Promise and Performance of American Democracy

This brief but inclusive narrative textbook focuses on the comparison of the theoretical promise of democracy with its actual performance. Readily accessible to undergraduates, the text is anchored in and motivated by political science scholarship. This new edition has been completely revised and updated and incorporates the results of the 2000 presidential and congressional elections. With thorough coverage of the successes and failures of the workings of democracy in today’s United States, PROMISE AND PERFORMANCE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY provides students with tools they can use to understand politics, evaluate the functioning of democracy, and make educated voting decisions.

Jon R. Bond, Professor of Political Science at Texas AandM University, received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research analyzes the policy making process and the operation of democracy in American politics. Professor Bond has published articles on presidential-congressional relations, congressional elections, and public policy in the discipline's major journals and is coauthor of THE PRESIDENT IN THE LEGISLATIVE ARENA and coeditor of POLARIZED POLITICS: CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT IN A PARTISAN ERA. In 1987-88, Dr. Bond was a Congressional Fellow, working on the staffs of Senator Lloyd Bentsen and Representative Norman Mineta. He has served as coeditor of the Journal of Politics, and on the Executive Councils of the Midwest Political Science Association, Pi Sigma Alpha, and the Southern Political Science Association. He served as Vice President of the Southern Political Science Association.