For nearly 50 years, Burns, Peltason, Cronin, and Magleby's Government By The People has taught students the ins and outs of American Government. Now, as we enter a new millennium, no other book is better poised to take your students from on-lookers to participants. Combining the learning of a traditional textbook with the power of the Internet, Government By The People Web Interactive Version offers a narrative-only text with a highly developed website. Students read sections of the text to learn important concepts and basic information and then turn to the coordinated website to explore examples, photos, charts, and graphs. The website also includes the full text of primary source documents mentioned in the corresponding sections of the text, links to websites of further interest, and a mini-assessment so students can check themselves as they move through each chapter. After they finish working through a chapter, students can take a quiz, complete a brief activity using further websites, or explore our Election 2000 site. Government By The People Web Interactive Version lets students see democracy s participatory government in a whole new way.Students using this text require a special access code to enter the website. A card containing this access code should be packaged with this book. If it is not packaged with this text, log onto www.prenhall.com/burnsweb to purchase an access code on line.
PREFACE
Constitutional democracy—the kind we have in the United States—is exceedingly hard to win, equally hard to sustain, and often hard to understand without rigorous study. The form of constitutional democracy that has emerged in the United States requires continual participation by caring, tolerant, and informed citizens. The framers of our Constitution warned that we must be vigilant in safeguarding our rights, liberties, and political institutions. But to do this, we first have to understand these institutions and the forces that have shaped our political and constitutional systems.
American politics is now in a volatile period, with voters willing to switch back and forth between parties, and with the parties trying to find a basis for a new and lasting majority coalition. Although our defense policy changed with the collapse of communism, the world has not suddenly become a safe place in which to live. Regional strife and terrorism continue, and the United States has entered a period of reassessment of its role in the world, in the United Nations, in regional defense organizations like NATO, and in its economic relations with other countries.
Although we constantly turn to government and elected officials with problems and requests, we are still highly critical of their shortcomings. A recurrent theme of this book is the absolute need for politics and politicians, despite the widespread tendency to criticize nearly everything political. Contempt for government and politics is expressed here in the United States and abroad, yet politics and partisan competition are the life blood by which free people can achieve the ideals of a government by the people.
We hope you will come away from reading this book with a richer understanding of American politics, government, and the job of politicians, and we hope you will participate actively in making your constitutional democracy more vital and responsive to the urgent problems of the twenty-first century. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful for the help we have received from our colleagues, research assistants, and support staff, who have helped each of us in the preparation of this edition of Government By The People. Research assistants were: Brant Avondet, Jason Beal, Marianne Holt, Anna Nibley, Eric Smith, Kim Spears, Peter Stone, and Jon Tanner at Brigham Young University Elizabeth Schiller at University of California and Donna Jones and JoAnn Collins at Whitman College provided secretarial assistance.
Our special thanks go to our superb production editor, Serena Hoffman, who once again guided us in the rewriting of this book. She is as close to being a coauthor as a production editor can be. We also thank Beth Gillett Mejia, who has brought her considerable energy and experience to the design and content of this edition. We also thank our Prentice Hall friends: Phil Miller, Charlyce Jones Owen, Nancy Roberts, and Christopher DeJohn.
Finally, we thank the students and professors who have sent us letters with suggestions for improving Government By The People. We welcome your notes, calls, and e-mail concerning any errors or ways we can further improve the book. Please write us care of the Political Science Editor at Prentice Hall, 1 Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. James MAcGregor Burns
J.W. Peltason
Thomas E. Cronin
David B. Magleby
