American Government and Politics in the Information Age

A free online textbook in Political Science: American Government and Politics in the Information Age.

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

This text is a comprehensive introduction to the vital subject of American government and politics. Governments decide who gets what, when, how (See Harold D. Lasswell, Politics: Who Gets What, When, How, [New York: McGraw-Hill, 1936]); they make policies and pass laws that are binding on all a society's members; they decide about taxation and spending, benefits and costs, even life and death.

SERENDIPITYA little unexpected

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A CLOSER LOOK

Governments possess power—the ability to gain compliance and to get people under their jurisdiction to obey them—and they may exercise their power by using the police and military to enforce their decisions. However, power need not involve the exercise of force or compulsion; people often obey because they think it is in their interest to do so, they have no reason to disobey, or they fear punishment. Above all, people obey their government because it has authority; its power is seen by people as rightfully held, as legitimate.

Published by University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. The library lists its license as Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Open the catalog record to find the full text, formats, reviews, and current reuse terms.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

Open Textbook Library · University of MinnesotaAmerican Government and Politics in the Information Age

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