We the People

The #1 book provides a balanced understanding of American government and the citizen’s role in politics.

We the People remains the best-selling book for American government courses because of its deeply engaged authors and their commitment to the book’s core tenets: balanced coverage; an emphasis on the citizen’s role in government and why participation matters; and an innovative, easy-to-use courseware package. The Sixteenth Edition welcomes new coauthor Jennifer Clark (University of Houston), who applies her own extensive teaching experiences to key updates, including a new Citizenship Toolkit feature in the Norton Illumine Ebook, which helps students apply core concepts to real-world situations and learn how to become effective, engaged citizens. Clark applies her subject-matter expertise in state and legislative politics to extensive revisions of the “Federalism” and “Congress” chapters, which now provide students with clearer and more engaging content that reveals how American government and politics work today.

Highlights of this edition’s new content:

• New?coauthor Jennifer Clark (University of Houston) applies her teaching experience and subject-matter expertise to many of the book’s key revisions.
• New?Citizenship Toolkit interactive exercises,?created?by Jennifer Clark,?offer practical assignments that?get?students?to?more effectively engage with the political system.?
• Extensive revisions of the chapters on federalism and Congress, both led by Jennifer Clark, front-load key information, provide more emphasis why foundational concepts matter, and?provide a more?accurate?picture of how American?government and?politics work today.??
• Seven new chapter openers, which appear as videos in the Norton Illumine Ebook, feature?the?stories of?real people from across the political spectrum?and how they were affected by government or?participated?in politics.?
• New Who Are Americans? infographics build on their beloved features with engaging new exercises that?emphasize quantitative literacy and critical thinking.??
• New?smart highlighter?study tools in the Norton Illumine?Ebook, powered by NortonAI,?and?a new?InQuizitive?skills activity “Thinking Critically About AI and American Government,”?ensure we support students in engaging consciously and responsibly with AI tools and materials.