Students taking American Government should seek to study the power structures existing in America. These structures include formal governmental agencies and structures, such as the Congress and the Presidency, along with informal structure, such as the bureaucracy, interest groups, and the media. Special attention will be given to the foundations of the constitution, the political culture of the US, the paradox of democracy, and political socialization.

• Schmidt, Steffen W., Mack C. Shelley, II, and Barbara A. Bardes. 2005. American Government and Politics Today, Brief Edition (2004-2005) . New York: Thomson.
  (ISBN: 0-534-63180-0)
  
  
• Schmidt, Steffen W., Mack C. Shelley, II, and Erica Merkley. 2006. Readings in American Government, 5th edn. Belmont, CA: ThomsonWadsworth.
  (ISBN: 0-534-63171-1)
  
  
• O’Connor, Sandra Day. 2003. The Majesty of the Law: Reflections of a Supreme Court Justice. New York: Random House.
  (ISBN: 0-812-96747-X)
  
  
• Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and Martin Malia, ed. 1998 [1848]. The Communist Manifesto. New York: New American Library (Signet Classic).
  (ISBN: 0-451-52710-0)