This new edition of the bestselling The Logic of American Politics is thoroughly updated and covers the dramatic 2016 election results with a thorough analysis of those results. It arms students with a revised introduction to institutional design that makes concepts such as command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, and delegation easier for students to master and apply, so they clearly see how the American political system was devised and why it works the way it does. Authors Samuel Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, and Lynn Vavreck build students' critical thinking through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems. This new edition continues to delve into partisan differences among voters and in government and highlight the increasingly partisan nature of campaigns. By 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 immigration, the book illustrates how the institutional structures of government, federalism, and even campaigns can help voters make sense of their choices. The concluding chapter on policymaking examines the noticeable logic that guides American policy, as shown through issues 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.

Recipient of a 2021 McGuffey Longevity Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Why does the American political system work the way it does? Find the answers in The Logic of American Politics. This best-selling text arms students with a toolkit of institutional design concepts—command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, and delegation—that help them recognize how the American political system was designed and why it works the way it does. The authors build students′ critical thinking through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems. Thoroughly updated to account for the most recent events and data, the Ninth Edition explores the increase in political polarization, the growing emotional involvement people have to politics, Americans’ reactions to changing demographics, the partisan politics of judicial selection, and the changing nature of presidential leadership. Revised to include the 2018 election results and analysis, this edition provides students with the tools they need to make sense of today’s government. A Complete Teaching and Learning Package SAGE Premium Video Included in the interactive eBook! SAGE Premium Video boosts comprehension and bolsters analysis— featuring animations of basic American government concepts and recent news clips connected to key topics in the book. Preview a video about voter turnout. Interactive eBook Includes access to SAGE Premium Video, multimedia tools, and much more! Save when you bundle the interactive eBook with the new edition. Order using bundle ISBN 978-1-5443-6664-7. Learn more. SAGE coursepacks FREE! Easily import our quality instructor and student resources content into your school’s learning management system (LMS) and save time. Learn more. SAGE edge FREE online resources for students to make learning easier. See how your students benefit. SAGE course outcomes: Measure Results, Track Success Outlined in your text and mapped to chapter learning objectives, SAGE course outcomes are crafted with specific course outcomes in mind and are vetted by advisors in the field. See how SAGE course outcomes tie in with this book’s chapter-level objectives at edge.sagepub.com/kernell9e. CQ Press Lecture Spark Designed to save you time and ignite student engagement, these free weekly lecture launchers focus on current event topics tied to key concepts in American government. Access this week’s topic.

A core American politics textbook, complete with a range of free teaching ancillaries The American political system is extraordinary and complex. Samuel Kernell and Gary Jacobson help students develop a sophisticated appreciation of the possibilities and limits of American politics. Encouraged to think and not merely to memorise facts, students will come to understand why political institutions, the politicians who occupy them, and the citizens who monitor and respond to their actions, behave as they do. A nation as large and diverse as the United States faces enormous challenges. Kernell and Jacobson analyse political institutions and practices as (imperfect) solutions to problems facing people who need to act collectively, highlighting throughout the text such obstacles as conflicts over values and interests, the difficulty of agreeing on a course of action, and the problem of free riding. They describe how the choices made to resolve such problems at one moment affect politics in the future, long after the problems have faded.The intelligible logic of American politics is analysed further in three sets of thematic boxes that appear throughout the text: The Logic of Politics boxes dissect the design of various political institutions in light of the objectives they were intended to achieve Strategy and Choice boxes, new to the second edition, show how officeholders and those seeking to influence them employ institutions to advance their goals. Politics to Policy boxes show how public policies reflect the institutions that produce them and evaluate institutional capacity to solve America's problems. Public policy is treated as an integral subject and is examined throughout the book, rather than in separate chapters that are often left unassigned. Politics into Policy boxes, in particular, extend the authors' analysis, looking at such issues as: the tightening of the borders in the wake of terrorists attacks, how smoking evolved from a private to a public issue, and the decades-long battle over campaign finance reform.Special features include: * Chapters open with lively and topical stories that draw students in* Thematic questions at the beginning of each chapter serve both to preview important themes and to get students thinking critically. * An abundance of carefully produced or selected tables, figures, photographs, and other visuals, thoroughly updated for the second edition, illustrate and expand on the text. Captions enrich or exemplify points of discussion. New exercises on the accompanying website help students learn to interpret the graphic presentation of data. * Key terms are defined in boldface on first use, summarized at chapter end (with page numbers), and defined in a glossary at the back of the book. * Chapter objectives, summaries, and electronically-graded quizzes to help students review and study the material are offered on the web at logic.cqpress.com. Annotated suggested readings lists and endnotes assist students in their exploration of American politics beyond the pages of the book. Additionally, the Logic website provides CQ Weekly articles that illustrate the logic in contemporary American politics, as well as links to the best relevant sites on the Internet.Adopters will receive a free subscription to CQ's Politics Daily e-newsletter. Unlike general news sources that focus on national polls and punditry, CQ Politics Daily analyses th

Conveying how the American political system is both extraordinary and complex, the authors explain in a simple and straightforward way that there is a rationale embedded in the U.S. political system. This underlying logic helps students see why political institutions are structured the way they are, and why the politicians who occupy them, and the citizens who monitor and respond to their actions, behave as they do. Kernell and Jacobson analyze political institutions and practices as imperfect solutions to problems facing people who need to act collectively. Throughout the text, the authors highlight these collective action problems, including the conflict over values and interests and the costs associated with finding and agreeing on a course of action. They describe how the choices made to resolve problems at one moment affect politics in the future, long after the original issues have faded. They emphasize the strategic nature of political action, from the Framers' careful drafting of the Constitution to contemporary politicians' strategic efforts to shape policy according to their own preferences.

Lawyer Daniel L. Feldman's purpose is to help the citizenry see the logic of our form of government and use it to make current public-policy decisions in line with the precepts of constitutional tradition.

A comprehensive, trusted core text on media’s impact on attitudes, behavior, elections, politics, and policymaking, Mass Media and American Politics is known for its readable introduction to the literature and theory of the field, and for staying current with each new edition on issues of new and social media, media ownership, the regulatory environment, infotainment, and war-time reporting. Written by the late Doris Graber--a scholar who has played an enormous role in establishing and shaping the field of mass media and American politics--and now lead by Johanna Dunaway, this book has set the standard for the course. New to this edition: Extensive coverage of political misinformation - the role changing communication technologies and mass media more generally are playing in its consumption and dissemination, as well as how the press is handling and should handle reporting on political misinformation, especially as it pertains to the presidency, elections, and crises like Covid-19. Updated coverage of the role social media and other popular digital platforms are playing (or not playing) in the effort to stop the spread of mis- and dis-information on their platforms, with special attention to both foreign and domestic efforts to use these platforms to incite violence, cause confusion about, and/or encourage distrust in, democratic institutions. Expanded treatment of rising affective, social, and ideological polarization in politics, with a special focus on whether and how mass media are contributing to these forms of polarization. New updates on causes and consequences of expanding news deserts, declining local news, and rampant growth of hedge-fund media ownership. Up to date coverage of what researchers are learning about the implications of growth in digital, social and mobile media use. What does it mean for attention to news and politics?

Examining the current state of democracy in the United States, 'The Unheavenly Chorus' looks at the political participation of individual citizens - alongside the political advocacy of thousands of organized interests - in order to demonstrate that American democracy is marred by ingrained and persistent class-based inequality.

This book discusses under what conditions states can take unilateral action to promote the interests of the international community. It puts forward an argument in favour of unilateral action in the common interest, but suggests a number of restraining techniques to limit its intrusiveness.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1901.