Solve real-world puzzles like a political scientist. Understanding American Politics and Government introduces the basic tools used by political scientists to help students go beyond the headlines and see why things really happen in politics. Showing the difference between causation and correlation, this text presents American government as a field of interesting questions and puzzles that all citizens must consider. Understanding American Politics and Government draws heavily on politics in the real world to help students think critically about their political beliefs and actions. MyPoliSciLab is an integral part of the Coleman program. Key learning applications include MyPoliSciLab Video Series, Explorer and Simulations. A better teaching and learning experience This program provides a better teaching and learning experience-for you and your students. Here's how: Personalize Learning--Reach every student at each stage of learning, engage them in active rather than passive learning, and measure that learning. Refined after a decade of real-world use and compatible with learning management systems like Blackboard, the new MyPoliSciLab is a customizable digital learning experience that supports each individual student's and educator's success. Emphasize Outcomes--Keep students focused on what they need to learn. A new design facilitates print and digital reading experiences and turns this book's learning objectives into a clear learning path. On MyPoliSciLab, practice tests help students achieve these objectives by creating personalized study plans. Engage Students--Each student is different.Reach all of them with the new MyPoliSciLab Video Series, which features this book's authors and top political scientists discussing the big ideas in each chapter and applying them to enduring political issues. Improve Critical Thinking--Students get a lot of information about politics; your challenge as an instructor is to turn them into critical consumers of that information. Using interactive data to answer political questions introduced in this book's infographics, Explorer is a hands-on way to develop quantitative literacy and to move students beyond punditry and opinion. Analyze Current Events--Prepare students for a lifetime of following political news. Both in this book and on MyPoliSciLab, coverage of the 2012 elections and more keeps politics relevant and models how to analyze development in the American political system. Get up-to-the-minute analysis on MyPoliSciLab's blogs or reflect on a theoretical case with a simulation. Support Instructors--Make more time for your students with instructor resources--Test Bank, MyTest Computerized Test Bank, Instructor's Manual, and PowerPoint Presentation with Classroom Response System (CRS)--that offer effective learning assessments and classroom engagement. This Book a la Carte Edition is an unbound, three-hole punched, loose-leaf version of the textbook and provides students the opportunity to personalized their book by incorporating their own notes and taking the portion of the book they need to class -- all at a fraction of the bound book price.