The Challenge of Democracy by Jeffrey M. Berry, Jerry Goldman, Kenneth Janda (2004, Hardcover)

This complete introduction to American government offers a comprehensive program that integrates the core text with supporting materials to benefit both students and instructors. The Eighth Edition maintains the highly acclaimed, non-ideological framework, exploring three themes: freedom, order, and equality as political values; the majoritarianism v. pluralism debate; and the effect of globalization on U.S. politics.

Discussions and examples include thorough coverage of the 2004 Presidential and Congressional elections, as well as chapter-by-chapter revisions. These include a greater emphasis on the role of the civil rights movement; the increasing political power of Hispanic Americans; the effort to mobilize women voters; deeper exploration of presidential powers, leadership, and executive orders; and a reorganization of topics.

• Brief callouts in the text inform students of Talking Politics audio clips on the accompanying web site and the instructor and student CD-ROMs. Follow-up questions encourage students to think about what they hear and can be answered online and submitted to instructors via email.
• The Looking to the Future feature invites students to consider trends in American government and then consider the implications of their answers.
• Politics in a Changing World focuses on the effect of globalization on American government by comparing how U.S. politics affect the world and vice versa.
• Can You Explain Why? features ask students to use critical-thinking skills to try and explain a political paradox, such as why Americans engage in more forms of political participation than people of other nationalities, yet don't vote as much.
• Compared with What? boxes in every chapter ask students to evaluate facets of the U.S. political system as compared to those of other countries.