Designed to teach students in introduction to American government courses to think critically about the political information they encounter, this reader provides relevant, accessible selections with a contemporary focus. Students learn to read critically though a new five-step process that binds each article. Developed by the authors, this consistent critical-thinking strategy, referred to as CLUES, asks students to Consider the source; Lay out the argument; Uncover the evidence; Evaluate the conclusion; and Sort out the political end.
To draw students' attention a special preface, To the Student, explains the critical-thinking approach of the text and introduces the tools used throughout. In every subsequent chapter an essay defines the institution or political process discussed and briefly explains the major issues, why they matter, and how the readings illustrate and explore them. Each of the 16 chapters contains three to five articles that correspond to standard topics covered in an introductory government course, including political culture, the Constitution and Federalism, civil liberties and rights, Congress, the presidency, elections, and the courts.
- Engaging, contemporary articles from a variety of sources—print, broadcast, and the Internet—illustrate American government at all levels.
- Post-it-style call out notes within the readings draw students' attention to key passages to consider as they read.
- One classic reading per chapter, such as John F. Kennedy's inaugural address and Federalist No. 51, helps students understand and observe the changes or constants in key political arguments over time.
- Consistent end-of-chapter questions walk students through the CLUES method of critical thinking.
- Each chapter includes a personal account that shows the relevance of the political process to individual lives.Readings are balanced between objective and opinion-based points of view and vary in length and format to provide instructors with maximum flexibility.
Christine Barbour teaches in the political science department and the Honors College at Indiana University, where she has become increasingly interested in how teachers of large classes can maximize what their students learn. At Indiana, Professor Barbour has been a Lilly Fellow, working on a project to increase student retention in large introductory courses, and a member of the Freshmen Learning Project, a university-wide effort to improve the first year undergraduate experience. She has served on the New York Times College Advisory Board, working with other educators on developing ways to integrate newspaper reading into the undergraduate curriculum. She has won several teaching awards at Indiana, but the two that mean the most to her were awarded by her students: the Indiana University Student Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Faculty (1995-6) and the Indiana University Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Brown Derby Award (1997). She is currently working on a book about local politics, development and the fishing industry in Apalachicola, Florida.
Matthew J. Streb is assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies in the department of political science at Northern Illinois University. He specializes and teaches in areas of political parties, elections, polling and public opinion, and Congress, and regularly teaches sections of Introduction to American Government. Streb is the author, editor, or co-editor of seven books, including The New Electoral Politics of Race (2002), Law and Election Politics (2005), and Academic Freedom at the Dawn of a New Century (2006), and has published articles in journals, including Political Research Quarterly, Public Opinion Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Election Law Journal, and Politics and Policy. His most recent research examines the role that political parties play in judicial elections. Streb received his PhD from Indiana University in 2000.
