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. 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)." You can use that resource if you would . Figures and images were clear and undistorted. I have also discovered no instances in which the presentation seems unduly slanted or biased. Reviewed by Matthew Jacobsmeier, Associate Professor, West Virginia University on 4/15/20, The book covers all the main topics that good introductory American Government textbooks typically cover and also includes chapters on topics that are not covered in detail in many textbooks. The "finding a middle ground" boxes are a neat idea, particularly in the context of an increasingly polarized country. Democracy 10 days 20 days Students analyze inherent tensions in American democracy between rights and freedoms and between promoting the public good and protecting individuals. 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. , but for next semester, the text needs to provide 2016 turnout and election data. Yet both Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh are not present in the graphic. This book is very comprehensive. The coverage and scope is presented in a way that is well organized, concise, and engaging. Most of the content of the different chapters focus on the mechanics of the system and on relevant examples that will be important for years to come. But I would rather have it smaller so I Examples depicting the new terms are plentiful. It is divided into five sections, which makes it easily approachable to both instructor and student. Reading and writing support such as guided notes, vocabulary pop-ups, and graphic organizers help improve understanding of the content. This consistency and clear explanation of the concepts behind the examples makes the book particularly strong. Reviewed by M. Victoria Perez-Rios, Adjunct Assistant Professor, La Guardia Community College on 5/21/18, The textbook is very comprehensive with more than 650 pages of content plus appendices with relevant documents. I hasten to add that I teach at the community college level where I often have to address certain shortcomings and misunderstandings regarding the students high school knowledge in this topic area, so perhaps this preference only applies because of my specific student audience. Knowing that I would be using the book over many sections and many semesters, I ordered a copy from Amazon and I am glad I did. But the book helpfully highly new and key phrases, and uses plentiful figures and sidebars to improve clarity. At the end of each chapter, the reader finds a glossary of key terms emphasized in the chapter. The book is updated through to the present day. PDF Lesson 2 American Government - hplct.org Well-regarded global democracy indexessuch as Freedom House, 2 Varieties of Democracy, 3 and the Economist Intelligence Unit 4all show an erosion of American democracy since 2016. The book contained appropriate section breaks so that students can jump directly to the relevant subsection. Complex ideas were synthesized inlanguage that was easy to understand. A menu to the left of the online textbook allows readers to quickly and efficiently navigate to another topic of the textbook. In the next sentence, the author writes "Another way the media socializes audiences is through framing." The only issue I had was that the NOTES that are interspersed through the chapters and appear to be hyperlinks do not work. It would also be helpful if the text came with bookmarks to the main chapters and subsections. Style is straightforward. The book does include a chapter on state and local government, which is often not covered in U.S. government textbooks. Reviewed by Rolfe Peterson, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Susquehanna University on 2/11/20, This textbook is extremely comprehensive. Has good index. Building Democracy for All is an interactive, multimodal, multicultural, open access e-book for teaching and learning key topics in United States Government and Civic Life. First, Page 39 of textbook about Locke and the social contract gives no citation. The online Student Learning Center The historical approaches in many chapters provide contextualization of concepts. The text is arranged using logical progression and builds upon itself so that it effectively connects topics, theory, and application for the reader while at the same time being structured in such a way that modules are easily and readily divisible (see modularity comments). Wish contents would take me straight to the chapter I click. The hard copy version is sold by Amazon and other online retailers for about $20 (not sure it includes color for that price). It follows the standard layout of American Government textbooks and offers an effective and easily searchable index. Chapter three necessitates a revision in order to re-create its relevance. However, on the library listing page, there is a typo in the index for chapter 17. Offers coverage of topics that most instructors would cover in such a class, including political behavior, civil rights/liberties, American The current book I use fully integrates free people of color into each chapter. Reviewed by Jack Philips, Lecturer, University of Texas at Arlington on 11/12/20, This book contains everything I need for intro American government classes. Perhaps its status as an open textbook is one reason why it is so easy to avoid a chapter on Trumps tweets, as this is stuff that publishers vaunt as the need for new editions. It's very well organized. read more. The main framework chapters are excellent and thorough. The text is free of interface issues; charts and graphics are clear and are explained and analyzed. I found my iPad did not always work well with it. Milestone Documents. . This textbook is very comprehensive. These hyperlinks will distract the reader. Having learning objectives at the beginning of each subsection (not just in a chapter) could help students stay focus on important takeaways. From the origins of the US political system, the constitutional framework, participatory inputs, formal institutions, and public policy, the major points are .nav-contain-highered p{ The text effectively frames controversial topics in American politics and the reader does not come away with the impression that the author's are putting their thumbs on the scale in favor of a particular interpretation or political ideology. While the focus on diversity is certainly not as all-encompassing as some commercial books that make racial/ethnic diversity the "thesis of the book" (most notably McClain and Tauber's American Government in Black and White), the book certainly does not limit discussion of racial/ethnic diversity to the chapter on Civil Rights, as many textbooks have done historically. The Declaration of Independence and parts of the Constitution are in the Appendices. - Unit I Test - The Foundations of the United States Government + Wednesday September 16th, 2016 HW: TED Talk: Lawrence Lessig . This textbook covers all the main topics need for American government 101. Facilitate mastery of complex principles with dynamic digital tools. Political behavior for presidential and mid-term congressional elections should be analyzed independently. The content is concise to the point it is accessible for early undergraduates, but also in depth enough that real coverage of the topics exists. Do you need help? 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. Americans believed all people (i.e., White males) possessed the rights to life, liberty, and property. read more. There are some lapses here. Log in to your program from these platforms: McGraw Hill Science Interactives (612), .bs3-nav-link-support a{ B. The foundational building blocks of the republic that are provided are similar to the last This means that our government is elected by citizens. As an Students may struggle with somewhat dated, routine examples. The book's content is accurate. I suspect students will read the chapters as rather lengthy. The information presented in the text book is accurate and comparable to all other books I have used on the market. United States Government Democracy in Action Student ~ United States Government Democracy in Action Student Edition GOVERNMENT IN THE 1st Edition by McGrawHill Author 43 out of 5 stars 14 ratings ISBN13 9780078799822 ISBN10 0078799821 Why is ISBN important ISBN This barcode number lets you verify that youre getting exactly the right version or edition of a book However, the preponderance of examples from the Obama and Trump eras will become outdated and need updates supplied by the instructor. The text's clarity is excellent. Thorough coverage of the main thematic areas generally addressed by introductory American Government textbooks. If anything, the text may be a bit on the long side. It looks easier to move sections around. Im not sure, for instance, that 6.2 and 6.3 need to be different chapters, and have concerns about the modularity of chapter 5 in particular. The chapters relating to State & Local Government plus Domestic & Foreign Policy (14,16 & 17) are an added bonus although I will not assign these whole chapters in the Intro course due to time restrictions. Additionally, there are sections within each chapter that can be assigned in other courses. The subchapters are very short, and while they sometimes deal with distinct topics, it would often be more efficient to discuss big ideas by combining them into a more cohesive and less chopped-up narrative. The United States Government Manual. Verified. In fact, Kurtz et al. United States Government: Our Democracy allows students to master an understanding of the structure, function, and powers of government at all levels. Use it to preview online test questions or print for paper and pencil tests. It is a good alternative to expensive textbooks. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement. This text will only need updates in the area of the presidency, public policy, and possibly elections. I am impressed with the comprehensiveness of the textbook. It would be useful to have the endnotes at the end of the chapters. The authors also included new terms such as the use of Astroturf movement on page 379 and PIRGS on page 382. Overall, this looks like a viable option for an American government 101 course. This is a difficult problem, because our history of oppression and inequality is lengthy and robust, and so where does one start? Technical terminology is explained in a precise and clear manner. Reviewed by Charles Young, Associate Professor, Umpqua Community College on 1/3/20, The text covers exactly what an introduction to political science/government textbook should cover. Everything was clear and easy to find, including graphics, charts, and figures. Certainly this could just be a matter of preference, and obviously an instructor can teach topics and assign chapters in whatever order they desire, but I am puzzled by this decision. U. S. Government: Democracy In Action - McGraw Hill Education The book is consistent with similar complementary materials. The textbook follows a traditional American government textbook format, starting with the Constitution and covering, Federalism, Civil Liberties and Rights, Interest Groups, Political Parties, and the three branches of government. Updating some of the pictures will be easy ( how many of our freshmen will remember that much about Mitt Romney?) (2)The ratification process and the Federalist papers refer to the ratification of the Constitution without the Bill of Rights via Art. There are areas where graphics examples could be updated; a few of the federalism chapter charts are using 2014 data. It seems to be equal to any 'standard' Am Gov text. The writers do have material distributed into sections of the text that are not always the best choice in my view (this could be said of any textbook).