Without ever losing sight of the classics, Kernell and Smith take a fresh look at the implications of political science for our understanding of recent events and trends. This balance of the classic with the contemporary—along with careful editing to retain the flow of original pieces—distinguishes this highly regarded reader. Drawing from a variety of sources and perspectives, readings examine the strategic behavior of key players in American politics. These 44 selections show that political actors, though motivated by their own interests, are governed by the Constitution, the law, and institutional rules, as well as influenced by the strategies of others.

Thanks to feedback from adopters, 26 readings are back by popular demand, while 17 new or revised selections offer readable and current analyses, 5 of which have been written specifically for this volume. Kernell and Smith supply helpful headnotes for each reading, establishing important context and rationale for selections.

New readings explore such topics as:

• the impact of war on the Supreme Court
• Hurricane Katrina’s lessons for public policy and homeland security
• changing racial and ethnic identity in the United States
• the politics of judicial appointments
• campaign advertising’s impact on the 2004 elections
• the myth of the red vs. blue state divide

1. DESIGNING INSTITUTIONS
1.1. from The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups
Mancur Olson Jr.
1.2. The Tragedy of the Commons
Garrett Hardin
1.3. The Prosperous Community: Social Capital and Public Life
Robert D. Putnam

2. THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
2.1. The Founding Fathers: A Reform Caucus in Action
John P. Roche
2.2. Federalist, No. 10
James Madison
2.3. Federalist, No. 51
James Madison
2.4. Showdown: The Election of 1800
James MacGregor Burns

3. FEDERALISM
3.1. Federalism as an Ideal Political Order and an Objective for Constitutional Reform
James M. Buchanan
3.2. Revised! Federalism: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina and the Front Lines of Public Policy
Donald F. Kettl

4. CIVIL RIGHTS
4.1. New! Immigration and the Future of Identity Politics in the United States
Taeku Lee
4.2. American Diversity and the 2000 Census
Nathan Glazer

5. CIVIL LIBERTIES
5.1. The Real World of Constitutional Rights: The Supreme Court and the Implementation of the Abortion Decisions
Gerald N. Rosenberg
5.2. New! The Effect of War on the Supreme Court
Lee Epstein, Daniel E. Ho, Gary King, and Jeffrey A. Segal
5.3. Miranda v. Arizona
5.4. Roe v. Wade
5.5. New! Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey

6. CONGRESS
6.1. The Senate in Bicameral Perspective
Richard F. Fenno Jr.
6.2. from Congress: The Electoral Connection
David R. Mayhew
6.3. Revised! Congressional Trends
Steven S. Smith

7. THE PRESIDENCY
7.1. from Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan
Richard E. Neustadt
7.2. from Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership
Samuel Kernell
7.3. New! How Cable Ended the Golden Age of Presidential Television
Matthew Baum and Samuel Kernell

8. THE BUREAUCRACY
8.1. from Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It
James Q. Wilson
8.2. The Politics of Bureaucratic Structure
Terry M. Moe
8.3. New! By the Horns
Paul Singer

9. THE JUDICIARY
9.1. New! from A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law
Antonin Scalia
9.2. New! from Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
Stephen Breyer
9.3. Federalist, No. 78
Alexander Hamilton
9.4. New! Congress and the Politics of Judicial Appointments
Sarah A. Binder and Forrest Maltzman
9.5. New! The Voting Behavior of George W. Bush’s Judges: How Sharp a Turn to the Right?
Robert A. Carp, Ronald Stidham, and Kenneth L. Manning

10. PUBLIC OPINION
10.1. Analyzing and Interpreting Polls
Herbert Asher
10.2. Dynamic Representation
James A. Stimson, Michael B. MacKuen, and Robert S. Erikson
10.3. New! America’s Ignorant Voters
Michael Schudson
10.4. New! from Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America
Morris P. Fiorina

11. VOTING, CAMPAIGNS, AND ELECTIONS
11.1. from The Reasoning Voter: Communication and Persuasion in Presidential Campaigns
Samuel L. Popkin
11.2. Party Polarization in National Politics: The Electoral Connection
Gary C. Jacobson
11.3. New! from Air Wars: Television Advertising in Election Campaigns, 1952–2004
Darrell M. West

12. POLITICAL PARTIES
12.1. from Why Parties?: The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America
John H. Aldrich
12.2. Partisanship and Voting Behavior, 1952–1996
Larry M. Bartels
12.3. New! Who Needs Political Parties?
Rick Valelly

13. INTEREST GROUPS
13.1. The Scope and Bias of the Pressure System
E. E. Schattschneider
13.2. The Evolution of Interest Groups
John R. Wright
13.3. New! Blunt’s K Street Team
Bara Vaida and Lisa Caruso

14. NEWS MEDIA
14.1. New! The Market and the Media
James T. Hamilton
14.2. Name that Source
Jeffrey Toobin

Constitution of the United States

“Students and instructors will appreciate the engaging and comprehensive introduction to American government provided by Kernell and Smith. The book can be used as either a core text, or a supplemental reader. There is a useful blend of current readings along with selected classics that are not only accessible to most students, but challenging as well. The editors’ introductory comments to each selection provide just enough context to encourage students to learn more for themselves.”

“Kernell and Smith’s Principles and Practice of American Politics is a fine text with a good selection of excerpts and clear and succinct headnotes. Its breadth of selections is better than others in the field, which allows me to use it in more parts of my course than other supplementary readers.”

“Kernell and Smith have organized a comprehensive, readable, and popular collection of classic and contemporary scholarship on American Politics. Professors like this book because it communicates the ‘meat and potatoes’ in an appetizing format that integrates seamlessly into lectures and discussion. Students like it because its engaging material fuels their interest and communicates the main points without frustration.”

“Kernell and Smith’s book is an indispensable companion volume for American government textbooks. They provide a valuable mix of excerpts from classic works-–many of which comprise the basis of our understandings of American government-–with selections on contemporary U.S. politics that help students to relate underlying theoretical ideas to real-world events going on around them. The book allows students and instructors to go beyond the textbook basics of American government, and to delve more systematically into explanations of American politics. At the same time, this impressively up-to-date new edition includes discussions of such recent events as Hurricane Katrina, and is sure to hold students’ attention. Ultimately, it is a wonderful resource through which students will develop better understandings of our government and its processes.”

Samuel Kernell is professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, where he has taught since 1977. Previously, he taught at the University of Mississippi and the University of Minnesota. Kernell’s research interests focus on the presidency and American political history. His previous books include Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership, 3rd edition; an edited collection of essays, James Madison: The Theory and Practice of Republican Government; and, with Gary C. Jacobson, The Logic of American Politics, 3rd edition and Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections, 2nd edition.

Steven S. Smith is professor of political science and director of the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis. He has taught at the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, and George Washington University and has served as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. His research interests include American politics, congressional politics, Russian politics, positive theories of politics, and theories of institutional development. He is author or coauthor of Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the United States (1997), Committees in Congress, 3rd edition (1997), The American Congress (2005), Call to Order: Floor Politics in the House and Senate (1989), Managing Uncertainty in the House of Representatives (1988), and The Politics of Institutional Choice: The Formation of the Russian State Duma (2000).

FREE INSTRUCTOR’S RESOURCES

Saving instructors valuable prep time, these handy resources include test questions and PowerPoint lecture slides.