The Logic of American Politics

By Samuel Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, et al.

Book Overview

Now featuring the logic of policymaking

Praised for its engaging narrative, The Logic of American Politics hooks students with great storytelling while giving them a taste of real political science. Students come to understand why institutional design concepts like voting rules and delegation help explain why the American political system works the way it does. The authors build students′ critical thinking skills through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems.

The Seventh Edition of this best seller continues to delve into partisan differences among voters and in government, exploring issues such as the Affordable Care Act's troubled implementation, the increasing legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage in the states, and the debate over President Obama's executive action on immigration. A new concluding chapter on policymaking examines the noticeable logic that guides American policy, as shown through policies like health care reform, global climate change, and the federal budget. Students glean insights into the sources of policy problems, identify possible solutions, and realize why agreement on those solutions is often so hard to achieve.

Robust pedagogical features strengthen the text's analytical approach: boxed features, maps, tables, and figures make for a rich experience as students learn to analyze data; new learning objectives throughout the text provide measurable takeaways; and more than 200 carefully chosen photographs grab students′ attention.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1483319849
• ISBN13: 9781483319841
• Release Date: June 2015
• Publisher: CQ Press
• Length: 760 Pages
• Weight: 2.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Worth reading outside of class

As an undergraduate, I find newsman's assertion that I can't grasp free rider problems insulting. It's not rocket science. Anyway, the prose is amazing, the book is chock full of fascinating historical examples, and the exposition of ideas is logical and tidy. It doesn't even strike one as a textbook upon reading. The typical dry, textbook blandness can be found nowhere. After my class was over, we hadn't completed the book, but it was interesting enough for me to finish it on my own -- and I'm an engineering major!

Great book - one of the best in the area

I have used this textbook in my undergraduate course in American Politics for over 5 years because it is one that encourages students to use theoretical tools to think critically and to understand how government works as well as anticipate what will happen given a set of circumstances - that is what theory is all about. The rational choice perspective is presented very clearly and I have not had a student who has not gained some greater understanding of the governmental process through their reading of this textbook. Moreover, the book is rich in historical and contemporary examples. The book is not perfect, but few textbooks meet that criteria. And it is certainly not above the heads of college undergraduates, but rather interesting enough to get them engaged, and challenging enough so that their brains grow a bit rather than having material that is dummied down for them. It does have some big words in it, but students can look them up or the teacher can explain them to them... ; )