Understanding Politics: Ideas, Institutions, and Issues - Softcover

Magstadt, Thomas M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0495797766 ISBN 13: 9780495797760

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 2010

Synopsis

With its strong, engaging "politics are pertinent" theme and current, cutting-edge coverage, UNDERSTANDING POLITICS: IDEAS, INSTITUTIONS, AND ISSUES, is the proven best-selling text for the introduction to political science course. Thomas Magstadt fascinates students with his coverage of three fundamental premises: 1) politics is a pervasive force in modern society; 2) government is too important to be left in the hands of a few; and 3) in a democracy, everyone has both the opportunity and the obligation to participate in public life. The Ninth Edition focuses on such vital concepts as democracy, dictatorship, citizenship, voting behavior, elections, leadership, ideologies, war, revolution, world politics, and public policy--fundamental concepts that provide students with a view of politics and economics that is at once lucid, nuanced, and empowering.

About this title

About the Author

Thomas Magstadt earned his doctorate at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is the author NATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS: COMPARATIVE POLITICS IN REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE, Sixth Edition, (Wadsworth Publishing, 2011), and AN EMPIRE IF YOU CAN KEEP IT: POWER AND PRINCIPLE IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY (CQ Press, 2004). He has also published numerous journal articles, policy papers, and op-ed pieces, and is a regular contributor to Nation of Change, an on-line daily newspaper. He has chaired political science departments at Augustana College (Sioux Falls) and the University of Nebraska (Kearney), and has taught at the Thunderbird School, the Air War College, and the University of Missouri--Kansas City. In the 1980s, he served for a time as a foreign intelligence analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency. He was a Fulbright Scholar in the Czech Republic from 1994 to 1996. From 2007 to 2010, he lectured on the European Union at the University of Kansas.

Review

"To me, this book stands out in its combination of the theoretical and the empirical. Some other introductory texts are more comparative, some more theoretical, but this one blends them well, and that is hard to do. My students like this book and find it interesting and accessible. So I suppose my answer here is that this book is the best in its little niche."Stephen Robertson, Middle Tennessee State University

"I can honestly say that I haven't even considered another book. Understanding Politics provides exactly what I want and provides me with the appropriate supplements to make my course challenging, thought provoking, and relevant!" Henry Patterson, Lorain County Community College

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0495797766
• ISBN 13: 9780495797760
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 720