Governing States and Localities
Governing States and Localitiesis a well-organized and current text for State and Local Politics courses. Most importantly, the authors have found a way to organize a broad range of topical areas. For my purposes, the chapters on Federalism, Finance, Local Government, and Metropolitics have made this a very servicable text. The new chapter on Environmental Policy is a welcome addition to a text that is comprehensive without being overbearing. The writing is crisp and lucid and its overall appearance and graphics are fresh. Student response has been very positive. --Scott Moore, Colorado State UniversityGoverning States and Localitiescovers the major points and issues for my course and does so in a manner my students find readable. I like the feature boxes and the color terms in the margins. The subtitles to the chapters are often humorous and get the reader's attention. I teach this class often as a distance-learning class and have the students use the online flashcards and crosswords for terms that they need to learn. I use the test bank for tests and quizzes, and find much of this essential to my course. I have used this book since its first edition, and plan on keeping it. It is the third state and local book I have used, and it is the best of the bunch. --Lisa Langenbach, Middle Tennessee State UniversityGoverning States and Localitiesseems to be more entertaining than competing texts. In other words, it keeps the student's attention with a more illustrative style. The real world examples and stories throughout the book are very good. Introductory questions at the beginning of each chapter are more effective than closing each chapter with questions because they lead the student to think about them while reading. The balance between description, example, and analysis is very good. This is a solid textbook. --William Lester, Jacksonville State University