For today's busy student, we've created a new line of highly portable books at affordable prices. Each title in the Books agrave; la Carte Plus program features the exact same content from our traditional textbook in a convenient notebook-ready, loose-leaf version - allowing students to take only what they need to class. As an added bonus, each Books agrave; la Carte Plus edition is accompanied by an access code to all of the resources found in one of our best-selling multimedia products. Best of all? Our Books agrave; la Carte Plus titles cost less than a used textbook! With a focus on competition for resources, this balanced, but provocative text uses Harold Laswell's classic definition of politics"Who gets what, when, and how"as a framework for presenting a clear, cohesive and stimulating introduction to the American political system. Thomas Dye, along with new co-author Bartholomew Sparrow, has written a lively and absorbing narrative examining the struggle for power that is American politics: the participants, the stakes, the processes, and the institutions. Numerous feature boxes explore timely issues, draw cross-cultural comparisons, promote critical thinking, and provoke thoughtful opinions. With the intense political conflict of the most expensive presidential campaign in American history and the hotly-contested primary campaigns that led to the national conventions in 2008,Politics in Americars"stheme of the constant competition for power and resources"who gets what"has never been more relevant.