Steven Smith 
Principles and Practice of American Politics [EPUB ebook] 
Classic and Contemporary Readings

Combining timeless readings with cutting-edge, current selections,  
Principles and Practice of American Politics effectively animates today′s institutions and political arrangements in the study of American Government and politics. Each selection is artfully framed by contextual headnotes, and many of the readings are written specifically for the volume.



The Eighth Edition includes readings that present institutions of majority rule, the nature of racial discrimination, the proper role of the court, and other issues that provide students an opportunity to think through and discuss their views on the future direction of American civic life.

Table of Content

Preface

About The Editors

Chapter 1. Designing Institutions

1-1 From The Logic of Collective Action – Mancur Olson Jr.

1-2 Governing the Commons – Elinor Ostrom

1-3 What is Political Science For? – Jane Mansbridge

Chapter 2. The Constitutional Framework

2-1 Federalist No. 10 – James Madison

2-2 Federalist No. 51 – James Madison

2-3 “The True Principles of Republican Government”: Reassessing James Madison’s Political Science – Samuel Kernell

Chapter 3. Federalism

3-1 Federalism: Sorting Out Who Does What – Donald F. Kettl

3-2 How America’s “Devolution Revolution” Reshaped Its Federalism – Thad Kousser

Chapter 4. Civil Rights

4-1 Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896) – Supreme Court of the United States

4-2 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) – Supreme Court of the United States

4-3 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) – Supreme Court of the United States

4-4 Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 600 U.S. 181 (2023) – Supreme Court of the United States

4-5 Racial Authoritarianism in U.S. Democracy – Weaver and Prowse

Chapter 5. Civil Liberties

5-1 Free Speech and National Security – Geoffrey R. Stone

5-2 Roe v. Wade (1973) – Supreme Court of the United States

5-3 Dobbs v. Jackson Women′s Health Organization (2022) – Supreme Court of the United States

5-4 The Real World of Constitutional Rights: The Supreme Court and the Implementation of the Abortion Decisions – Gerald N. Rosenberg

Chapter 6. Congress

6-1 Legislating in Polarized Times – Sarah A. Binder

6-2 Insecure Majorities: Congress and the Perpetual Campaign – Frances E. Lee

6-3 Beneath the Surface: Partisanship, Bipartisanship, and Committee Activity – Steven S. Smith

6-4 Disrupted: The Appropriations Process, Partisan Polarization, and Partisanship – Steven S. Smith

6-5 Diversifying: Gender, Race, and Congressional Representation – Steven S. Smith

6-6 Why 435? Reapportionment and the Size of the House – Steven S. Smith

Chapter 7. The Presidency

7-1 From Presidential Power – Richard E. Neustadt

7-2 From Going Public – Samuel Kernell

7-3 Power without Persuasion – William Howell

Chapter 8. The Bureaucracy

8-1 The Rise of the Bureaucratic State – James Q. Wilson

8-2 Congressional Oversight Overlooked: Police Patrols versus Fire Alarms – Mathew D. Mc Cubbins and Thomas Schwartz

Chapter 9. The Judiciary

9-1 From A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law – Antonin Scalia

9-2 From Active Liberty – Stephen Breyer

9-3 Federalist No. 78 – Alexander Hamilton

9.4 On the Nature of Supreme Court Decision Making – Tracey George and Lee Epstein

Chapter 10. Public Opinion

10-1 Analyzing and Interpreting Polls – Herbert Asher

10-2 The Polarized Electorate – Alan I. Abramowitz

10-3 The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion – John Zaller

10-4 Democracy Hypocrisy: Examining America’s Fragile Democratic Convictions – Joe Goldman, Lee Drutman, and Oscar Pocasangre

Chapter 11. Voting, Campaigns, and Elections

11-1 Voter turnout, 2018-2022 – Pew Research Center

11-2 No Compromise: The Electoral Origins of Legislative Gridlock – Gary C. Jacobson

11-3 Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government – Christopher Achen and Larry Bartels

11-4 Election Reform: Past, Present, and Future – Richard Hasen

Chapter 12. Political Parties

12-1 From Why Parties? – John H. Aldrich

12-2 Doom-Loop Partisanship – Lee Drutman

12-3 Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity – Lilliana Mason

Chapter 13. Interest Groups

13-1 Lobbying as Legislative Subsidy – Richard L. Hall and Alan V. Deardorff

13-2 The Growth of Corporate Lobbying – Lee Drutman

13-3 Democracy in America? – Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens

Chapter 14. News Media

14-1 Social Media and Fake News in the 2016 Election – Hunt Allcott and Matthew Gentzkow

14-2 (Almost) Everything in Moderation: New Evidence on Americans′ Online Media Diets – Andrew M. Guess

14-3 Local News, Information, and the Nationalization of U.S. Elections – Daniel J. Moskowitz

Appendix: Constitution of the United States – U.S. Constitution

About the author

Steven S. Smith is professor in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University. He also is the Kate M. Gregg Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences and former Director of the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University. In addition to Wash U, he has been on the faculties of the University of Minnesota, George Washington University, and Northwestern University, and was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.  He is the author or coauthor of Politics Over Process: Partisan Conflict and Post-Passage Processes in the U.S. Congress (2017),  The American Congress (10 editions, 1995-2019),  The Senate Syndrome: The Evolution of Parliamentary Warfare in the Modern U.S. Senate (2014),  Party Influence in Congress (2007), The Politics of Institutional Choice: The Formation of the Russian State Duma (2001),  Politics or Principle: Filibustering in the United States Senate (1997),  Call to Order: Floor Politics in the House and Senate (1989),  Managing Uncertainty in the House of Representatives: Adaptation and Innovation in Special Rules (1988),  Committees in Congress (1984, 1990, 1997).