The Challenge of Politics: An Introduction to Political Science

Riemer, Simon, and Romance aim to harmonize the valuable lessons of classic and contemporary theory, as well as to reconcile politics to scientific and empirical study. The book gives students an avenue to explore the impact of philosophy and ideology, to recognize major forms of government, to evaluate empirical findings, and to understand how policy issues directly affect peopleEs lives. Throughout, the authors look at political dynamics of American, comparative, and international affairs. While continuing to pursue its distinctive normative approach and showing politics to be a potentially humanizing enterprise, this new edition of Challenge has been revised and updated for major world events like the global financial crisis, recent elections in the U.S. and elsewhere, important policy decisions like the recent Supreme Court ruling in the U.S. on healthcare, and the aftermath of the Arab Spring. Based on reviewer feedback, it has also been substantially streamlined throughout.