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U.S. Government: Our Democracy helps educators teach students about government and how to "do democracy.". Student Web Activity Visit the United States Government: Democracy in Action Web site at gov.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 13 Student Web Activitiesfor an activity about constitutional rights. This coverage emphasizes and links back to the section of the text on Civic Engagement. Defining Democracy 1. Reviewed by Alexander Cohen, Assistant Professor, Augustana College on 6/19/18, By the standards of Introduction to American Politics textbooks, this is a comprehensive offering. Effective participation 3. The text's clarity is excellent. There are a number of instances where, as was previously noted, there are significant blocks of text in long paragraphs without subheadings or some other type of break. It is one of the few textbooks that offers colored images in it. It follows the standard layout of American Government textbooks and offers an effective and easily searchable index. The deeper learning tools like Middle Ground and so forth allow the reader to learn more about a specific concept using a real world application and should provide the instructor with a ready-made activity that will more actively engage the student be it in an online or seated class. I certainly will moving forward. Very logical and clear organization. The division of provisions of the Bill of Rights into three categories is arguable at best. Thankfully, though, the chapters are easy to move around. The Declaration of Independence and parts of the Constitution are in the Appendices. The framework of the text is consistent and simple to understand. when necessary. This book uses clear language and of-the-moment context that brings the idea of government to life. The book's layout is consistent. Each chapter starts with basic concepts and moves discussion toward topics which need more critical thinking. Following this is a separate section on media, parties, and interest groups. The book seemed to use inclusive examples--for example, the racial breakdown of the federal judiciary. 3. Chapter . That was the first online textbook that I looked at and it gave me pause when considering using one. These help to engage students and cultivate reading, writing, and critical-thinking skills in a unique, and ever-growing platform. Americans believed all people (i.e., White males) possessed the rights to life, liberty, and property. I really liked that it had information from the 2016 election, as that is interesting to many students. Tipping the Scales Toward National Power. Also in terms of comprehensiveness, there are 17 chapters in total, which at one chapter per week is at least three or four more chapters than most instructors will be able to get through in a semester. In fact, in several places the book includes specific discussion of how the subject relates to minority or historically underrepresented or repressed communities that other texts tend to ignore (e.g. It is as accurate as any standard, mainstream textbook on American government. Terminology is placed bolded for easy identification. The language seems accessible. The text does a good job of covering the standard content (governments, federalism, civil rights, separation of powers, media, etc.). One note of concern is that the captions thereon in many instances are not fully compatible for a text reader. On diversity: Notwithstanding the fact that the book has text and images that represent different groups based on sex, race, religion and sexual orientation, among other characteristics; there is general reference to Hispanics being the largest minority group in the first chapter which is supposed to set up the main characteristics of our country. The text contains no grammatical errors that jumped out at me which is quite an accomplishment in such a voluminous text. I really like that a section on state and local government is included. Analysis of political institutions is well-balanced with substantial attention to the role of the individual and collective action. Key terms are also defined at the end of each chapter. United States Government Our Democracy Textbook PDF Book Details . For example, the term latent opinion comes up in the introductory chapter. The reading schedule is posted here by week, and the readings themselves can be found in the links below. There are even two chapters on public policy, which many basic textbooks omit. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement. Although in the last decade I have opted for brief editions of American government, in an electronic format a longer text is useful for For example, Plato and Aristotle are not included in the further readings of the introductory chapter on government. Accuracy is overall quite good. Surely, it would be impossible to cover all the relevant material in this book, but its format does allow the instructor to be selective about the sections within each chapter to be emphasized. The text covers all areas that one would expect from an introduction to American Government textbook. For example, when discussing the Boston Tea Party, the authors claim, "Today, many who do not agree with the positions of the Democratic of Republican Party have organized themselves into an oppositional group dubbed the Tea Party (41)." government, this book integrates instruction about state and local government throughout, rather than relegating these vital institutions to a unit at the end. This textbook is very comprehensive. The book was written at a high level but not an unclear one. The book is actually slightly longer and denser than other texts I have assigned for an introductory course in American American Government is a very comprehensive textbook. read more. It is easily the equal of most other traditional textbooks on the market now. Google Apps. Many different races, backgrounds, ethnicities are presented to give the reader a well-rounded picture of how all different groups participate in the American governmental process. I also liked very much the "exercises" section allowing "assessment of learning." Personally, I prefer to teach institutions before individual or collective action, and that looks like it would be easy enough to do with this textbook by simply assigning some of the later chapters first and then coming back to the ones in the middle of the book later. Students first learn what constitutes a government. This textbook is perfect for my American government course that I teach to undergraduates at the community college level. The chapters are well organized and reader friendly. The "Key terms" sections at the end of each chapter will be helpful to students who aren't sure whether they understand a particular term. The grammar is fine, and the book seems well-written. Adopting profs should read the chapters carefully so they know what areas get deeper coverage, and what areas get shallower treatment. First, on page 15, in Figure 1.6, is a map illustrating different forms of government throughout the world. Overall, this is a solid choice in terms of comprehensiveness. The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive and it makes use of examples that are inclusive more than the norm. In fact. Excellent. I am impressed with the comprehensiveness of the textbook. Faculty are used to getting free copies of texts. So concludes a recent study by Princeton University Prof Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Prof Benjamin I Page. United States Government: Our Democracy (2016) Publisher: McGraw-Hill . 60. for only $40. As other agents of socialization dont seem to educate students in how essential their participation is to a healthy democratic system, any text that emphasizes and provides easy ways to engage in politics is welcome. It covers all the bases of an Introduction to American Government and then some. The material offered more than meets the appropriate standard for a textbook used in a first or second year course in American Government and Politics. Almost all said that the United States . Unit II Assignments. The text makes frequent use of examples that seek to inform through inclusion so as to make the material more relevant to individuals from a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. font-family: ProximaNova,Helvetica Neue,Arial,Noto Sans,Liberation Sans,sans-serif,Apple Color Emoji,Segoe UI Emoji,Segoe UI Symbol,Noto Color Emoji !important; But I would rather have it smaller so I It covers all the bases of an Introduction to American Government and then some. This is not, however, a reason not to use the book as currently written and hope that it is appropriately updated in the years ahead. The text is evenly written with no discernible bias. However, chapters are sometimes questionably or confusingly organized, and compress wider subjects that usually receive broader treatment into footnotes or brief passages. The authors do a superb job. This topic will require frequent updating. Consistently uses contemporary examples. But the chapter in Foreign Affairs (Chap 17) is thin and needs more meat. Reviewed by Colin Glennon, Associate Professor, East Tennessee State University on 4/11/19, The book certainly has all of the topics expected of an Introduction to American Government text. read more. I didnt notice obvious grammatical errors in this textbook. I never saw any problems with that concern. The book's seventeen chapters are well-divided into five parts. Back to List. It is not overly complicated and written at the appropriate level. The writers also relied on tons of well-referenced outside sources that can easily be reorganized and incorporated into additional units. The text effectively frames controversial topics in American politics and the reader does not come away with the impression that the author's are putting their thumbs on the scale in favor of a particular interpretation or political ideology. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and . This edition (2016) has been eclipsed by the huge changes under Trump, but that is also true of all 'standard' texts. The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. ISBN. 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. My only critique of the book is that the sections on Congress, the presidency, and the court system appear later on in the textbook. Nearly every chapter has classic and current concepts to understand the evolution and development of institutions. The reason I say this is because the choice of content is a subjective process in itself and surely there are other content areas that could be added on a particular theme. There is a very broad selection of examples relating to variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds--the Civil Rights chapter is a good example. Because of the texts design, I believe that it will be a manageable task to keep it up to date. Instructors planning on using this book may want to request access to the instructor resources very early to avoid issues. Most importantly, the emergence of Donald Trump simply alters how the institution of the presidency communicates and respects (or doesn't respect) past institutional norms. US Government Textbook PowerPoints - McGrawHill; Power Points Economics; Power Point files from US Government: Mr. Juan Calderon. The text does not run the risk of becoming obsolete in a short period of time; however, many of the examples are quite common to other introductory American Government texts. It seems to be equal to any 'standard' Am Gov text. I think the book could benefit from a more extensive glossary at the end of each chapter, rather than each section. This publication continues to be a popular introductory guide for American citizens and those of other countries who seek a greater understanding of our heritage of democracy.