The Logic of American Politics

About this book

Now featuring the logic of policymaking! Praised for its engaging narrative The Logic of American Politics hooks students with great storytelling while giving them a taste of real political science. Students come to understand why institutional design concepts like voting rules and delegation help explain why the American political system works the way it does. The authors build students critical thinking skills through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems. The Seventh Edition of this best seller continues to delve into partisan differences among voters and in government exploring issues such as the Affordable Care Acts troubled implementation the increasing legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage in the states and the debate over President Obamas executive action on immigration. A new concluding chapter on policymaking examines the noticeable logic that guides American policy as shown through policies like health care reform global climate change and the federal budget. Students glean insights into the sources of policy problems identify possible solutions and realize why agreement on those solutions is often so hard to achieve. Robust pedagogical features strengthen the texts analytical approach: boxed features maps tables and figures make for a rich experience as students learn to analyze data; new learning objectives throughout the text provide measurable takeaways; and more than 200 carefully chosen photographs grab students attention.