American Government and Politics

Democracy is not self-maintaining. It requires citizens who understand how power works, where
it is located, how it can be checked, and what happens when the checks fail. This textbook gives
students precisely that understanding — not as a historical curiosity but as a living framework
for the political world they inhabit.
Fully updated to 2026, this edition weaves current events into every chapter: the Supreme
Court’s 6–3 conservative supermajority and its decisions in Dobbs, Bruen, SFFA, and Loper
Bright; the January 6th attack and its constitutional aftermath; DOGE and Schedule F; the
Russia–Ukraine war; the Israel–Gaza conflict; and the Trump second term’s systematic testing
of constitutional limits.
Sixteen chapters organized around the discipline’s core questions cover:
• Political ideologies from classical liberalism to national conservatism
• Federalism, separation of powers, and constitutional checks and balances
• Civil liberties and civil rights from the founding through the Roberts Court
• How Congress, the Presidency, and the judiciary function — and malfunction
• Elections, campaigns, polling, and campaign finance post-Citizens United
• The administrative state, bureaucratic accountability, and regulation
• Media, social media, AI disinformation, and the fractured information environment
• Domestic policy: the safety net, healthcare, fiscal and monetary policy, and climate
• Foreign policy: the liberal international order, Ukraine, China, and America First
A textbook that takes students seriously — presenting competing arguments at their strongest
and asking whether American institutions are adequate to the challenges they face in 2026.