This book consists of student-authored original research papers collectively examining the ways in which gender shaped, and was shaped by, the 2018 Year of the Woman elections.

This is a free textbook written for introductory undergraduate courses in American politics and government, covering the creation and principles of the Constitution, the fundamentals of American public opinion and political behavior, and the basic functions of the three branches of government.

Government can be defined as the institutions and processes that make and implement a society’s legally authoritative decisions. The government unit can be a city, a school board, a county, a state, a multi-state regional compact, a national government, or even an international body. In the U.S., government includes the national government institutions—Congress, the presidency, the federal courts, and the federal bureaucracies; the 50 state governments—state legislatures, governors, courts, and bureaucracies; and the thousands of local governments—cities, counties, and other special government districts such as school boards and the transportation authorities that govern airports, seaports, and mass transit. These governments make legally authoritative decisions that include legislation, administrative regulations, executive orders, case law rulings, and other public policy actions that are authoritative because individuals and organizations are obligated to obey them or face some kind of legal sanction.

Contents include:

1. Why Government? Why Politics? 2. The U.S. System of Constitutional Government 3. Congress 4. The Presidency 5. The Judiciary 6. Federalism 7. The Media, Government, and Politics 8. Public Opinion 9. Political Ideology 10. Political Participation 11. Political Parties 12. Interest Groups 13. Public Policy 14. Economic Policy 15. Food Policy 16. Crime Policy 17. Global Affairs 18. Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

These PowerPoint slides can be paired with the American Government 3e textbook by Openstax for in-class sections of the course. They provide matierial from the textbook, as well as data from the most recent elections, public opinion polls, and pew research center publications from within the last few years. This material provides both the political history of our country, as well as some pertinent information from current events affecting our political landscape.

These Video Lectures (all of which are accompanied by Supplemental Notes that appear in PDF files) draw upon select aspects of every chapter of the third edition of OpenStax's American Government text. The lectures and notes elaborate upon certain ponts raised in each chapter of American Government by providing additional historical context and relating the textual material to contemporary political events. At various points during the video lectures, quiz questions are asked in an attempt to enhance student engagement. (Quiz questions also appear at the end of the Supplemental Notes to each lecture.) For those who wish to use the quizzes, answer keys are included for each one.  

This course covers American Government: the Constitution, the branches of government (Presidency, Congress, Judiciary) and how politics works: elections, voting, parties, campaigning, policy making. In addition weęll look at how the media, interest groups, public opinion polls and political self-identification (are you liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican or something else?) impact politics and political choices. Weęll also cover the basics in economic, social and foreign policy and bring in current issues and show how they illustrate the process.

Originally published as American Government and Politics in the Information Age in 2011 as CC BY-NC-SA.
Updated by James J. Tuite in 2020. This is a textbook for the first part of an introductory course on the American political process. Teaches the structure, operation, and process of national, state, and local governments.

Video lectures are available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCInj8bmD5BUa9UnNrtAblznm6skFNZJh

This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. Governments decide who gets what, when, how (See Harold D. Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936]); they make policies and pass laws that are binding on all a society’s members; they decide about taxation and spending, benefits and costs, even life and death.Governments possess power—the ability to gain compliance and to get people under their jurisdiction to obey them—and they may exercise their power by using the police and military to enforce their decisions. However, power need not involve the exercise of force or compulsion; people often obey because they think it is in their interest to do so, they have no reason to disobey, or they fear punishment. Above all, people obey their government because it has authority; its power is seen by people as rightfully held, as legitimate. People can grant their government legitimacy because they have been socialized to do so; because there are processes, such as elections, that enable them to choose and change their rulers; and because they believe that their governing institutions operate justly.Politics is the process by which leaders are selected and policy decisions are made and executed. It involves people and groups, both inside and outside of government, engaged in deliberation and debate, disagreement and conflict, cooperation and consensus, and power struggles.In covering American government and politics, this text introduces the intricacies of the Constitution, the complexities of federalism, the meanings of civil liberties, and the conflicts over civil rights;explains how people are socialized to politics, acquire and express opinions, and participate in political life; describes interest groups, political parties, and elections—the intermediaries that link people to government and politics; details the branches of government and how they operate; and shows how policies are made and affect people’s lives.

Written as events unfolded, this edited collection of articles offers insightful and diverse perspectives on the Arab uprising, and expands to consider related political unrest outside the predominantly Arab world.

The U.S. political system suffers from endemic design flaws and is notable for the way that a small subset of Americans—whose interests often don’t align with those of the vast majority of the population—wields disproportionate power. Absent organized and persistent action on the part of ordinary Americans, the system tends to serve the already powerful. That’s why this text is called Attenuated Democracy. To attenuate something is to make it weak or thin. Democracy in America has been thin from the beginning and continues to be so despite some notable progress in voting rights. As political scientists Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens wrote, “The essence of democracy is not just having reasonably satisfactory policies; the essence of democracy is popular control of government, with each citizen having an equal voice.” (1) Since this is likely to be your only college-level course on the American political system, it is important to point out the structural weaknesses of our system and the thin nature of our democracy. Whenever you get the chance—in the voting booth, in your job, perhaps if you hold elected office—I encourage you to do something about America’s attenuated democracy.

This book is a broad introduction to Australian politics and public policy. This field of study is important for Australians to understand the exercise of political power, their history and the scope for change. It is also important for analysts outside Australia looking for comparative cases. Within this volume are diverse topics and perspectives, demonstrating that the study of Australian politics and policy is not ‘fixed’. Rather, it is a contested field of academic scholarship. Indeed, the volume’s editors do not all agree on the content of this introduction!

This course explores the physical, ecological, technological, political, economic, and cultural implications of big plans and mega-urban landscapes in a global context. It uses local and international case studies to understand the process of making major changes to urban landscape and city fabric, and to regional landscape systems. It includes lectures by leading practitioners. The assignments consider planning and design strategies across multiple scales and time frames.

During recent years the phenomenon of Boko Haram has dominated policy debates among academics and policymakers interested in African and Nigerian politics. Yet, many issues about the sect remain unclear and contested. This collection of articles on Boko Haram by selected experts is essential reading for those interested in Nigeria, and the broader issues of state building, terrorism, humanitarian emergencies, conflict resolution and intrastate violence.

Why Should Americans Study World Politics?

1. It can kill you.
2. It costs you money.
3. It affects your job.
4. It affects your shopping.
5. It affects your health.
6. The world is becoming more and more globalized, more and more quickly.

Whether we like it or not, world politics affects us greatly. So it is a good idea for us to know what is going on out there.

American Politics
The Constitution and the Founding of America
Federalism
Civil Liberties
Civil Rights
Public Opinion
Interest Groups
Campaigns and Elections
Political Participation and Voting
The Media
Congress
The Presidency
Bureaucracy
The Judiciary
Domestic Policy
Economic Policy
Social Policy
Foreign Policy

The events of the Arab Spring, beginning in December 2010, saw renewed hope for Arab Civil Society. However, the fall of authoritarian regimes did not always seem to benefit Civil Society – whilst Political Islamic movements often took advantage. In Syria, Iraq, and beyond, groups like the Islamic State are declaring Caliphates in the territories they seize in an attempt to fulfil the Political Islam ideal of a ‘global Islamic Caliphate’ encompassing the Muslim world. This collection of articles aims to address common questions about Political Islam, as well as to provide an assessment of the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL and finally challenge common understandings on the issue of Islam and democracy.

Canvas Course Shell for C-ID POLS 140 Introduction to International Relations: an introduction to international relations theory with an examination of national, international, transnational, and sub-national actors and their institutions, interactions and processes as they relate to global issues.