Benjamin Ginsberg - We the People (Thirteenth Edition) - Core

1. PART I FOUNDATIONS
2. PART II POLITICS

1. PART III INSTITUTIONS
2. PART IV POLICY

The coronavirus pandemic and the racial injustice protests raging across the nation vividly display the relevance of government to the lives of ordinary Americanseven to those normally absorbed by school, work, and family. These profound events also reaffirm the commitment of this book to exploring the fundamental democratic question: Why should we be engaged with government and politics? Through the first 12 editions, we sought to answer this question by making the text directly relevant to the lives of the students who would be reading it. We tried to make politics interesting by demonstrating that students concerns are at stake and that they therefore need to take a personal, even selfish, interest in the outcomes of government. With many students newly attentive and energized, we realize that they need guidance in how to become politically engaged. Beyond providing students with a core of political knowledge, we show them how they can apply that knowledge as participants in the political process. The (NEW) How-To sections in help achieve that goal.

As events from the past several years have reminded us, what government does inevitably raises questions about political participation and political equality. The size and composition of the electorate, for example, affect who is elected to public office and what policy directions the government will pursue. Challenges to election administration, from the reliability of voting machines, to the ability of local officials to handle the many complications of running a voting operation during a global pandemic, became important in the 2020 election. Many questions arose about the integrity of the voting process, from fears of foreign attacks to concerns that there was not enough mail-in votingor too much. Fierce debates about the policies of the Trump administration have heightened students interest in politics. Other recent events have underscored how Americans from different backgrounds experience politics. Arguments about immigration became contentious as the nation once again debated the question of who is entitled to be an American and have a voice in determining what the government does. Debates about who benefited from pandemic relief legislationand who slipped through the cracksraised questions about which interests have effective voices in government policy. And charges that the police often use excessive violence against members of minority groups have raised questions about whether the government treats all Americans equally. Reflecting all of these trends, this new Thirteenth Edition shows more than any other book on the market (1) how students are connected to government, (2) why students should think critically about government and politics, and (3) how Americans from different backgrounds experience and shape politics.

To help us explore these themes, Professor Andrea Campbell has joined us as the most recent in a group of distinguished coauthors. Professor Campbells scholarly work focuses on the ways in which government and politics affect the lives of ordinary citizens. Among her contributions are new chapter introductions that focus on stories of individuals and how government has affected them. Many Americans, particularly the young, can have difficulty seeing the role of government in their everyday lives. Indeed, thats a chief explanation of low voter participation among younger citizens. The new chapter openers profile various individuals and illustrate their interactions with government, from college students organizing a march against racial injustice in their hometown and attracting 15,000 people (). Several chapters highlight the racial injustice protests following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, and many show how the pandemic affects ordinary Americans and their interactions with government.