The Struggle for Democracy

The book was received with basically no tears or folds. So far I have used it a lot. The book is incredibly up to date with pictures of Barrak Obama in it and it talks about the current reccesion as well. However who knows maybe in 2011 this book will be "out of date".

Great seller, helped me save more than $100 in just one of my classes. Book was used and came in the same condition advertised, great help!

This book is in great condition. I received my book within no time at all.

The book came out of plastic. Tt was in perfect condition. The shipping was a deal!

The book, 'The Struggle for Democracy' by Edward s. Greenberg and Benjamin I. Page, is used in the introductory political science course at the community college where I tutor. This is undated to include issues that have arisen after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the current Bush presidency. For example, there is a clear and interesting discussion of the Bush/Gore Florida controversy, showing the various methods of recounting and their tallies, the judicial decisions and public issues surrounding the recounts, and the political reality that helped shape the final outcome and acceptance of the situation as it is. This book contains not only a survey of political ideas and institutions in the United States, but also introduces the idea of critical thinking and engagement for the readers, most of whom at this level of college work will likely have only had high school civics classes, but who will also begin exploring the political world around them, having reached voting age. The authors state that the idea of critical thinking is based upon two primary themes -- 'Using the Democracy Standard' and 'Using the Framework'. Between the two, setting norms and standards and figuring out how things actually work within the constitutional and political paradigms of experience, students will come away with a sense not only of how things should be done, but also how things are done, and hopefully, how they can be a part of a political system in which things are done better. This book includes various web explorations, and comes with a student access code to use an internet area geared toward the book. This edition also advertises a new 'By the Numbers' feature, which talks about government facts, figures and statistics, and how to understand them. Some of this covers elementary concepts in economics. The book has five main sections, which include coverage of the typical topics of American political science -- the branches of government (Executive, Legistlative, Judicial); political parties and media, social movements, interest groups, constitution and federal aspects, ettc. The book also takes care to place American issues in a broader context, drawing in foreign policy and international issues, as well as being attendant to minorities and marginalised peoples. The pages are colourful -- most pages have pictures and/or graphics, and there are colour side bars, bold text, and headlines throughout, to give the pages visual appeal in multi-colour process printing. The text is engaging and informative without being stodgy and academic. I wish we'd had textbooks like this twenty-five years ago, when I was doing my political science degree!