American Government 3e aligns with the topics and objectives of many government courses. Faculty involved in the project have endeavored to make government workings, issues, debates, and impacts meaningful and memorable to students while maintaining the conceptual coverage and rigor inherent in the subject. With this objective in mind, the content of this textbook has been developed and arranged to provide a logical progression from the fundamental principles of institutional design at the founding, to avenues of political participation, to thorough coverage of the political structures that constitute American government. The book builds upon what students have already learned and emphasizes connections between topics as well as between theory and applications. The goal of each section is to enable students not just to recognize concepts, but to work with them in ways that will be useful in later courses, future careers, and as engaged citizens.

In order to help students understand the ways that government, society, and individuals interconnect, the revision includes more examples and details regarding the lived experiences of diverse groups and communities within the United States. The authors and reviewers sought to strike a balance between confronting the negative and harmful elements of American government, history, and current events, while demonstrating progress in overcoming them. In doing so, the approach seeks to provide instructors with ample opportunities to open discussions, extend and update concepts, and drive deeper engagement.
Changes made in American Government 3e are described in the preface to help instructors transition to the third edition.

These Video Lectures (all of which are accompanied by Supplemental Notes that appear in PDF files) draw upon select aspects of every chapter of the third edition of OpenStax's American Government text. The lectures and notes elaborate upon certain points raised in each chapter of American Government by providing additional historical context and relating the textual material to contemporary political events. At various points during the video lectures, quiz questions are asked in an attempt to enhance student engagement. (Quiz questions also appear at the end of the Supplemental Notes to each lecture.) For those who wish to use the quizzes, answer keys are included for each one.

These PowerPoint slides can be paired with the American Government 3e textbook by Openstax for in-class sections of the course. They provide material from the textbook, as well as data from the most recent elections, public opinion polls, and pew research center publications from within the last few years. This material provides both the political history of our country, as well as some pertinent information from current events affecting our political landscape.

Originally published as American Government and Politics in the Information Age in 2011 as CC BY-NC-SA.
Updated by James J. Tuite. This is a textbook for the first part of an introductory course on the American political process. Teaches the structure, operation, and process of national, state, and local governments.

United States Government: The Basics of Government Function, Structure, and Process

Deborah Smith Hoag, Remix Lead Author

Richard Fonte, Remix Author

Glen Krutz, Content Lead - OpenStax Version

Sylvie Waskiewicz, Lead Editor/Openstax

Cover Photo Attribution: Carol M. Highsmith (2007) Library of Congress