Government can be defined as the institutions and processes that make and implement a society’s legally authoritative decisions. The government unit can be a city, a school board, a county, a state, a multi-state regional compact, a national government, or even an international body. In the U.S., government includes the national government institutions—Congress, the presidency, the federal courts, and the federal bureaucracies; the 50 state governments—state legislatures, governors, courts, and bureaucracies; and the thousands of local governments—cities, counties, and other special government districts such as school boards and the transportation authorities that govern airports, seaports, and mass transit. These governments make legally authoritative decisions that include legislation, administrative regulations, executive orders, case law rulings, and other public policy actions that are authoritative because individuals and organizations are obligated to obey them or face some kind of legal sanction.

American Government is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of the single-semester American government course. This title includes innovative features designed to enhance student learning, including Insider Perspective features and a Get Connected Module that shows students how they can get engaged in the political process. The book provides an important opportunity for students to learn the core concepts of American government and understand how those concepts apply to their lives and the world around them. American Government includes updated information on the 2016 presidential election.

This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. Governments decide who gets what, when, how (See Harold D. Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936]); they make policies and pass laws that are binding on all a society’s members; they decide about taxation and spending, benefits and costs, even life and death.Governments possess power—the ability to gain compliance and to get people under their jurisdiction to obey them—and they may exercise their power by using the police and military to enforce their decisions. However, power need not involve the exercise of force or compulsion; people often obey because they think it is in their interest to do so, they have no reason to disobey, or they fear punishment. Above all, people obey their government because it has authority; its power is seen by people as rightfully held, as legitimate. People can grant their government legitimacy because they have been socialized to do so; because there are processes, such as elections, that enable them to choose and change their rulers; and because they believe that their governing institutions operate justly.Politics is the process by which leaders are selected and policy decisions are made and executed. It involves people and groups, both inside and outside of government, engaged in deliberation and debate, disagreement and conflict, cooperation and consensus, and power struggles.In covering American government and politics, this text introduces the intricacies of the Constitution, the complexities of federalism, the meanings of civil liberties, and the conflicts over civil rights;explains how people are socialized to politics, acquire and express opinions, and participate in political life; describes interest groups, political parties, and elections—the intermediaries that link people to government and politics; details the branches of government and how they operate; and shows how policies are made and affect people’s lives.

A Critical Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics

Word Count: 243127

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Why Should Americans Study World Politics?

1. It can kill you.
2. It costs you money.
3. It affects your job.
4. It affects your shopping.
5. It affects your health.
6. The world is becoming more and more globalized, more and more quickly.

Whether we like it or not, world politics affects us greatly. So it is a good idea for us to know what is going on out there.

American Politics
The Constitution and the Founding of America
Federalism
Civil Liberties
Civil Rights
Public Opinion
Interest Groups
Campaigns and Elections
Political Participation and Voting
The Media
Congress
The Presidency
Bureaucracy
The Judiciary
Domestic Policy
Economic Policy
Social Policy
Foreign Policy

Canvas Course Shell for C-ID POLS 140 Introduction to International Relations: an introduction to international relations theory with an examination of national, international, transnational, and sub-national actors and their institutions, interactions and processes as they relate to global issues.

This book is primarily intended for second year and upwards undergraduate students in general political theory and international theory, and advanced international relations students. Each chapter is also downloadable on its own for use in courses considering only some of the ten theorists covered.

Written in an accessible way Conflict, War and Revolution will also interest advanced general readers with interests in the historical thought underpinnings of political ideas and today’s international politics.

Short Description:
This first and only university textbook of human security, intended as an introductory text from senior undergraduate level up, and includes chapters by 24 authors that encompass the full spectrum of disciplines contributing to the human security field. It is based on the four-pillar model of socio-political security, economic security, environmental security and health security. The chapters include learning outcomes, extension activities, and suggested readings; a comprehensive glossary lists key terms used throughout the book. This textbook can be used in courses on international studies and relations, political studies, history, human geography, anthropology and human ecology, futures studies, applied social studies, public health, and more.

Long Description:
This first and only university textbook of human security is intended as an introductory text from senior undergraduate level up, to be used in courses on international studies and relations, political studies, history, human geography, anthropology and human ecology, futures studies, applied social studies, public health, and other fields.

Its second, thoroughly revised and updated edition will represent again in a coherent fashion the field of human security and will set it apart from more traditional models of security. Its approach is again deliberately multidisciplinary and transcultural. In addition to a thorough overview of the human security concept, the chapters address problems and opportunities in international law, politics, international relations, human ecology, ethics, law enforcement, development aid, human rights, and public health. The reader is also introduced to specific human security regimes that address human rights violations, peace building and conflict resolution, as well as global environmental governance.

The book encourages a vision of the future that acknowledges the certainty of change, extrapolates significant current trends, and questions the values, beliefs and ideals that tend to inform some dominant notions of development. Because of its transdisciplinary approach, the book will appeal to a very wide range of interests at the post-secondary/tertiary level. It will be of particular interest to undergraduate and graduate students and researchers, and also to educators from various disciplines in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Word Count: 304560

ISBN: 978-1-77420-077-3

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This book is designed to be a ‘Day 0' introduction to International Relations. As a beginner's guide, it has been structured to condense the most important information into the smallest space and present that information in the most accessible way. The chapters offer a broad sweep of the basic components of International Relations and the key contemporaryissues that concern the discipline. The narrative arc forms a complete circle, taking readers from no knowledge to competency. The journey starts by examining how the international system was formed and ends by reflecting that International Relations is always adapting to events and is therefore a never-ending journey of discovery. Unlike typical textbooks, there are no boxes, charts, pictures or exercises. The philosophy underpinning this book is that these things can be a distraction. This book, like others in the E-IR Foundations series, is designed to capture attention with an engaging narrative. The chapters are short, with simple paragraphs and clear sentences placing the reader inside crucial issues and debates so they can understand how things work, and where they fit in the world around them.

Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics is the first open educational resource (OER) on the topic of comparative politics, and the second OER textbook in political science funded by ASCCC OERI, in what we hope will become a complete library for the discipline. This textbook aligns with the C-ID Course Descriptor for Introduction to Comparative Government and Politics in content and objectives. It is organized thematically, with each chapter accompanied by a case study or a comparative study, one of the main methodological tools used in comparative politics. By contextualizing the concepts, we hope to help students learn the comparative method, which to this day remains one of the most important methodological tools for all researchers.

Designed to meet the scope and sequence of your course, OpenStax Introduction to Political Science provides a strong foundation in global political systems, exploring how and why political realities unfold. Rich with examples of individual and national social action, this text emphasizes students’ role in the political sphere and equips them to be active and informed participants in civil society. Learn more about what this free, openly-licensed textbook has to offer you and your students.

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, 1st edition, is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

Authors:
- Josh Franco, Cuyamaca College
- Charlotte Lee, Berkeley City College
- Kau Vue, Fresno City College
- Dino Bozonelos, Victor Valley College
- Masa Omae, San Diego City College
- Steven Cauchon, Imperial Valley College

PDF Version ISBN: 978-1-7351980-0-2

An Introduction to Politics proposes to chart a path that is at once a little more brief, concise and in between than those textbooks currently on the market. As this class is usually taught to freshmen, there is little to be gained and much to be lost with overloading a text with too much minutiae of the ins and outs of politics. Covering too much will, in the end, be covering too little if students don’t read or give up on reading the book. Politics is a great story—the story of human existence. A successful textbook needs to tell that story.

Diplomacy is an evolving practice in terms of historical circumstance and changing national interests. History and interests do not always coincide. This book explores in brief, pungent case examples, the challenges diplomacy faces today as actors seek to change history and undermine interests. Stephen Chan OBE was Foundation Dean of Law and Social Sciences at SOAS University of London, where he remains as Professor of World Politics. He has occupied many named chairs around the world, most recently the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Chair of Academic Excellence at Bir Zeit University in 2015, and the George Soros Chair of Public Policy at the Central European University in 2016.

What makes a ‘nation’ and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This unit will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own. After studying this unit you should be able to: grasp the concepts of nation, nationalism and self-determination; have a better understanding of the role they play in current political disputes; think about the problem of how to take democratic decisions about secession; relate political theory to political practice more rigorously; take a more informed and active part in debates about national and international politics.

With contributions from scholars across North America and Europe, this edited volume explores contemporary political problems through various texts from antiquity through the present. Divided into two parts and a total of 15 chapters, the first five chapters explore “the classical heritage” and the last ten chapters turn to European Enlightenment ideas.

This edited volume is organized as a dialogue on the theme of global citizenship. In response to a lead essay by Canadian political theorist James Tully, seven subsequent chapters offer responses to Tully’s framing of global citizenship. The ninth and final chapter offers a closing response from Tully.