The Logic of American Politics - Softcover

The Logic of American Politics does a superb job. In addition to providing students with all of the basics that they need, it provides an analytical framework that encourages students to move beyond the essentials and to grapple with fundamental questions concerning the operation of the American political system. --Eric Schickler, University of California, Berkeley

The logic of American politics? Are those snickers from your students as they deride the phrase an oxymoron? By helping them see that political institutions and practices are imperfect solutions to collective action problems, distinguished scholars Samuel Kernell and Gary C. Jacobson and new coauthor Thad Kousser reveal a rationale to the U.S. political system and give students a window through which they can not only view American politics but also come to understand it. Known for its engaging narrative, the book s new edition continues to weave historical context, current politics, and analytic concepts into a text that gently strengthens students theoretical understanding while hooking them with great storytelling. In order to make the argument fully accessible to a student audience, the new edition highlights passages that apply the collective action and institutional design themes presented in the introduction. The fourth edition has been revised and updated throughout, and will include full coverage of the 2008 elections. Two major developments in the new edition deserve special note: a new section in the first chapter introduces students to a toolkit of institutional design concepts command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, delegation and examples of how they work.With this toolkit, students learn the concepts for exploring America s governmental system in later chapters. with a fully revised final chapter, Logic looks forward to assess the implications of its argument for widely promoted reforms of policy and institutions. Tables, figures, photographs, cartoons, bolded key terms, a glossary, annotated reading lists, review questions, and exercises help illustrate core ideas and aid in review and study. A series of thematic boxes further the book s analytic framework: Logic of Politics examines the design of various political institutions in light of the objectives they were intended to achieve. Strategy and Choice shows how officeholders and those seeking to influence them employ institutions to advance their goals. Politics to Policy highlights how public policies reflect the institutions that produce them and evaluate institutional capacity to solve the nation s problems.