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The First Edition of Keeping the Republic acknowledged that many students view politics irrelevant or unrelated to their lives. The Second Edition perseveres in capturing the attention of reluctant readers by focusing on the guiding themes of power and citizenship, emphasizing that political participation can benefit groups who join the process. The authors employ a friendly, conversational style to introduce students to politics as a struggle for power and resources, producing winners and losers. Throughout the text, students are challenged to imagine what the political scene would look like if the rules were different, if historical events had alternate conclusions, or what might happen if elements of other countries' political systems were incorporated into the US's.

The text begins with an introductory guide on how to read the book and achieve success in the course. Some major themes include the rights and responsibilities of citizens, introduced in Chapter 1 and reinforced with "Citizenship and..." sections at the end of each subsequent chapter. "What's at Stake?" vignettes at the beginning of chapters describe political events, focus on key players and outcomes, and are revisited at the end of each chapter. Students can hone their critical-thinking skills by studying "Consider the Source" boxes, which help them analyze the political information they encounter so they can develop, assess, and verify their own ideas. Other pedagogical tools include key terms in the margins, at the end of chapters, and in a glossary; and Who, What, How boxes that provide a table and narrative summary of key points.

• A streamlined text and modified organization contains new examples, photos, and information.
• The Keeping the Republic feature replaces Points of Access and offers concrete ways for students to meet civic responsibilities and encourages them to develop a better understanding of their roles in American politics.
• Who Are We features encourage students to examine the way demographic trends relate to government and policy.
• Politics in Focus offer sidebars covering issues that focus on a specific point within the chapter topic.
• Updated diversity coverage highlights issues related to gender, race, and ethnicity.
• Global perspective call-outs make comparisons to alternative forms of government from around the world and help students incorporate an international viewpoint into their perception of politics at home.

Average Customer Rating:

comprehensive explanation of the American system

Customer Rating:

As a textbook for political science students, the authors offer engaging reading. Explaining from scratch the American political system. With an understandable emphasis on the federal level of government. Naturally, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are prominently discussed. But so too is the federal bureaucracy. In fact, an entire chapter is devoted to the latter. Constitutional and legal purists might decry this. But the intricacies of the federal government are a fact of life, with some 3 million civilian employees [excluding the armed forces]. And the chapter goes someways towards deciphering this apparatus. Public opinion and ways in which it might be influenced [or manipulated, depending on your viewpoint], also gets a chapter. Related to this is another chapter on interest groups. If you are going to read either chapter, you would do well to also read the other. The description of the political parties seems quite even handed. A dispassionate analysis of their main themes and supporters. Along with a historical context of how both parties changed. Naturally, terrorism and the post 2001 events get considerable play. Here, the book is on somewhat weaker ground. Simply because the very timeliness of events means that it is hard for any text to keep up.