framework. 60. Right from the get go I enjoyed the section on Civic Engagement as many textbooks do not cover civic engagement to the level it was covered in this text. For example, when discussing the Boston Tea Party, the authors claim, "Today, many who do not agree with the positions of the Democratic of Republican Party have organized themselves into an oppositional group dubbed the Tea Party (41)." The authors also included new terms such as the use of Astroturf movement on page 379 and PIRGS on page 382. As for as substantively, I find the grouping of Chapters 4-7 to be curious. But the chapter in Foreign Affairs (Chap 17) is thin and needs more meat. A chapter on State and Local government is also included as a useful addition. However I do feel that stylistically the presentation of in-text citations is cumbersome and distracting. Concept 1: Foundations of Government . - Chapter organization around the set of themes that any proper intro gov class would teach: institutions plus civil rights liberties, parties, elections, public opinion, and so on. Exceptionally clear. .nav-contain-highered{ Milestone Documents. Inclusion 6. United States Government Democracy in Action Student. I see no sign of bias or editorial spin from the authors. The chapters are well organized and reader friendly. Reviewed by Mary Anne K. Clarke, Adjunct Faculty, Rhode Island College on 4/11/17, American Government by Glenn Krutz covers a lot of ground. I like how there are separate chapters for Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. At the time this edition was written, the information in figure 3.17, presented data on the legality of same sex marriage by state in our country in an easily understood and precise manner. The text is divided into 5 categories. Instructor and student resources are need improvement. The coverage of competing philosophies of Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint in Chapter 13, Section 5 nicely presents these approaches to novice readers. These help to engage students and cultivate reading, writing, and critical-thinking skills in a unique, and ever-growing platform. One nice feature of the text is the ability directly to citations through the texts footnotes. I believe the language used in the text is entirely appropriate for an introductory college course on the subject. Foundations of American Government. A menu to the left of the online textbook allows readers to quickly and efficiently navigate to another topic of the textbook. 266-267, and the Electoral College, the idea of achieving a tie vote is irrelevant. In the next sentence, the author writes "Another way the media socializes audiences is through framing." Images and charts that are presented are not distractions at all, most of the time they are enhancements of the chapters. Unit II Assignments. The book is competently written and produced. This textbook is extremely comprehensive. If the candidate fails to achieve 270 votes, then the election is sent to the House of Representatives. The textbook includes many illustrations, photographs, and examples that are recent enough for students to be able to relate to without much difficulty. American Government by Krutz and Waskiewicz is an exceptionally good textbook. Thorough coverage of the main thematic areas generally addressed by introductory American Government textbooks. Citizen control of the agenda 5. I found my iPad did not always work well with it. The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive and it makes use of examples that are inclusive more than the norm. }, United States Government: Our DemocracyRemy Ritchie Arbetman Scott Hanson. There are questions and glossary words at the end of each chapter to help clarify issues. The book is very comprehensive. I haven't seen anything quite like that before, and it's useful. Verified. From the founding and Constitution to the major institutions of Congress, Courts, and the Presidency, these major areas are all covered. I have also discovered no instances in which the presentation seems unduly slanted or biased. But chapters are broken up into 5 or so modules, so it could be assigned that way. Sixth, from pp. The book is internally consistent. If faculty want to remove a section, it is not difficult for students to follow the main concepts. It is arranged in such a way that updates will be easy to implement. United States Government: A Textbook. In the table of contents, chapter 17 is titled "Chapter 17: Foreign Polict.". United States Government: Our Democracy (2016) Publisher: McGraw-Hill . } I think it would be harder to pull apart sections of the book independently and rearrange them. The book contained appropriate section breaks so that students can jump directly to the relevant subsection. Also, the map on page 15 lists Russia as a representative democracy. The cosmetics of the book is well done. The text's modularity is such that the instructor that would be able to easily reorganize and realign the readings to fit the curricular requirements of the course taught. Many textbooks cover these two topics together in one chapter and I believe that it may be easier to teach if there is dedicated material to each topic in separate chapters. There are chapters on media literacy, public opinion and polls, civic engagement, that might be taken separately from the actual discussion of government structure. There is little to nothing lost compared to a mainstream textbook. Sometimes the beginning of the paragraphs are repetitive but this may favor comprehension of the content. I didnt notice obvious grammatical errors in this textbook. In the pages that follow you will find information to help you better understand how the machinery of . Overall, this is a solid choice in terms of comprehensiveness. It covers all the bases of an Introduction to American Government and then some. Overall I find the writing to be at an appropriate level for first-year college students. But as with any American government textbook, this information will need to be periodically updated. By avoiding the topics and the conversations, the text is not allowing students to civically engage in discussions and learning. I believe students prefer more than black and white words. While it is rare for any textbook to be completely full of errors, there are a few more errors in this book than in my preferred American Government textbook and other leading textbooks on the topic. The textbook utilizes a wide array of references to various cultures, both in its written content and its supplementary graphics. The book is very accessible. Grammar was excellent. The links for figures seem to be useful in quickly navigating them. There are a couple other places in the text where this is noticeable. To learn about the specific purchase options for this program, please contact our Customer Service team at 800-338-3987. The book was very culturally sensitive but more could be added throughout each chapter. I did not see any clear grammatical errors in my review. I saw no problems and particularity liked the emphasis on voter registration in the Voting and Elections unit. There are even two chapters on public policy, which many basic textbooks omit. This is one of the pluses of this text. While no text does a perfect job at inclusiveness, I was impressed at the myriad examples of diverse cultural experiences incorporated throughout the text. There are some lapses here. To report a technical problem with this Web site, please contact the Web Producer.Web . It is one of the few textbooks that offers colored images in it. Engaging for an open textbook. Glen Krutz, Professor of Political Science and Associate Director, Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma. I did not identify any grammatical issues with the textbook content. I am considering switching to this textbook for my department. In terms of content, the textbook has all the chapters one normally expects from an introductory American Government textbook. And while all the topic areas you would anticipate are present, the structure is different. Great examples, engaging stories, and clever interactive readings; the textbook would be relevant to most community college students today. It can be said that in capitalism, government accumulates wealth and then redistributes it to citizens. China is not a socialist country; it is an oligarchic authoritarian regime. Each requires students to open up these extended opportunities for more information but in my opinion slides into information "overload" dimensions. The text did not include culturally offensive material and seemed inclusive in its examples and discussion. The text is easily and readily visible and permits an instructor to select what to cover based on the learning objectives of each chapter. The foundational building blocks of the republic that are provided are similar to the last Overall, I like the text very much. Each chapter starts with basic concepts and moves discussion toward topics which need more critical thinking. Might be using this text in the spring of 2020, Reviewed by Amedee George, Professor, SUNO on 4/23/19, The chapters in the Kurtz et al e-book covers all relevant chapters of American Government and even offers chapters on Foreign policy, Domestic policy and State and Local government. Reviewed by Nicole Kalaf-Hughes, Assistant Professor, Bowling Green State University on 2/1/18, The text covers all areas that one would expect from an introduction to American Government textbook. In this textbook, I was pleased with both. The book is clear and accessible. .nav-contain-highered p{ The Declaration of Independence and parts of the Constitution are in the Appendices. I looked more at concepts and content. For example, p. 44. and in most of the chapters. Chapter tests include traditional and document-based question tests. This could certainly be prepared for the 2020 election. Also, when you click, for example, chapter 2, you cannot go directly to chapter 2, but you have to click the Intro first. In addition, there are charts, visual aids, and extension activities to expand and complement the text. Alternate ISBNs. This is something that can be adjusted by the instructor, and I rarely teach in the order books present the material anyway. Technical language is defined within the text or in the chapter glossaries. Very clearly explains important concepts; I can use my own assignments to require graduate level thinking and expand on the complications/interactions of the text concepts, etc. Reviewed by Robert Asaadi, Instructor, Portland State University on 3/11/20, updated 4/16/20, Thorough coverage of the main thematic areas generally addressed by introductory American Government textbooks. All of the topics you would expect to be covered in an American government 101 course are here: origins of our republic, institutions, individual action and collective action. Comprehensive in terms of concepts and how they related to current ideas. An example of a high degree of accuracy is the discussion on the problem of divided government. The book's content is accurate. An innovative inclusion is that, in addition to the standard chapter on federalism, American Government (2e) also includes a separate chapter (14) on State and Local Governments. I am using this text in lieu of my regular purchased text for my intro class and I am excited for the possibilities available given the interesting and useful ways the authors have organized the material in the book - while ensuring all the bread & butter chapters for an intro American Gov text are here. To expect of our students to readily pursue this extent of "Notes" is excessive, and the opposite effect I suggest occurs, namely a sense of being overwhelmed by such extra content.This is in my opinion too much to expect of our students. In addition, the reading selections are inconsistentsome are very long lists and others only include five or six books. The only suggestion that I would make is to include a little bit more political psychology, especially in the chapters on public opinion and the media. (1) $6.50. There is a standard form to intro Am Gov textbooks, and this one is pretty typical. I did not find the book cultural insensitive. Overall, this is a good text that seems to be accessible for student learning. have even added very impressive policy chapters (domestic and foreign) that you only see on occasion. I saw no problems with the navigation or images. To some extent, though, that would make this a book with a specific orientation, which defies one of its strengths. Landmark cases and events bring history alive. In the preface, there is a chart of the makeup of the United States Supreme Court, listing the justices, and their ideology of conservative versus liberal. Reviewed by Nicholas Pyeatt, Associate Professor of Political Science, Penn State, Altoona on 2/1/18, The book is very comprehensive. Reviewed by Randall Newnham, Professor of Political Science, Penn State University, Berks Campus on 2/1/18, Coverage same as most standard Am Gov textbooks, with chapters organized same as most (expensive) standard texts and each chapter about as long as standard texts. Includes pre-built and customizable tests and quizzes, with a variety of question types to provide critical practice for high-stakes assessments. Information is presented in a logical order. Overall, this book is a strong introductory text. There are numerous features that are used to help students engage with content (summaries, supplemental reading, graphics and break outs). The pros and cons of government regulation of group activity (spending) are both presented accurately, and the student is asked to make their own determination. The "finding a middle ground" boxes are a neat idea, particularly in the context of an increasingly polarized country. Democratic backsliding in the United States is no longer a matter of speculative concern. The "Middle Ground" feature might need to be updated as controversies change but overall this definitely a relevant textbook. Further, each section within the chapters does contain a glossary of bolded terms. Accuracy is excellent, with essentially an unbiased and error-free content (and i do judge rather stringently the accuracy of historical content given I teach history as well). However, I always start American Government with a discussion on political culture and that seems to be missing. It also includes a chapter on The content is presented in a way that scaffolds the reader's knowledge from basic understanding of the historical context and key concepts toward analysis, synthesis, and finally enables critical assessment of ideas. The organization of topics conforms with what one finds in many other introductory level texts on American Government. If anything, the text may be a bit on the long side. But there is never a number or way to identify the image/picture attached to the Figure reference. It is well-written and proof-read. This is particularly identifiable in chapters one and two. Again, these are things the author may want to consider. font-weight: 400 !important; The real differences of course align along questions of *what* aspects of society and the economy ought to be controlled, and by whom--liberals want to control some areas, conservatives others. There is a very broad selection of examples relating to variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds--the Civil Rights chapter is a good example. The content delivers plenty of perspective for students to learn about American government. I believe this textbook is a comprehensive and well written vehicle to aid the instructor and enhance student learning. The chapters are well organized and user friendly. This book is very impressive, as is. This is the first time that I have thoroughly reviewed an open source textbook for potential use in a course, and I was impressed by the overall quality of the book.