Political Science Toolbox

Stephen E. Frantzich is professor of political science at the U.S. Naval Academy where he was selected as the outstanding professor in 1990, runner-up as outstanding researcher in 2001 and as one of the first USNA Teaching Fellows in 2002. He is the author of over a dozen books, most recently Citizen Democracy: Citizen Activists in a Cynical Age (2008) and Founding Father: How C-span's Brian Lamb Changed Politics In America (2008). Long a practitioner of judicious use of new technology in teaching, he has won awards from the American Political Science Association, C-SPAN, and a variety of publishers. Howard R. Ernst is professor of political science at the United States Naval Academy and Senior Scholar at University of Virginia's Center for Politics. He teaches and researches in the areas of U.S. Government and Constitutional Development, Research Methods, Elections, and Environmental Politics. He is the co-editor of the Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections (2007) and author of Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay (2003). As a Senior Scholar at the Center for Politics, Dr. Ernst advises the institute on issues related to electoral politics, environmental politics, and civic engagement.

• Chapter 1 Introduction: Thinking Like a Political ScientistChapter 2 The Constitution and Found EraChapter 3 Congress and the Legislative ProcessChapter 4 The Presidency and the BureaucracyChapter 5 The Federal JudiciaryChapter 6 State and Local GovernmentChapter 7 The MediaChapter 8 Political Parties and the Interest GroupsChapter 9 Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting

Finally-an undergraduate American Government text that fuses research design and substantive knowledge! Coherently integrating the study of American Government with social science analysis, the Frantzich and Ernst text teaches students how to do social science research in American Government. The Political Science Toolbox is an outstanding resource for American Government instructors interested in showing students how to produce knowledge about American Government rather than merely consume it.