Not covering the policy chapters? Then order the Essentials Edition (excludes chapters 16-19) with its free supplement analyzing the midterm elections.
Coming in July, this valuable supplement will provide an insider's guide to the 2010 midterm elections. When placing your order, be sure to use the ISBN on this page to ensure that your students receive the supplement packaged FREE with their textbook. Keeping the Republic, The Essentials, 4th Edition
The 2008 election will go down in the history books for a number of reasons, including the first African American at the top of a national party ticket, the longest nomination fight in recent memory, and a viable female candidate for president for the first time ever, but one of its most striking hallmarks is the early and enthusiastic involvement of young voters. While the passion they bring is encouraging, the key to their lasting impact will be the extent to which they really understand the functioning of the American political system, leading to a deeper and more abiding engagement.
By using the themes of power and citizenship, Barbour and Wright encourage students to analyze "who gets what and how" and evaluate how well the political system is working. In order to "keep the republic," students need to shoulder responsibilities as well as exercise their rights. In order to see where politics intersects their own roles as citizens, they need to absorb the ideas and theories that animate the study of political science and think critically about them. And in order to keep students reading, the prose needs to be clear, friendly, and relevant.
The key to this new fourth edition is thorough updating- including the 2008 elections-and the integration of subtle enhancements every class-tested, well-reviewed, and well developed book should offer. In addition to examining recent events and scholarship, more than half the photos are new, the figures and tables reflect current data, and new vignettes open a majority of chapters.
The themes of power and citizenship are touched on in every chapter, with each pedagogical feature extending the analytic and evaluative work of the text:
Who, What, How, and WHEN. These stunning visual and rich textual timelines track change and show the impact of key issues in American political history, such as immigration, third parties, whistleblowers, and developments in the media and in federal-state relations. What's at Stake? Chapter-opening vignettes vividly show what people are struggling to get from politics and how the rules affect who gets it. Acting as a bookend to the chapter, What's at Stake Revisited reexamines the story to further evaluate who wins and who loses. Profiles in Citizenship. Based on personal interviews, profiles of such luminaries as Bill Richardson, Condoleezza Rice, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Bill Maher provide powerful examples of how students might also affect change in the political process. Consider the Source. With the aim of modeling critical thinking skills, these boxes do more than tell students to analyze political information; rather, the authors show them how to do it-a crucial step in getting students to think like political scientists. Who Are We? A wealth of figures and charts showcase important demographic data and reinforce the idea that politics is a complex endeavor among diverse groups with often divergent ideas of government's role in individual lives. Who, What, How. Concise section summaries help orient students and reinforce analytic themes. The Citizens and... A designated chapter section that helps students evaluate the quality of democratic governance in America. Thinking outside the Box. Pointed questions get students to challenge their assumptions about American politics.
For more information about Keeping the Republic, The Essentials, 4th Edition, click here.
Debating Reform
As much as policy topics like abortion and same-sex marriage elicit spirited reactions from your students, aren't you looking for ways to get students out of their partisan corners? Ellis and Nelson have found that debating concrete proposals to reforming the political system encourages their undergraduate students to leave ideology behind and instead, to sift through competing claims and evidence.
Connecting classroom conversation directly to political institutions, students not only grapple with reform ideas but also join the discussion without the crutch of spouting opinion. With pro and con pieces written specifically for this volume, students consider and evaluate arguments from top scholars, thoughtfully exploring the ways government could work better.
For more information about Debating Reform, click here.
