The Promise and Performance of American Democracy - Softcover

Bond, Jon R.; Smith, Kevin B.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0495115355 ISBN 13: 9780495115359

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2007

Synopsis

American Government courses are constantly changing because of world events and the political cycle. As you know, we just went through an election cycle that determined many governor races as well as the party in control of Congress. We incorporate all of these major changes in this new edition. In addition, there are other current issues covered in this new edition including issues of immigration, education, and the tensions of the federalist system. "The Promise and Performance of American Democracy" uses the theme of the title in each chapter to gauge how our government, including its institutions and political influences, are measuring up. Furthermore, the authors use political science theories to outline the promise and performance so you get a sense of how political scientists study the processes, politics, influences, and institutions, of American Government.

About this title

About the Author:

Jon R. Bond, professor of political science at Texas A&M University, received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research analyzes the policy-making process and the operation of democracy in American politics. Professor Bond has published articles on presidential-congressional relations, congressional elections, and public policy in the discipline's major journals. He is coauthor of THE PRESIDENT IN THE LEGISLATIVE ARENA, and coeditor of POLARIZED POLITICS: CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT IN A PARTISAN ERA, and INSTITUTIONAL GAMES AND THE U.S. SUPREME COURT. In 1987 and 1988, Dr. Bond was An APSA Congressional Fellow, working on the staffs of Senator Lloyd Bentsen and Representative Norman Mineta. He has served as coeditor of the JOURNAL OF POLITICS, and as president of the Southern Political Science Association, the oldest regional political science association, and Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society.

Review:

"In my opinion, the Bond, Smith...text meets the needs of my course better than any other text on the market. The authors do an excellent job of clearly presenting the major concepts and theories of political science without cluttering the text with useless trivia and distracting "USA Today"-style graphics. This is not American Politics for Dummies, and I think my students appreciate the lack of condescension."

"I'm very impressed with this text. What sets The Promise and Performance apart from most other American politics texts is that it puts the political science back into introductory American politics courses by addressing important research findings throughout, and yet keeps the material at a level that's appropriate for its audience. My choice of texts in the past has been more or less limited to those employing an explicit rational choice perspective, but this is the first text that has made me reconsider that criterion in at least seven years. In addition, the figures in most chapters are among the best that I've encountered and they are very helpful in clarifying concepts, for the most part."

"In my opinion, it is the best American Government textbook currently on the market."

About this edition

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0495115355
• ISBN 13: 9780495115359
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 672