Excerpt from Select Readings in American Government This book, Select Readings in American Government, is published for the purpose of providing in a convenient form a number of carefully chosen articles, excerpts, and documents the reading of which will aid the student or the lay citizen of the United States in developing an intelligent understanding of the federal system of government in which he participates and for which he carries such heavy responsibilities. It is designed especially for use in college classes as supplementary material in a general course in American government. Obviously, it is not planned for specialists. Federal government is necessarily legal in nature. Some knowledge of constitutions is essential even for the average citizen. Readings in this book furnish some information about constitutions, but not enough for the constitutional lawyer. Constitutions in America today have grown out of past experience and have been influenced by political thinkers of the past. Some selections are included to help the reader realize this significant fact; but historians will need to go deeper, and political theorists will want to read far beyond the limits of this volume. Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States can not be omitted if one is to understand American government, but this not not a case-book. Few people will want to read all of the Congressional Record, but valuable aid for the understanding of government may be gained from excerpts from that Record. An understanding of the functioning of government depends not only upon some appreciation of constitutions, history, past political thought, Supreme Court decisions, and official actions of men in governmental positions, but also upon an acquaintance with personalities and pressures which are dominant in government at any given time. The editors have, therefore, deemed it advisable to include some articles which encourage thought about personalities and pressures. Obviously a book of this kind is the product of many minds and is made possible by the work of previous publishers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.