This text covers nearly all of the major topics covered in American Government texts. .nav-contain-highered{ I noticed no issues of the kind. The supplemental materials (graphs, charts, figures, etc.) Students at all levels will have no difficulty with the language used therein. I saw no issues there. ACT & SAT Practice Books. 33. Concept 1: Foundations of Government . Not every one covers Civil Rights and Liberties or Foreign and Domestic Policy, but this text does offer a chapter on each of those. Democracy in America: How Is It Doing? - The New York Times The United States democracy is based on principles and ideals that are embodied by symbols, people, and documents. To learn about the specific purchase options for this program, please contact our Customer Service team at 800-338-3987. Differentiation strategies as well as project-based learning materials are included. I never saw any problems with that concern. This is a welcome inclusion: Although most Americans interact far more with their state and local governments than the national government on a daily basis, historically American government courses have de-emphasized sub-national politics. I made significant checks throughout the textbook and found it to accurate in the information provided. read more. The text's prose is written in a clear and concise fashion. And I would rather see the civil rights and liberties grouped with discussion of the constitutional framework and courts, while voting and elections are groups with parties and media. The text is very written and edited, I did not notice any grammatical errors, although that was not the primary focus of my review. From the origins of the US political system, the constitutional framework, participatory inputs, formal institutions, and public policy, the major points are The chapters are arranged in a way that makes sense to the material. At the same time, I should point out that, at least in my view, the book is organized in an unconventional way. The content is very up-to-date and includes/examines relevant current issues. However, each chapter is organized with clear and explicit learning goals and achieves everything you need from an American Government textbook. The book is actually slightly longer and denser than other texts I have assigned for an introductory course in American government. OAS - Organization of American States: Democracy for peace, security The unit heading probably need more explanation and their rationale for selecting the chapters under each unit topic spelled out. Offers many examples and insights to a wide variety of political views and cultures. read more. PO 4 The Links to Learning and Insider Perspective features in the text help to enrich the material without breaking the overall flow of discussion. Students and the System 2. In the balance, I would say that the textbook does not do as good a job of providing multiple viewpointsor being honest about its own orientationsas those that are professionally published. At the same time, given the overall quality of this book and the money my students would save if I assigned it, I am seriously considering changing texts for the first time in over a decade. Good, though for my purposes (I teach a graduate level policy processes course), some could be broken down differently for my use. I would have included in most, if not all chapters after the constitution, sections where students would be guided on how to engage with politics effectively in the context of each chapter. Prior to reviewing this text, I was not very familiar with open source textbooks. I liked the Supreme Court and Electoral College Appendices, very nice additions beyond the usual set of founding documents. Current and updated; the textbook has a wealth of information ad applicable activities. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. From the founding and Constitution to the major institutions of Congress, Courts, and the Presidency, these major areas are all covered. 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. But as I noted above, the unhelpfulness of bolded terms can be genuinely confusing and are inconsistent (Katie Holmes gets bolded? I didnt find any interface issues in this textbook. Americans believed all people (i.e., White males) possessed the rights to life, liberty, and property. 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. Students will develop an appreciation for the value of citizenship and civic . Only problem I saw: there are 2 versions of this book in OpenStax. In my classes using the book, I have done quite a bit of rearranging. Solid end of chapter educational aids are provided. by. 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 Such can pose a roadblock for the easily distracted student or the person using the aid of a text reader. I found the language clear. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. Reviewed by Rolfe Peterson, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Susquehanna University on 2/11/20, This textbook is extremely comprehensive. It was updated in 2020. The text did not include culturally offensive material and seemed inclusive in its examples and discussion. However, I believe that the chapter on Bureaucracy (Chapter 15) would be better placed after the discussion of the Presidency (Chapter 12). read more. Chapter tests include traditional and document-based question tests. The book seems to presume knowledge of the concept based on preceding chapters. American Government by Krutz and Waskiewicz is an exceptionally good textbook. It focuses on the importance of community engagement and social responsibility among middle and high school studentscore themes in the Massachusetts 8th Grade History & Social Science Curriculum Framework. The textbook is relevant and up to date, relative to the time it was published. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and . However, after assigning the questions, I found that the 'full online' version has the review questions INTEGRATED into the text (scattered in the chapter) AND provides ANSWERS to them. It covers all of the major topics an introductory text should cover and a few others as well. This progression is evident, for example, in the learning objectives that begin each section of the text. United States Government: Democracy in Action. Sometimes the beginning of the paragraphs are repetitive but this may favor comprehension of the content. Founding Father James Madison may have best described the difference between a democracy and a republic: "It [the difference] is that in a democracy, the people meet and exercise the government in person: in a republic, they assemble and administer it by their representatives and agents. I found the navigability of the textbook easy. 9. In my view, chapters four and five are stellar and provide alternative voices to the narrative. Mixed views of structural changes in the political system. The text's clarity is excellent. This text will only need updates in the area of the presidency, public policy, and possibly elections. Because of the breakdown by the author, students can tackle smaller blocks of material easily and I believe that this will help with comprehension of the material. I think that's important to show that most of the world's nations do operate with a democratic framework. The subchapters themselves are internal divided with separate headers, though this third level organization is not numbered. For example, in talking about Courts, jumping from the concept of jurisdiction (complex) to Hamilton and the Federalist, and then to the historical evolution of the Court is a bit jarring. font-weight: 400 !important; 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. Before joining OU, he served on the faculty of Arizona State University and helped run two large-scale National Science Foundation projects as a doctoral student at Texas A&M University. The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. The book looks very good, is easily navigable, and has a pleasing visual style (viz. The text is not culturally offensive, but I would like to see more sections or paragraphs that flesh out diversity and politics. The images and charts used in the book help clarify the concepts very well. However, the preponderance of examples from the Obama and Trump eras will become outdated and need updates supplied by the instructor. read more. The internal structure of individuals chapters is clear and logical. The accuracy of this text is equivalent or higher than any introductory text I am familiar with. For example, the definition of the margin of error that is provided is not technically correct, and the example that follows the definition is not correct even in a non-technical sense. I was not able to determine any instances of errors, although there are a few places where the coverage was a bit subjective or questionable. These subjects were covered using terminology that was timely and clear. Making it possible for a student to read 2-3 pages and then stop/think about what they have covered. It even has a section on Civil Rights and Native Americans. I believe that modularity is one of the strengths of this text. This article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorizing them.The systems listed are not mutually exclusive, and often have overlapping definitions. Access and customize online lesson plans and explore the library of resources. Sometimes the content makes leaps (are heuristics really an appropriate topic for an Intro to Government textbook, given how complex the concept is in the political psych literature)? The text appropriately covers the essential concepts, and their related application, for American government and politics. Reviewed by Hyokyung Kwak, Assistance Professor, College of Charleston on 9/19/21, This textbook covers all the main topics need for American government 101. The modularity of the chapters should allow the instructor to more effectively chunk material than most other textbook options. I don't see how you could read text meant for an 8.5 by 11 inch page on a smart phone. In the course of using this textbook, I have discovered no significant errors. For example I like to group Congress and Interest Groups together, the Presidency and Political Parties, and Civil Rights and Civil Liberties with the Judiciary. For example, I do a lot with the 9th Amendment, but it only has three paragraphs in the textbook. It covers most, if not all, of the material that I typically cover in my American Government course and does so in an engaging way. In other words, most of the world's countries are parliamentary, not presidential. 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. Overall, this is a good text that seems to be accessible for student learning. }. VII of the Constitution. I would have preferred more of this, but the book was adequate in this regard. It covers all the bases of an Introduction to American Government and then some. The founding chapter and the Constitution are great chapters and will always be relevant. I found it easy to adapt it to the different needs of my course. But I would rather have it smaller so I can add what I think is important than have too much material overwhelm the students. Each unit has three to four sub units that can easily be assigned in different readings This is the type of written activities I use in the classroom, specifically teacher driven selected chapter readings. This text covers nearly all of the major topics covered in American Government texts. This book is easy to divide into chapters or sections that make sense for the progression of the semester. 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 set up an assignment for my students to respond to a question based on the discussion in this section in an online class. read more. 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. Also, discussions are not biased toward any political ideology. But the textbook does well dealing with less amorphous topics, like the simple history of the Constitution or structural questions; for instance, the discussion of the eccentricities of the double-jeopardy concept. Chapter 9: Presidential Leadership - Freeman Middle School The chapter on civil rights includes sections on African Americans, women, native Americans, Alaskans, Hawaiians and the LGBTQ community. PDF OUR AMERICAN GOVERNMENT - GovInfo It is such a long and comprehensive textbook that possibly it might suffer from not having a clear and overriding theme. The chapters are subdivided into appropriate sections with relevant information with documentation given with charts, diagrams, references to Supreme Court decisions and stories from media sources. Instructor and student resources are need improvement. In fact, Kurtz et al. But thats ok! Back to List. For example in the discussion on the writers influencing the colonies toward revolution, Locke, no doubt an important writer, is presented while many others could have been highlighted. This textbook is extremely comprehensive. The goal of each section is to enable students not just to recognize concepts, but to work with them in ways that will be useful in later courses, future careers, and as engaged citizens. I liked the incorporation of the graphics, which will enable students to work on their graphic/data interpretation skills. Thankfully, though, the chapters are easy to move around. Question #55 61. The book is very comprehensive. 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. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 election, and key aspects of the first-term of the Biden administration are usefully addressed in the text. The book seemed to use inclusive examples--for example, the racial breakdown of the federal judiciary. I have detected nothing in the text that could be considered culturally insensitive or offensive. While I am echoing this notion from a previous review, I did find it to be true that Kurtz et al. The is consistent in its use of terminology, and the frameworks that it provides are generally helpful and clear. For example, Chapter 1, Section 3 has a discussion on civic engagement along with colorful graphs and data pertaining to 18-29 yr olds and their political participation. I think that the textbook goes too far in this direction. In 1988, the U.S. Senate paid tribute with a resolution 3 that said . This textbook is perfect for my American government course that I teach to undergraduates at the community college level. I really like that a section on state and local government is included. For example, while Federalism (Chapter 3) is included in the "Students and the System" section, State and Local Government comes much later in the book (Chapter 14, in the "Formal Institutions" section). The comprehensiveness of Krutz's American Government text is such that it more than adequately addresses the curricular requirements of the American government and politics courses offered by the Virginia Community College System. The uniqueness of the American system is rarely mentioned (e.g., the fact that it has a presidential, federal system, with true separation of powers). Uses current issues as examples of concepts. I use review questions in each chapter for mandatory homework. It covers all the areas that may be taught in an American Government intro class. One of the strengths of the Krutz text; each chapter format patterns the same learning styles and methods. Although there is an internet link to the Articles in Chapter 2, I find it more useful for students to have access to the Articles within the textbook so they see they are important. Ive covered organization under clarity above, so setting this aside, the textbook is good at being consistent in its tone and content, and chapters are easy enough to utilize. The content is mostly up to date. No instances of cultural insensititvity. In reviewing the table of contents, I found the book has a logical flow that begins with defining what government is and then proceeds to provide information on the critical subjects of our democracy including but not limited to: The Constitution, federalism, civil liberties, civil rights, voting, Congress, the presidency, our court system, and the federal bureaucracy. Table 17.1 on page 643 is useless. This is certainly the Achilles Heel of American government textbooks, some of which have been written as direct reactions to, say, the 2016 elections or the lens of inequality. Sections open with learning objectives that tell students the 2-5 most important things to take away from that reading, and quiz questions populate the text at the end of sections to help students self assess their understanding of the reading. I do think the other subsections on elections get a little shortchanged. This is something that can be adjusted by the instructor, and I rarely teach in the order books present the material anyway. It would be easy to rearrange the chapter order of this textbook to suit the needs and style of most anyone teaching an American government 101 course. Actually, I think it is. 35. Overall, an excellent textbook which covers the needed subject matter comprehensively. The book covers all of the basic components of American government. The text offers an accurate synthesis of American political scholarship and is presented in an unbiased manner. Reviewed by Nicholas Goedert, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech on 6/20/17, The text is impressively comprehensive, both with respect to its range of coverage and depth of discussion of each topic. read more. They provide both classic and current concepts throughout the textbook. The sources cited, within the sections of each of the various chapters, are from reputable, recognizable experts in their fields of study. In general, I am impressed by the amount of thought and research that has gone in to preparing this edition. The book is clearly and accessible written. Mrs Doering s Classroom Government Wikispaces. These long reading stretches are furthermore too frequently interrupted by "Note" features that while allowing for the opening up of key court cases concerning the topic at hand also lengthens the necessary attention span expected of the students beyond a reasonable extent. The following key features of U.S. Government: Our Democracy support both government content and civic engagement standards: Government in Your Community, which prompts students to . I particularly liked the "Get Connected," "Links to Learning," and "Insider Perspectives." The text, while voluminous, should be readily understandable to the typical student. al consideration. My preference would be to have these topics addressed earlier on in the textbook. Also, I was disappointed that I requested access to the instructor resources a few weeks ago, but as of the start of the semester I have still not received access. The textbook follows the usual model of an American Government textbook. SKU: b117200 . I think the book could benefit from a more extensive glossary at the end of each chapter, rather than each section. The text interface is good. The book clearly defines all the terms and theories and in plain language for non-majors to understand. The authors or editors clearly made an effort to be inclusive in this chapter. This coverage emphasizes and links back to the section of the text on Civic Engagement. The book is up to date and has most of the usual citations one would expect of an Introduction to American Government text. United States Government Our Democracy Textbook PDF Book Details . If a student is particularly interested in a topic, this would give them an immediate opportunity to find more information. Not every one covers Civil Rights and Liberties or Foreign and Domestic Policy, but this text does offer a chapter on each of those. ), does a bit better job of using a small number of key concepts transaction costs, conformity costs, free riding, the prisoners dilemma, etc. It seems to be equal to any 'standard' Am Gov text. Reviewed by Gina Flakes, Adjunct Professor, Aiken Technical College on 5/24/21, American Government 2e offers a comprehensive survey of the core aspects of the US political system. 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. the Cold War era is not well articulated. It is very comprehensive and covers all the necessary information. Offers coverage of topics that most instructors would cover in such a class, including political behavior, civil rights/liberties, American I was actually surprised at the 'updatedness" of the book. And sections on the actually branches of government come near the end. Particularly well written is the "Approach to Foreign Policy, p. 650, especially, the "Classic Approach" and the more recent history of U.S. foreign policy. 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. Within each unit, the chapters are structured to provide connections between topics that build upon the prior chapter's learning objectives .