This book helps readers become intelligent evaluators of American political dialogue by exposing them to high-quality classic and contemporary selections from presidents, philosophers, and political scientists and the great arguments of American politics. It shows readers how to 1) arrangeand rearrangefacts, 2) identify the core arguments of public affairs, 3) evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various theories of American politics, and 4) apply those theories to current problems. Combining both core readings in political science and recent arguments on current controversies in each chapter, it shows thecontinuityof political debates over decades and centuries and encourages readers to come to theirownconclusions while evaluating evidence and arguing over theory. The selections are excerpted/condensed for accessibility and chapter overviews and summaries place the readings in context and link the various arguments together.Features essays, excerpts, and speeches--classic, contemporary, and very recent readings--by presidents, philosophers, and political scientists on: The American Political Environment (Theories of American Government; Political Culture and Ideology; The Constitution and the Tradition of the Founders; The Tensions of Federalism); The Process of Democracy (Public Opinion and the Media; Political Parties; Interest Groups); Governmental Institutions (Congress; The Presidency; The Bureaucracy; The Judiciary); American Politics and Public Policy (Civil Rights and Liberties; Government and the Economy; America's International Relations).For anyone interested in American Government or Politics.