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THES reviewSingh:Governing America
The following extract appeared in the Times Higher Education Supplement on 28th November 2003.
Governing America: The Politics of a Divided Democracy is a well-conceived and superbly designed introductory text for university and college students. It is broken into four main sections: historical and theoretical foundations; institutions and intermediary organisations; public policy; and issues and controversies. Each section has individual chapters written by established scholars. The text is complemented by reading guides, information boxes, definitions, summaries of key debates, questions, further reading and web links. The book manages to combine a stream of access points with the virtue of an organising theme, that of a divided democracy.
In contrast to many competing texts Governing America gives political issues and conflict equal status with the structures and processes of institutions and organisations. The list of controversies is impressive and spans social fields such as abortion, capital punishment, environmental protection, gender politics, gun control, social provision and gay rights as well as economic and foreign policy issues, including a review of the US position and global significance following the trauma of September 11 2001. The outcome is one in which the animating properties of political dispute and the contested direction of the policy are woven into the fabric of government rather than treated as loose threads.
Editor Robert Singh's exemplary management has succeeded in providing a tightly controlled excursion into all the main features of the subject. Students will appreciate the outstanding mix of lucid information and authoritative interpretation for many years to come.
Michael Foley, professor of international politics, University of Wales
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