The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity

As I mention in the title, this book offers a great wealth of information on many different topics in American government. The pieces are condensed so that one can understand the authors most important arguments. This anthology has proved an invaluble resource when composing countless papers. While this review sounds like an ad for the book, it is not. This book will aid many poli sci students in their understanding of the subject.

The value of Ann Serow and Everett Ladd's work rests in the value of lofty ideas versus specific evidence. The editors have taken these extensive works and broken them down to the bare bones of the arguement, a formidable task for political figures such as V.O. Key, Alexis de Toqueville, and Jesse Ventura. The editors have done a fine job, not only in giving the authors' arguments concisely, but also in maintaining a rational flow to their arguements. The editors masterfully leave the background research to the political science student. The only problem with the book is that it the selections focus little on environmental politics, which is a field unjustly neglected by political science as a discipline, and in politics today. So in the realm of environmental awareness, unfortunately, editors make no strides forward.