Keeping the Republic Second Edition

The book arrived on time and met the description as far as condition of the book. No complaints!

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.