American government : a brief introduction. 5th ed.

The fifth edition of American Government continues in the tradition of its predecessors and is updated into the administration of President George Bush. The introductory chapter places American politics in a cultural set ting and emphasizes the political impact of the transformation of the United States from a rural to an urban society. Chapter 2 discusses de mocracy in the United States, in particular whether the democratic princi ples that are supposedly the foundation of the American form of govern ment are on the wane. Next, the text examines the individual components of American government: its basis in the Constitution of 1787 (Chapter 3); the federal system (Chapter 4); interest groups, public opinion, and a new section on the role of the news media (Chapter 5); political parties (Chap ter 6); the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the national gov ernment (Chapters 7, 8, and 10); and the national government's bureauc racy (Chapter 9). Finally, the concluding chapter provides an overview of public policy. The formulation and carrying out of public policy affect such areas of governmental concern as agriculture, welfare, civil rights, defense, labor, and of course-foreign affairs. We have retained the The fifth edition continues to reflect the authors' varied perspectives. Each has traveled extensively and lived abroad. One of us spent some time working in the federal bureaucracy in Washington before entering academic life; one of us shifted careers in the other direction, leaving aca demic life for the Foreign Service. Working in government is a remark able and sometimes exhausting-experience, but it is nonetheless en riching. We hope that our contact with day-to-day government has enhanced our ability to explain how this complex and extraordinary mechanism works. Of course, the work is our own, as are the opinions that we express.