The Logic of American Politics

Product Description

Why does the American political system work the way it does?  

Find the answers in
The Logic of American Politics. This best-selling text arms you with a toolkit of institutional design concepts―command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, and delegation―that help you recognize how the American political system was designed and why it works the way it does. The authors build your critical thinking through a simple yet powerful idea: politics is about solving collective action problems.  

Thoroughly updated to account for the most recent events and data, the
Ninth
Edition explores the increase in political polarization, the growing emotional involvement people have to politics, Americans’ reactions to changing demographics, the partisan politics of judicial selection, and the changing nature of presidential leadership. Revised to include the 2018 election results and analysis, this edition provides you with the tools you need to make sense of today’s government.

Review

“An excellent textbook that has a unique approach and covers the American Politics in greater depth than other textbooks.” — Michelle Belco

“This text provides a concise framework beginning with the concept of collective action that facilitates student understanding of political development and processes in a meaningful way.” — Laura Mayate-DeAndreis

“It’s the perfect textbook for our needs – emphasis on institutions, with a great mix of primary documents, history, and political theory. It covers all the bases – in a way that is effective for student learning (and it is fun to teach).” — Tracy F. Munsil

”
The Logic of American Politics uses rational choice theory to provide a theoretical basis for the study of American government.  It is very good for showing students what political scientist do, and why government acts like it does.” — Carl Snook

“It is introductory American Politics textbook covering all the main issues in American Politics. It has a good layout that can keep the student interest without getting gimmicky.” — Roberta Adams

About the Author

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, 7th edition, and Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections, 2nd edition.
Kernell’s most recent book, Party Ballots, Reform and the Transformation of American Politics, (2015, with Erik Engstrom), won the APSA′s David Greenstone Award for the best book in politics and history.

Gary C. Jacobson is distinguished professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, where he has taught since 1979. He previously taught at Trinity College, the University of California at Riverside, Yale University, and Stanford University. Jacobson specializes in the study of U.S. elections, parties, interest groups, and Congress. He is the author of
Money in Congressional Elections: The Politics of Congressional Elections,
Eighth Edition,
The Electoral Origins of Dividend Government: Competition in the U.S. House Elections, 1946 – 1988, and
A Divider, Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People,
Second Edition, and is coauthor with Samuel Kernell of
Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections,
Second Edition. Jacobson is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Thad Kousser is professor of political science and department chair at the University of California, San Diego. He has served as a legislative aide in the California, New Mexico, and U.S. senates. He is the author of
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