Democracy Under Pressure: An Introduction to the American Political System, 2006 Election Update - Hardcover

Cummings, Milton C.; Wise, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0495502138 ISBN 13: 9780495502135

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2006

Synopsis

Master the fundamentals of American government with DEMOCRACY UNDER PRESSURE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM, 2006 UPDATE! This political science text provides a realistic guide to American politics and institutions while discussing the way democracy responds to challenges from diverse constituencies or dramatic public events. Studying is made easy with student-friendly tools including bold-faced terms, bulleted chapter highlights, and an end-of-chapter list of key terms with page references.

About this title

About the Author

MILTON C. CUMMINGS, JR. (Ph.D. Harvard University) is an award-winning educator who received his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. After two years of graduate study in England, where he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, he earned a Ph.D. in political science at Harvard University. Professor Cummings worked for six years at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., where he did research and writing on American government and politics. He then joined the political science faculty at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he is currently professor emeritus. At Johns Hopkins he has been honored with numerous awards. These include the George Owen Teaching Award, the Edward H. Griffin Award, and several other citations for outstanding teaching. He has also received fellowships and grants for research from the Social Science Research Council, the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

David Wise is a political writer based in Washington. He is the author or coauthor of ten books on government and politics and is a leading writer on intelligence, espionage, and government secrecy. His articles have appeared in Vanity Fair, the New York Times Magazine, and many other major publications. He is former chief of the Washington bureau of the New York Herald Tribune, a former Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and was a regular weekly commentator on CNN for 6 years. For two years he lectured in political science at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His most recent book, SPY: THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW THE FBI'S ROBERT HANSSEN BETRAYED AMERICA (Random House, 2002), received high praise from reviewers. He is also the author of NIGHTMOVER: HOW ALDRICH AMES SOLD THE CIA TO THE KGB FOR $4.6 MILLION (HarperCollins, 1995), which was excerpted in TIME magazine. He is also co-author of THE INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT, a number-one best-seller about the Central Intelligence Agency that has been widely credited with bringing about a reappraisal of the role of the CIA in a democratic society.

Review

Preface. Part I: THE AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. 1. Government and the People. 2. The Constitutional Framework. 3. The Federal System. 4. Civil Liberties and Citizenship. 5. The Struggle for Equal Rights. Part II: POLITICS AND PEOPLE. 6. Public Opinion. 7. Interest Groups. 8. The Media and Politics. 9. Political Parties. 10. Political Campaigns and Candidates. 11. Voting Behavior and Elections. Part III: THE POLICYMAKERS. 12. The Congress. 13. The President. 14. The Bureaucracy. 15. Justice. Part IV: GOVERNMENT IN OPERATION. 16. Foreign Policy and National Security. 17. Government and the Economy. 18. Promoting the General Welfare. Part V: THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY. 19. State and Local Government. Appendices: The Declaration of Independence. The Constitution of the United States of America. Presidents of the United States. Selections from the Federalist Papers. Endnotes. Glossary. Credits. Index. Presidential Election Results, 1940-2004.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0495502138
• ISBN 13: 9780495502135
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 792