Politics in America, National Version (5th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Good introductory-level textbook.
Review: I just finished taking a class called "Introduction to American Politics" and this was our only textbook. I found the textbook to be easy to read, clearly written, and factually accurate. I fear that many students, like myself, who have already studied some in this area may find the book to be too simplified, and will get bored reading about the basics of material which is already familiar to them. The book is great for the novice, but is definitely not upperclassmen material.

Rating:
Summary: Good introductory-level textbook.
Review: I just finished taking a class called "Introduction to American Politics" and this was our only textbook. I found the textbook to be easy to read, clearly written, and factually accurate. I fear that many students, like myself, who have already studied some in this area may find the book to be too simplified, and will get bored reading about the basics of material which is already familiar to them. The book is great for the novice, but is definitely not upperclassmen material.

Rating:
Summary: good overview of government, though a bit biased
Review: Overall this book is a good overview of the american political system. The structures of the beurocracy, executive, congressional, and judicial branches are covered very thoroughly. However, I found that the author inserted a bit too much of his own Republican biases in it. There is a whole section devoted to "government waste" - a common election tactic by Republicans. While it is true that the government is wasteful- all beurocracies are to some extent- a recent survey showed the US gov't to be the 3rd most efficient in the world. Also, sprinkled throughout the book are convinient three paragraph long and very shallow "Counterpoints" which try to convince readers of republican principles from the flat tax to the abolition of affirmative action. The most egragrious offenses come in various profiles "people in polics" of various leaders in politics. Invariably, the Republicans profiled have their personal strengths asserted with a folksy charm, while the Democrats are given a far away overview as well as mention of some trivial personal faults (Barbara Boxer's overdrafts from the House banks- a trivial issue in the big picture of things- is in her bio). And of course there are also the "Liberal ratings" in it- with the late Paul Wellstone topping the list. In addition to all of this, the general wording of the book and word choice used betrays the clearly Republican biases of the author. Overall the book is not a bad book, it does a good and thorough job at outlining the structure of the federal government, however, reader beware of the biases of the author.