You Decide!: Controversial Cases in American Politics - Softcover

Shank, Alan; Drachman, Edward

9780847692453: You Decide!: Controversial Cases in American Politics

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0847692450 ISBN 13: 9780847692453

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1999

The new century requires a new approach to the study of American government. You Decide! is the most innovative textbook about American government to be published in years. Although the American political landscape at the close of the 20th century is a fascinating and complicated subject, veteran political scientists Alan Shank and Edward Drachman have produced a timely and comprehensive guide for both students and teachers. This textbook, designed specifically for introductory level courses on American Government and Political Science but appropriate for Advanced Placement classes in high schools, presents the most pressing controversies facing the nation in a concise, highly accessible case format. Students are provided with background information, summaries of options available to policy makers, and insights into possible future developments, encouraging them to engage these issues and decide for themselves how the nation's leaders should proceed. Instructors receive helpful suggestions for teaching the cases, including class activities devised in conjunction with the lecture notes and suggestions for future reading. Among the controversial issues addressed are school prayer, affirmative action, bilingual education, campaign finance reform, Congressional term limits, the presidential line-item veto, welfare reform, and school vouchers. You Decide! lets you_student, scholar, general reader_have the final word.

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About the Author:

Alan Shank is professor of political science at SUNY, Geneseo. Edward Drachman is professor of political science at SUNY, Geneseo.

Review:

You Decide! is an interactive text in the good old-fashioned sense, presenting the facts and the arguments of both sides of current issues and offering challenging questions to the reader. Reading it as it is presented in manageable chunks, issue by issue, eliminates any excuse to avoid the public debate. Highly recommended. (Nancy Brown Speckmann, San Diego State University and Grossmont College)

Ideal for classroom use. Employs a highly effective pedagogical framework that includes concise overviews, case studies, and policy alternatives of relevant political issues in American politics. This volume will both inform and critically engage the student. (Joseph R. Fornieri, Rochester Institute of Technology)

You Decide brings institutional and public policy issues to life with interesting narratives that frame issues of the day and incisive questions that are sure to provoke classroom debate. This expanded and revised second edition promises to engage students of politics in addressing some of the most challenging topics in U.S. politics today. (Michael J. Goff,, Loyola College in Maryland)

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