American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy and Citizenship
"Bessette and Pitney ground an excellent factual presentation with a thoughtful examination of the ideas that are important to American political life. There is no text on the market today that offers this kind of balance." --Brian P. Janiskee, California State University, San Bernardino.". . . it introduces the idea of deliberative democracy in the opening chapter, uses it as a framework for understanding American politics, and returns to the concept in subsequent chapters. I very much appreciate the discussion in this opening chapter - and in the preface - of understanding American politics as a mixture of self-interest and political ideas." --Chris Soper, Pepperdine University."The organizing theme/framework is the #1 strength. Second comes the accessible writing style." --Michael Nojeim, Prairie View A/M University."This text is unique as compared to many other American Government texts as it takes an all-encompassing view of how American politics really works, including the important role that citizens play in the political process. This text encourages students to think critically about our government and to develop an understanding of the world through comparisons of the American government and governments around the world." --Julie Lester, Macon State College.