Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy, 2020 Presidential Election Edition, 18th Edition

Updated content shines a light on how politics affects public policy today

• NEW - Government in America has been revised to include new and updated material on important recent developments including the following:
  • The 2020 presidential and congressional elections
  • The Trump presidency and the transition to the Biden presidency
  • Critical Supreme Court decisions of 2019-2020 on issues ranging from freedom of speech and religion to civil rights and abortion
  • The coronavirus pandemic
  • The role of social media in politics
  • The increasing role of ideology and policy views in voting behavior
  • Current policies on health care, budgeting, immigration, environmental protection, the war on terrorism, and North Korea
• UPDATED - In order to ensure an up-to-date presentation of information, the authors updated the narrative, figures, and tables to reflect the most current available data. In addition, they reference the latest scholarly studies throughout the text.
• UPDATED - Chapter 13, on the budget, has been thoroughly updated to reflect the central importance of taxing and spending in American government and the core issues of the fiscal and debt crises.
• UPDATED - Current Events Bulletins bring currency into your classroom with author-written articles that connect key concepts with real-life current events. Our authors regularly add new or revised articles to ensure that your students have relevant examples to help them engage with the course.
• NEW - A Student Guide to Reading Charts and Graphs helps readers learn how to better decode visual presentations of information.

Engaging features help students see links between politics and policy decisions

• Our Polarized Politics essays help students understand polarization in American politics, as extreme today as it has ever been in our history. These four original essays, which bridge the four main parts of the text, investigate the causes and consequences of this division, the effect on policymaking, and what we can do about it.
• Chapter-opening vignettes make the subject matter relevant. From the first chapter, the authors emphasize the significance of government and the importance of participation.
• You Are the Policymaker features ask students to read arguments on both sides of a current issue, and then to make a policy decision. In Chapters 4 and 5 (Civil Liberties and Civil Rights), this feature is titled You Are the Judge and presents actual court cases.
• Why It Matters Today insets encourage students to think critically about an aspect of government, politics, or policy and to consider the repercussions if things worked differently.
• Links to primary source documents, such as articles in the Constitution, enable students to engage with items from the historical record.
• An array of useful tools for review in each chapter allow students to check understanding and consolidate knowledge.
  • Review and Consider videos clarify the focus and distinct ideas at the end of each chapter.
  • Review the Chapter summaries encapsulate key chapter content by aligning chapter learning objectives to relevant material covered.
  • An end-of-chapter media gallery reinforces comprehension and serves as a reminder of the people, events, and policies visually documented within the chapter.
  • Learn the Terms/Aprender el Vocabulario flashcards, provided in both English and Spanish, offer a dynamic and innovative way to engage with the lexicon of American government.

Dynamic content brings concepts to life

• Videos embedded within the narrative help students develop their understanding of key topics.
  • Pearson Originals for Political Science videos illustrate complex political concepts like federalism, gerrymandering, and executive action in a simplified and entertaining way.
  • Politics in Plain Sight videos show students how politics influences their daily activity and help them see that politics is everywhere.
  • So What? videos help students understand how key documents and institutions affect their own lives.
  • Current Events videos explore recent occurrences that have impacted American politics, such as the recent economic upheaval.
  • The Big Picture videos offer broad looks at key topics such as Federalism and Congress.
• Interactives integrated directly into the narrative get students learning actively, making it more likely that they'll understand what they've read.
  • Data-rich interactive maps, figures, and tables with Social Explorer technology let students interact with real data to explore the concepts they've just read about.
  • Custom-built interactive maps and diagrams, with chronological layers, panning and zooming, and hotspots, provide students with multiple ways of engaging with visual content.
• NEW - Podcasts offer audio explorations of contemporary topics of interest such as "Increasing Young Voter Turnout" and "Teacher Strikes Share Common Cause."
• Embedded assessments afford students regular opportunities to check their understanding. The results enable instructors to gauge student comprehension and provide timely feedback to address learning gaps along the way.
• Writing assignments, such as journaling prompts, shared writing activities, and essays, enable educators to foster and assess critical thinking without significantly impacting their grading burden. 
• Video quizzes offer students opportunities to further their knowledge by applying concepts and testing their understanding. Instructors can share videos accompanied by time-stamped multiple-choice questions.
• Shared multimedia assignments make it easy for instructors and students to post and respond to videos and other media. Students can also record and upload their own presentations for grading, comments, or peer review.
• The Revel^® mobile app lets students read and practice anywhere, anytime, on any device, online and off. It syncs work across all registered devices automatically, allowing learners to toggle between phone, tablet, and laptop as they move through their day.
• The audio playlist lets students listen and learn as they go.

Actionable insights help improve results

• The educator dashboard offers an at-a-glance look at overall class performance. It helps instructors identify and contact struggling and low-activity students, ensuring that the class stays on pace.
• The enhanced grades view provides detailed insights on student performance, from specific assignments to individual student scores.
• LMS integration provides institutions, instructors, and students easy access to their Revel courses via Blackboard Learn, Canvas, Brightspace by D2L, and Moodle. Single sign-on lets students access Revel on their first day.