UNDERSTANDING POLITICS, the proven, best-selling introductory text for Introduction to Political Science, examines the complexities of politics and government in a way that students will find immediately fascinating. Solidly based on three fundamental premises-that politics is a pervasive force in modern society, that government is too important to be left in the hands of the few, and that in a democracy everyone has both the opportunity and the obligation to participate in public life-the text builds on these beliefs, and seeks to “educate to participate.”
UNDERSTANDING POLITICS focuses on such pertinent concepts as democracy, dictatorship, citizenship, voting behavior, elections, leadership, ideologies, war, revolution, world politics, and public policy-fundamental concepts that provide students with a view of politics and economics that is at once lucid, nuanced, and empowering.
About the Author
Thomas Magstadt earned his doctorate at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is the author of NATIONS AND GOVERNMENTS: COMPARATIVE POLITICS IN REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE (Thompson/Wadsworth, 2005), now in its fifth edition, and AN EMPIRE IF YOU CAN KEEP IT: POWER AND PRINCIPLE IN AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2004). He has also published many scholarly papers and articles and is a frequent op-ed contributor to newspapers.
He is a former political science professor at Augustana College (Sioux Falls), the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and the Air War College. He was a Fulbright Lecturer in the Czech Republic and taught courses in international politics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City before turning to full-time writing. He lives in Westwood Hills, Kansas (close to the heart of Kansas City).
