St Bride's Parish Bulletin, Ssbci Florida Application, Articles U

The book is very comprehensive. Yet a majority also says that the "fundamental design and structure" of U.S. government is in need of "significant changes" to make it work today. Images and charts that are presented are not distractions at all, most of the time they are enhancements of the chapters. I mentioned this earlier, but I think it is important to have the chapters presented in a different order. Milestone Documents. Each topic by chapter is integrated with all the others in some way. When you become a U.S. citizen, you also make these promises: give up loyalty to other countries defend the Constitution and laws of the United States obey the laws of the United States serve in the U.S. military (if needed) do important work for the nation (if needed) The modularity of the chapters should allow the instructor to more effectively chunk material than most other textbook options. The content is mostly up to date. Complex ideas were synthesized inlanguage that was easy to understand. It is one of the few textbooks that offers colored images in it. I find it useful assigning my students questions based on discussions in various sections of chapters. This is a well put together textbook and with periodic revisions should be useful for students of American government for many years and decades to come. This text is VERY detailed in its coverage, which is impressive and surprising given its relative brevity. Differentiation strategies as well as project-based learning materials are included. , but for next semester, the text needs to provide 2016 turnout and election data. Solid end of chapter educational aids are provided. Democracy and government, the U.S. political system, elected officials and governmental institutions Americans are generally positive about the way democracy is working in the United States. This text had no major interface issues. Making it possible for a student to read 2-3 pages and then stop/think about what they have covered. The use of terminology appears to be consistent between chapters and is a strength of the textbook as repetition is valuable for student retention of a particular term or concept. Mixed views of structural changes in the political system. I do miss a chapter on political culture, but even without it, the text is good. The text provides an accurate, informative, cost-effective option for college students. This topic will require frequent updating. Reading and writing support such as guided notes, vocabulary pop-ups, and graphic organizers help improve understanding of the content. I also think the book does an exceptional job bringing in minorities not traditionally covered in American politics texts (Asian Americans, Native Americans, etc.) 7. The material offered more than meets the appropriate standard for a textbook used in a first or second year course in American Government and Politics. While I am echoing this notion from a previous review, I did find it to be true that Kurtz et al. The figure icon needs to be fixed or dropped. Not a major issue for $40, but annoying. The materials contain frequent references to variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. The framework/layout of each chapter is consistent which is an aid to both the instructor and the reader. Bill of Rights Poster: File Size: 199 kb: File Type: pdf: . But the textbook does well dealing with less amorphous topics, like the simple history of the Constitution or structural questions; for instance, the discussion of the eccentricities of the double-jeopardy concept. The authors or editors clearly made an effort to be inclusive in this chapter. In the preface, there is a chart of the makeup of the United States Supreme Court, listing the justices, and their ideology of conservative versus liberal. Feb. 23, 2017. I also liked very much the "exercises" section allowing "assessment of learning." The division of provisions of the Bill of Rights into three categories is arguable at best. Below are the modifiedexcerpts that are assigned to you. I liked the film recommendations as references, although I wondered why they only came after three chapters (Intro, Congress, Courts)? I never saw any problems with that concern. read more. There is little to nothing lost compared to a mainstream textbook. The definitions in the glossary are precise. Creating the Constitution. Reviewed by Carley Shinault, Assistant Professor, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania on 3/13/19, The text covers the full range of standard American Government textbooks, from government and civic engagement, to civil liberties and rights to branches of government and foreign policy. The text does not contain any grammatical errors. The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion. You have been searching for correct information on United States Government Our Democracy Textbook . The content delivers plenty of perspective for students to learn about American government. The text is not culturally insensitive, supplying context to why the Founders created the government originally and how it has evolved. I didnt have any difficulty navigating the book. The text is written in lucid, accessible prose, and provides adequate context for any jargon/technical terminology used. United States Government Our Democracy Textbook PDF Book Details . By the standards of Introduction to American Politics textbooks, this is a comprehensive offering. The text is easily divisible into smaller sections that can be reordered within the course. The introduction and the summaries are useful starting and ending points for the reader and the addition of thoughtful critical thinking questions plus the keyword pages are another useful addition to the work. You have a solid editing staff doing well to ensure a good syntax throughout the book. The work provides a comprehensive overview of both the formal and informal political institutions that one would expect to find in an introductory-level American Government text. That is the conclusion of a new survey of 1,571 political scientists. Not every one covers Civil Rights and Liberties or Foreign and Domestic Policy, but this text does offer a chapter on each of those. As mentioned earlier, chapters are structured in reasonable ways. The concepts are: growth of democracy, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, civil liberties . -- to shed light on a wide variety of phenomena and encourage students to think analytically. I suspect some will like this placement and others not, it is likely a matter or preference, but is worth noting. The endnotes are difficult to follow. This is a good choice as the textbook for beginning level political science courses. The cosmetics of the book is well done. Some of the information in it is five years old and the writing does not explore clearly the theory of federalism and its evolution. The book is consistent with similar complementary materials. This is the first time that I have thoroughly reviewed an open source textbook for potential use in a course, and I was impressed by the overall quality of the book. It is certainly a viable option for my course. Also, discussions are not biased toward any political ideology. So if you wanted to teach the presidency before Congress, there is enough information about Congress in the presidency chapter that students would be able to understand it without having first read the chapter on Congress. have even added very impressive policy chapters (domestic and foreign) that you only see on occasion. As a form of government, democracy has been practiced for over 2,500 years, though in different forms, such as direct democracy of the ancient Athenian So things will change and go out-of-date. Generally, I don't think my critique of the modularity poses a problem for the use of this text. In updates to this text, it may be useful to search for more contemporary illustrations of key concepts, and this would be a relatively easy fix to implement. Sylvie Waskiewicz, PhD, is an editor, researcher and writer who specialties include textbook publishing and e-learning instructional design, including copyediting and proofreading with meticulous review of text, layout, and media from first pages to printer proofs as well as QC of web content (HTML/XML). The textbook content is clearly organized into sensible modules. I have not tested it on a smartphone; however, on a computer the book is easy to navigate - to move between chapters, sections, pages, etc is easy. The 5 sections of the book could also be broken apart, for instance I would assign Chapter 15, but not 16 or 17, given the constraints of time. I do not see the natural connection that ties those topics together. The consistency and cohesion of the organization of the textbook is on par with all the other material on the market. read more. The chapters contain accurate information. Uses current issues as examples of concepts. It supplements text content with useful links that serve as a great tool for boosting application and comprehension. The historical approaches in many chapters provide contextualization of concepts. Our students love videos---was it a conscious decision not to include video links? Very logical and clear organization. Here, citizens vote for their government officials. It is easy to navigate, the images/charts are relevant and clear, and all other display features serve to enhance the key point, theory, etc. It is very comprehensive and covers all the necessary information. Elazar is a bit dated to present as useful fact (14.2) Many Supreme Court Justices do not regard the Court systems as the guardians of individual rights, but reserve this right to Congressthe Court, in their eyes, is there only to enforce laws that are made, whether right or wrong, so long as they are strictly in concordance with the Constitution. The next time I teach American politics, I will definitely use this text. My kudos to the author. Faculty involved in the project have endeavored to make government workings, issues, debates, and impacts meaningful and memorable to students while maintaining the conceptual coverage and rigor inherent in the subject. The text does not contain any grammatical errors. In the course of using this textbook, I have discovered no significant errors. I suspect students will read the chapters as rather lengthy. Effective participation 3. Chapter 8 on the Media is the best chapter I've seen on that subject. Much of your textbook is solid, such as Chapter 8 on the Media. Enlightened understanding 4. The judiciary doesn't change that often and it rarely affects more than two members at a time. This was an early indication of the accuracy of the textbook. It also does a great job bringing in marginalized or minority voices. One important tenet of this system is democracy, in which the ultimate power rests with the people. Text is well written and provides adequate context for necessary political science terminology. Overall, I like the organization of each chapter with the review questions, further reading and film suggestions. It covers all the bases of an Introduction to American Government and then some. Customize the learning experience for differentiated instruction using leveled reading, customizable assessments and worksheets, and flexible online learning tools.