American Democracy in Context. Joseph A. PikaЧитать онлайн книгу.

      A Note from the Authors

      We write this book at a time when democracy seems under assault not only abroad but also at home. At no time in the last seven decades have there been so many challenges posed to fundamental political practices and institutions that have long gone unquestioned. Students need answers and a sophisticated understanding of how democracy works and why the nation adopted the practices now in place.

      Understanding American politics involves much more than knowing the facts. It also requires understanding the causal connections in politics. From these connections, students can see how and why the decisions and actions of government officials matter to them. We have tried in this text to help students understand why politics and government institutions have developed as they have in the United States and to see the effects of our politics in things that they care about.

      The three of us have been teaching American politics for more years than we want to count, and we have found that students are curious about the connections between things. They especially want to understand why we do the things we do and in the ways we do them. Our twin strategies to help students understand American politics include an analysis of its historical development and comparisons with the politics of other countries. We use both history and comparison as analytic devices—this book is neither a history of American politics nor a study of comparative politics, but both perspectives shed important light on American politics today.

      In this spirit, causal connections run throughout the book. We use comparison and historical development to meet students’ needs and to motivate them—not to fill a niche for comparativists or specialists in American political development. This is, at heart, a straight-ahead introduction to American politics, but one that adds essential context. In other words, we take seriously students’ desire to understand why our system operates the way it does and its consequences for democracy.

      Our experience is that many introductory American government texts are cluttered with boxes and features. This book minimizes all but the most important. We integrate most of our features—notably the bookends of each chapter, “Perspective” and “Consequences for Democracy”—into the text itself because they are so central to our presentation. In each chapter, “Perspective” and “Picture Yourself” present historical and comparative perspectives on the distinctive characteristics of American politics discussed in that chapter.

      Students appreciate course materials that help them learn and truly understand difficult concepts. We have sought to write a book worth reading and not only cover the basics. We have challenged ourselves in writing American Democracy in Context and we want to challenge students, in the best sense of that word, to arrive at a better appreciation and a deeper understanding of how and why American politics matters. We have enjoyed working together on this project. We hope that you and your students will find similar pleasure from using it.

      John Maltese, Joe Pika, and Phil Shively