Gateways to Democracy: An Introduction to American Government

"Gateways to Democracy" continues with its framework of "gateways" to help readers conceptualize participation and civic engagement - even democracy itself - with reference to how individuals access the political system. This approach helps readers better see the relevance of government in their lives. Gateways uniquely incorporates policy into a section at the end of each chapter, helping readers better understand the connection between public opinion, policy-making and how public policy applies to their lives. The second edition, complete with 2012 election updates, emphasizes critical thinking by clearly outlining learning outcomes and enhancing learning with self-assessment "Checkpoints" and a clear chapter study plan.

Table of Contents:
1. Gateways to American Democracy. 2. The Constitution. 3. Federalism. 4. Civil Liberties. 5. Civil Rights. 6. Public Opinion. 7. The News Media and the Internet. 8. Interest Groups. 9. Political Parties. 10. Elections and Campaigns. 11. Voting and Participation. 12. Congress. 13. The Presidency. 14. The Bureaucracy. 15. The Judiciary. 16. Judging the Democratic Experiment.

About the Author :
Wendy J. Schiller (Ph.D., University of Rochester) is Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Brown University. She was Legislative Assistant for Governor Mario M. Cuomo and for Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, and has been Guest Scholar and Research Fellow at the Brookings Institute. Schiller is coauthor with Burdett Loomis on THE CONTEMPORARY CONGRESS (2003, 2005), and author of PARTNERS AND RIVALS: REPRESENTATION IN THE U.S. SENATE (2000). Her current research focuses on the indirect and direct election of U.S. senators. She teaches courses on a wide range of American politics topics including Introduction to the American Political Process, The American Presidency, the Philosophy of the Founding, Parties and Interest Groups, and American Political Institutions. John G. Geer (Ph.D., Princeton University) is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. He has been a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University and a research fellow at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University. Geer is the former editor of THE JOURNAL OF POLITICS. He has published numerous articles and several books, including IN DEFENSE OF NEGATIVITY, which won the Goldsmith Book prize from Harvard University in 2008. He has provided extensive commentary in the news media on politics, including live nationwide interviews for FOX, CNN, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, ABC, PBS, and NPR. Geer has also written op-ed pieces for POLITICO, THE WASHINGTON POST, LA TIMES, USA TODAY, and CHICAGO TRIBUNE. He teaches a range of undergraduate classes, including Introduction to American Government. His undergraduate lecturing has been award winning. In 2005, he won The College of Arts and Sciences' Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. In 2009, he won Vanderbilt University's Ellen Gregg Ingalls Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching. Jeffrey A. Segal (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is Political Science Department Chair and SUNY Distinguished Professor at Stony Brook University. He has recently been Senior Visiting Research Scholar at Princeton University and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellow. He has also been Global Research Fellow at New York University's Hauser Global Law School Program and Fellow of the Law and Social Sciences Program at Northwestern University. He has worked with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the New York State Assembly. Segal is the author of eight books, including SENATE ELECTIONS (1992, with Alan Abramowitz) and ADVICE AND CONSENT: THE POLITICS OF JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS (2005, with Lee Epstein). He teaches undergraduate courses on American Government, Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, and Supreme Court Decision Making. He has received several awards, including Green Bag's award for Exemplary Legal Writing (2008) and an award sponsored by the American Bar Association for innovative teaching and instructional methods (2008). In 2012, Segal was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Review :
"I like the learning objectives, both their content and how they are presented in the text. These have given me some good ideas." "I switched to Gateways to Democracy because it is a more contemporary type of book that will engage students more and offer them a readable text that is scholarly. The decision came down to the trust I have in the authors to use the most recent scholarship in political science." "This looks like a solid improvement on an already very polished and attractive text. The tools are there for a winning textbook and a supportive resource in teaching American Government."