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GOODREADS SYNOPSIS

Do you know what the Secretary of Defense does all day? Are you sure you know the difference between the House and the Senate? Have you been pretending you know what Federalism is for the last 20 years? Don’t worry—you’re not alone. The American government and its processes can be dizzyingly complex and obscure. Until now.

Within this book are the keys to knowing what you’re talking about when you argue politics with the uncle you only see at Thanksgiving. It’s the book that sits on your desk for quick reference when the nightly news boggles your mind. This approachable and informative guide gives you the lowdown on everything from the three branches of government, to what you can actually do to make your vote count, to how our founding documents affect our daily lives. Now is the time to finally understand who does what, how they do it, and the best way to get them to listen to you. 

MY THOUGHTS

This is a surprisingly comprehensive guide to understanding American democracy. I don’t love the “hey kids, democracy is cool!” tone, especially given how complicated some of the info is—it mostly made me confused about who the audience for this book is supposed to be—but I definitely learned a lot. Chapters cover the various branches of federal government, local government, political parties, most important presidents to know, the electoral college, the Constitution and its amendments, court cases to be familiar with, and much more. The book is accessible but also a bit dense. It helps to reference a section at a time, not read the whole thing through at once. It’s a great resource to have on hand, especially for the high school and college-age crowd.

Many thanks to Celadon for the ARC.