AmGov: Long Story Short

Acknowledgments
Read This First (or Nothing Else Will Make Sense)
Chapter 1: Politics and Citizenship
	Introduction to Politics
	1.1 Coming to Terms: Politics, Government, and Economics
	1.2 Political-Economic Systems
	1.3 This Book’s Profound Bias
	1.4 American Political Culture
	1.5 American Political Ideologies
	Gen Gap! How Our Birth Year Affects Our Politics
	1.6 Political Narratives and the Media
	1.7 Mediated Citizenship
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 2: The United States’ Founding
	Introduction to the Founding
	2.1 Classical Liberalism, the Social Contract, and the Declaration of Independence
	2.2 The Articles of Confederation
	2.3 The Constitutional Convention
	2.4 Ratification
	2.5 Translating Basic Constitutional Principles Into a New Government
	2.6 Federalism
	2.7 The Evolution of Federalism
	Gen Gap! Generational Attitudes Toward the Federal Government
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 3: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
	Introduction to Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
	3.1 The Bill of Rights
	3.2 Civil Liberties—Understanding the First Amendment
	3.3 Civil Liberties—Understanding Due Process Rights
	3.4 Civil Liberties—Understanding the Right to Privacy
	3.5 Civil Rights—Battling Political Inequality
	3.6 Civil Rights—The Case of Race
	3.7 Civil Rights—The Case of Gender
	3.8 The Persistence of Inequality in America
	Gen Gap! Generational Attitudes Toward Discrimination
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 4: The Legislative Branch
	Introduction to the Legislative Branch
	4.1 How the Constitution Structures Congress
	4.2 How Congress Organizes Itself
	4.3 The Congressional Role in Checks and Balances
	4.4 Doing the Hard Work of Making Laws
	4.5 Tensions That Challenge Congress’s Ability to Do Its Job
	Read This! Senator John McCain on Bipartisanship
	4.6 Congressional Elections
	4.7 Who Runs and Who Wins?
	Gen Gap! Generational Attitudes Toward the Parties
	4.8 The 118th Congress
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 5: The Executive Branch
	Introduction to the Executive Branch
	5.1 The Job of the American President
	5.2 The Evolution of the American Presidency
	5.3 Presidents, Popularity, and Congress
	Gen Gap! Presidential Preferences Across the Generations
	5.4 What Is Bureaucracy, and Why Do We Need It?
	5.5 The Purpose and Organization of the White House Bureaucracy
	5.6 The Purpose and Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy: The Rest of the Executive Branch
	5.7 Power Plays in the Bureaucracy
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 6: The Judicial Branch
	Introduction to the Judiciary
	6.1 Kinds of Laws
	6.2 The American Legal System
	6.3 Who’s Who and What’s What in a Court of Law?
	6.4 Equality and the Criminal Justice System
	Gen Gap! Generational Attitudes Toward Justice in America
	6.5 The Constitution, Congress, and the Dual Court System
	6.6 The Supreme Court
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 7: Parties and Interest Groups
	Introduction to Parties and Interest Groups
	7.1 Parties and Interest Groups Defined
	7.2 The Role of Parties in a Democracy
	7.3 Party Organization and Decision Making
	7.4 The Parties Today
	Gen Gap! Party Identification and Policy Preferences Across the Generations
	7.5 Interest Group Basics
	7.6 Interest Group Politics
	7.7 Was Madison Right to Worry?
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 8: Public Opinion, Campaigns, and Elections
	Introduction to Public Opinion, Campaigns, and Elections
	8.1 The Quality of Public Opinion
	8.2 How Do We Know What Americans Think?
	8.3 How Do We Form Our Opinions?
	8.4 The Ultimate Poll—Voting in U.S. Elections
	Gen Gap! How Younger Voters Feel About Voting
	8.5 Presidential Elections
	8.6 The General Election and the Electoral College
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 9: Media and Political Communication
	Introduction to Media and Political Communication
	9.1 Where We Get Our Information
	Gen Gap! Mediated Citizenship Across the Generations
	9.2 Media Ownership and Government Regulation
	9.3 What Do Journalists Do?
	9.4 How Those in the Media Can Shape Political Narratives
	9.5 The Stakeholders Strike Back
	9.6 Imagine: How Citizens Can Reclaim the Narrative
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Chapter 10: Domestic and Foreign Policy
	Introduction to Policy
	10.1 Making Public Policy
	10.2 Social Policy
	10.3 Policy Making for Health Care
	10.4 Economic Policy
	10.5 Foreign Policy
	Gen Gap! Generational Attitudes Toward Policy
	Big Think
	Key Terms
Glossary
Index
Afterword