American Politics: A Very Short Introduction Audiobook (Free)

American politics appears to grow more contentious and difficult each day, and whether American democracy is effective is hotly debated. Amidst all of this roiling partisan debate and confusing promises and counterclaims, there has never been a greater dependence on an impartial primer on the basics from the American political system.

This Very Short Introduction gives listeners a concise, accessible, and sophisticated overview of the vital components of American democracy, emphasizing both how these about American Politics: A Very Short Introduction elements function, their historical origins, and exactly how they have evolved to their present forms. Richard Valelly addresses all areas of America’s politics system: the bicameral Congress and the area of the filibuster, the legislative-executive procedure, the role of the Supreme Courtroom, politics celebrations and democratic choice, bureaucracy, the partisan revival, as well as the politics economy. He offers as well a genuine analysis of the evolution of the American presidency and a remarkable chapter on the effects of open public polling on political decision-making and voter representation. Valelly demonstrates the American politics system is, and always has been, quite definitely a function in progress-unfolding within, and also constantly upgrading, an eighteenth-century constitutional construction. Within a refreshingly balanced and judicious assessment, he explores the talents of American democracy while candidly acknowledging both gaps in representation and the raising income inequality possess sparked protest and intense open public discussion. Finally, Valelly considers the extraordinary persistence, for more than two hundreds of years, of the basic constitutional forms founded in 1787, regardless of the dramatic interpersonal changes which have reshaped virtually all areas of American life.

For anyone desperate to understand the nuts and bolts of how our political program works-and sometimes fails to work-this Very Brief Introduction is the absolute best place to begin.