I didnt find any interface issues in this textbook. The text contains a variety of ideas and concepts. I mentioned this earlier, but I think it is important to have the chapters presented in a different order. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.--Preamble to the United States Constitution Faculty are used to getting free copies of texts. Some of the current graphs and charts will need to be updated.The links to learning sections make it possible to quickly find current data and information. In the pages that follow you will find information to help you better understand how the machinery of . read more. Then again maybe that is just my bias because of what information was included and what was omitted. Reviewed by Vicki Jeffries-Bilton, Instructor, Portland Community College on 12/31/21, The textbook includes virtually all topics that are critical to foundational course(s) in U.S. Government. There were graphics to illustrate some of the material, and it is nice that PDF and online versions are available. Have used it this semester in 2 sections of my intro Am Gov class with no student complaints. Also helpful are the key historical moments "milestones" allowing a broader context viewpoint. Overall it is a bit smaller in word count than a traditional hard copy textbook and some of the chapters are smaller than I would like. read more. The text is culturally sensitive and consistently makes use of examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, backgrounds, etc. Enlightened understanding 4. I was quite impressed by the clear prose used in this text. Customize the learning experience for differentiated instruction using leveled reading, customizable assessments and worksheets, and flexible online learning tools. The 'Insider Perspective' sections in each chapter reflect this in their profiles of diverse individuals. -- to shed light on a wide variety of phenomena and encourage students to think analytically. The book builds upon what students have already learned and emphasizes connections between topics as well as between theory and applications. United States Government: Our Democracy 2018. United States Government: Our Democracy (2016) Publisher: McGraw-Hill . US Government for Kids: Democracy - Ducksters Chapter 8, Section 3 discussing the media and particularly the FCC is a very strong section of the text. Identify Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as leaders of our democracy: Connect with: Strand 1 Concept 4. Books.Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy . An instructor could easily rearrange the order of topics without presenting much disruption to the reader. Of course, the question is how many students really do that? Key terms are defined with appropriate detail in a glossary and the summaries serve to reinforce the material covered in each section. For every chapter a special effort could be made to fully integrate the experiences and writings of people of color. The text uses the 2016 election, in particular, to help the reader better understand the varying voting methods within the Electoral College by stating: "In 2016, Republican Donald Trump won one congressional district in Maine, even though Hillary Clinton won the state overall. This includes a host of the Critical Thinking questions that I found to be on point and thought provoking. Consistently uses contemporary examples. Also, when you click, for example, chapter 2, you cannot go directly to chapter 2, but you have to click the Intro first. There is a good selections of "photographs.". Overall, this was an excellent e-book. . Milestone Documents. The accuracy of the content presented in the Kurtz et al book is as accurate and unbias as one would expect. The text of each chapter does form a consistency. For their effort and expertise, I commend them and those who have supported this project. For me, this was one of the strengths of the textbook. I would consider using this textbook in my American Government 101. Language is neutral and seems to avoid leading or biased undertones. In the table of contents, chapter 17 is titled "Chapter 17: Foreign Polict.". The reason I say this is because the choice of content is a subjective process in itself and surely there are other content areas that could be added on a particular theme. read more. Nearly all of the material presented is relevant. - 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. Reviewed by Peter Wielhouwer, Associate Professor of Political Science, Western Michigan University on 12/14/18, This text covers nearly all of the major topics covered in American Government texts. This text will only need updates in the area of the presidency, public policy, and possibly elections. I am also not sure that the students will click on the hyperlinks unless they are told to specifically read them. Chapter objectives, appealing graphics and photos, glossaries of 'key terms,' recommended reading, summaries, and quizzes are some of the text features that make this inviting. To report a technical problem with this Web site, please contact the Web Producer.Web . The textbook content is thorough yet very clearly written. I certainly will moving forward. This is not a pervasive problem, however but an occasional one. Reviewed by Leslie Caughell, Assistant Professor, Virginia Wesleyan College on 2/8/17, This book is very comprehensive. Overall, the content is up to date. There were no issues with this at all. For example, the civil rights chapter is organized into five components, including: 1) what are civil rights, 2) African-American civil rights, 3) women's civil rights, 4) civil rights for indigenous groups, and 5) equal protection for other groups. Overall, all expected topics, and then some, are covered, hence the text is certainly comprehensive enough by any measure of expectation in an introduction to American government text. Reviewed by Donald Travis, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Gettysburg College on 4/17/20, I like the additional chapter on State and Local Government (Chap 14). Such being said, I believe this textbook is far ahead of other options I have seen as far as modularity and the ability for the instructor to chunk portions of the chapter for the assigned reading each week. The writing is clear and concise. Wish contents would take me straight to the chapter I click. While the examples could become outdated, the issues used have been relevant for a long period of time. United States Government: Our Democracy 2016 - McGraw Hill Reviews. - Good supplementary framing around the founding documents and federalism Although the order of the chapters differ from the way I may group chapters together, the book does maintain a consistent pattern based on the logic of the book it presents. 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. A Constitutional Democracy Interactive Notebook, which works for both print and Google Drive, investigates and helps gain an understanding of how the federal, state, and local governments in the United States work under the Constitution and the responsibilities of citizenship. the Cold War era is not well articulated. I found the organization of chapters a bit unconventional, and certainly different than the way I teach this course. The book contained appropriate section breaks so that students can jump directly to the relevant subsection. I could go on, but you have some important ones. Most importantly, the emergence of Donald Trump simply alters how the institution of the presidency communicates and respects (or doesn't respect) past institutional norms. I like the additional chapter on State and Local Government (Chap 14). 1. Democracy and government, the U.S. political system, elected Each chapter begins with an introduction, moves into the various sections and concludes with the summary and then supplemental material. More textbook info. Experiences and participation of African-American, Latinx, Asian, indigenous, women, and LGBT citizens fill a chapter. Chapter 5 . Having learning objectives at the beginning of each subsection (not just in a chapter) could help students stay focus on important takeaways. Democracy in America: How Is It Doing? - The New York Times 4. Of course the book's "longevity" is not likely to be long just because of the nature of the subject matter. It offers an excellent collection of concepts and ideas useful to political science students. Chapter 13: Constitutional Freedoms - Freeman Middle School Reviewed by Robert Asaadi, Instructor, Portland State University on 2/22/22, The work provides a comprehensive overview of both the formal and informal political institutions that one would expect to find in an introductory-level American Government text. This is a hard aspect of any textbook. One Day University presents a series of audio lectures recorded in real-time from some of the top minds in the United States. The language might not appeal as well to the Z generation. read more. If faculty want to remove a section, it is not difficult for students to follow the main concepts. After review, I was impressed with this text on a number of fronts namely its clear writing style and comprehensive nature. Different perspectives of complex issues are presented. This is a particular strength of the text book from my view. read more. There are minor mistakes in some of the tables and figures, too. The Organization of American States (OAS) is the world's oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, held in Washington, D.C., from October 1889 to April 1890. I like the additional chapter on State and Local Government (Chap 14). In addition, the chapter on the Bureaucracy is placed in the "Outputs of Government" section alongside the chapters on domestic and foreign policy, rather than its more traditional place just after The Presidency. Overall, this is a solid choice in terms of comprehensiveness. The text is consistent in its use of terminology. It will be interesting to see the update after Election Day. However, there were some paragraphs, that were a bit wordy and I am concerned that at times the author may lose the student due to this wordiness. The second edition of the text provides more than 100 substantial updates from the last two years. Although I found having a chapter on Bureaucracy toward the end of the textbook unconventional, overall organization of the topics covered in the text are presented in a logical fashion. That said, there are areas where the text is quite brief and doesn't provide terribly deep discussion. The founding chapter and the Constitution are great chapters and will always be relevant. The text is not culturally insensitive. I was quite impressed with this textbook, and have made plans to adopt it next year. The point-by-point "Summary" section is a great way for students to review the main ideas in the chapter. I will likely use this book to replace and supplement my graduate level course materials. 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 various appendixes include The end-of-the-chapter resources are also quite good (better than I've seen in many books from commercial publishers). Comprehensive in terms of concepts and how they related to current ideas. I suspect students will read the chapters as rather lengthy. Overall, the content is relevant and won't quickly become obsolete. Yet both Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh are not present in the graphic. In particular, I would like to see some more/more direct I plan to regularly assign these items to use in discussion and written work. The reader benefits from content that is organized in a fashion that is both comprehensible and predictable. Political behavior for presidential and mid-term congressional elections should be analyzed independently. Additionally, there is a strong foundation of accurate historical background presented, especially in the Constitution chapter that provides the background necessary for understanding. 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. The text is easily divisible into smaller sections that can be reordered within the course. Each chapter is clearly divided into main sections with learning objectives, and there the text is further divided under clearly delineated sub-section heads. The content of the book is accurate. The authors do a superb job. The interface is excellent. Ideas are presented in a clear, logical fashion, and transitions between sections flow smoothly. My issue is that the map doesn't show differences among those democracies (e.g., parliamentary, presidential, etc.). In the balance, I recognize the critiques above may not sound like the book is a good resource. The supplemental materials (graphs, charts, figures, etc.) A number of important factors are left out. 1997. The text contains a variety of ideas and concepts. This is a welcome inclusion: Although most Americans interact far I found it very appropriate for undergraduates. American Government 2e offers a comprehensive survey of the core aspects of the US political system. This topic will require frequent updating. This is particularly identifiable in chapters one and two. One issue that does not receive a lot of direct attention is American political culture, including the values that underlie our 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. Sylvie Waskiewicz, PhD, is an editor, researcher and writer who specialties include textbook publishing and e-learning instructional design, including copyediting and proofreading with meticulous review of text, layout, and media from first pages to printer proofs as well as QC of web content (HTML/XML). Within each chapter, sections are consistently arranged to first build comprehension and then work toward deeper analysis of topic, which is an effective pedagogical framework. I am also happy it comes in a printed version. 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. Only 2 left in stock - order soon. Then they are taught about the Founding of our country; moving on to the concepts of federalism, civil liberties, civil rights, and then to the institutions of our democracy. Key terms are also defined at the end of each chapter. 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. These hyperlinks will distract the reader. Some texts may cover only one additional chapter other than the basic chapters one would expect. One small issue: I found that I could not order a free 'desk' printed version from the publisher, as is standard for normal texts. 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. This book uses clear language and of-the-moment context that brings the idea of government to life. If a student is particularly interested in a topic, this would give them an immediate opportunity to find more information. Furthermore, it also includes chapters on linkage institutions like parties, interest groups, and the media. First President of the United States. The fully integrated print and digital content of United States Government: Our Democracy is grounded in solid pedagogy, strong authorship, and includes a full suite of thoughtfully designed teaching and learning tools. Much of your textbook is solid, such as Chapter 8 on the Media. In fact, the text compares positively with other leading texts in this regard. Relax. For class, it would probably be necessary to inform students of the most important links to review. V of the Constitution. The explanation of disagreements and legal decisions in particular is objective yet clear what values, tradeoffs, etc were at stake and how the decisions affected government especially.