The Handy American Government Answer Book: How Washington, Politics and Elections Work

609 Pages·2017·37.05 MB·English

by  Gina Misiroglu

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PLEASE VISIT THE “HANDY ANSWERS” SERIES
WEBSITE AT WWW.HANDYANSWERS.COM.
About the Author
Gina Misiroglu is the author or editor of more than three dozen books in the
popular culture, biography, American history, folklore, and women studies
genres. She holds two degrees from UCLA and has worked in various editorial
capacities for publishers such as Price Stern Sloan, New World Library, Visible
Ink Press, Cengage, Penguin Books, Facts On File, and Routledge. Her most
notable works include the three-volume American Countercultures: An
Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in
U.S. History, which won the 2010 RUSA Award for Outstanding Reference
Source; The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons
and Hollywood Heroes (2012); and the trade anthology Girls Like Us: 40
Extraordinary Women Celebrate Girlhood in Story, Poetry, and Song (1999),
winner of the New York Public Library’s “Best Book for Teens” Award.
Misiroglu has contributed to or authored many “Handy Answer Book” titles,
including The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents), The Handy Politics
Answer Book, and The Handy Presidents Answer Book. She is proud to say she
votes in every national and local election.

THE HANDY AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ANSWER BOOK
How Washington, Politics, and Elections Work
Copyright © 2018 by Visible Ink Press®
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by
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No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher,
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Managing Editor: Kevin S. Hile
Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski
Typesetting: Marco DiVita
Proofreaders: Carleton Copeland and Shoshana Hurwitz
Indexer: Larry Baker
Cover images: Shutterstock.
Front cover photos: Vote button and U.S. Capitol images from Shutterstock; President Obama before joint
session of Congress from the White House archive.
Back cover photos (top to bottom): Library of Congress, U.S. Navy, Shutterstock.
ISBN: 978-1-57859-639-3
eBook ISBN: 978-1-57859-674-4
Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file at the Library of Congress.
Printed in the United States of America.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
PHOTO SOURCES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TIMELINE
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Politics and Government
Democracy and Other Forms of Government
Fundamental Values
Political Ideologies
Shifting Demographics and Political Implications
THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
The Colonial Background
Early Colonial Government
The Road to Revolution
The First State Governments
The Constitutional Convention
Principles of the Constitution
Amending the Constitution
FEDERALISM
Federalism and Its Constitutional Basis
State Rights and Budgets
State and Local Government
THE U.S. CONGRESS
The Nature and Functions of Congress