Understand American politics from past to present. A streamlined and more flexible version of the bestselling text, Essentials of American Government: Roots and Reform is guided by the belief that students must first understand the origins of American government in order to understand the issues facing the United States today. This text offers the strongest coverage of history and current events to study present political structures and behaviors in full constitutional and historical context. Essentials of American Government: Roots and Reform not only helps students learn how our government evolved and how they can become more informed citizens but it also encourages them to discover that politics can be-and most often is-a good thing. MyPoliSciLab is an integral part of the O'Connor program. Key learning applications include MyPoliSciLab Video Series, Explorer and Simulations. A better teaching and learning experience This program provides a better teaching and learning experience-for you and your students. Here's how: Personalize Learning-Reach every student at each stage of learning, engage them in active rather than passive learning, and measure that learning. Refined after a decade of real-world use and compatible with learning management systems like Blackboard, the new MyPoliSciLab is a customizable digital learning experience that supports each individual student's and educator's success. Emphasize Outcomes-Keep students focused on what they need to learn. A new design facilitates print and digital reading experiences and turns this book's learning objectives into a clear learning path. On MyPoliSciLab, practice tests help students achieve these objectives by creating personalized study plans. Engage Students-Each student is different.Reach all of them with the new MyPoliSciLab Video Series, which features this book's authors and top political scientists discussing the big ideas in each chapter and applying them to enduring political issues. Improve Critical Thinking-Students get a lot of information about politics; your challenge as an instructor is to turn them into critical consumers of that information. Using interactive data to answer political questions introduced in this book's infographics, Explorer is a hands-on way to develop quantitative literacy and to move students beyond punditry and opinion. Analyze Current Events-Prepare students for a lifetime of following political news. Both in this book and on MyPoliSciLab, coverage of the 2012 elections and more keeps politics relevant and models how to analyze development in the American political system. Get up-to-the-minute analysis on MyPoliSciLab's blogs or reflect on a theoretical case with a simulation. Support Instructors-Make more time for your students with instructor resources-Test Bank, MyTest Computerized Test Bank, Instructor's Manual, and PowerPoint Presentation with Classroom Response System (CRS)-that offer effective learning assessments and classroom engagement.

Guided by the belief that students must first understand the origins of American government to fully understand the issues facing the United States today, this market-leading text offers the strongest coverage of both history and current events of any college textbook devoted to American politics. From hallmark features like “The Living Constitution” to new features like the illustrated historical timelines,American Government: Continuity and Changeprovides the historical context students need to understand our government and the most crucial and controversial issues affecting the nation in the 21st century. The Texas edition of this classic text features the exact same coverage as the comprehensive version but with 7 additional chapters devoted to Texas politics. This bestselling book has been extensively revised to provide in-depth coverage of the 2008 presidential and congressional elections, President George W. Bush’s second administration and the 110thCongress, continued controversies related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terrorism, and domestic concerns related to rising gas and food prices and the subprime mortgage crisis.