Description: Whether you understand politics or not, it still affects your life in very real ways. But American politics can be confusing. What’s a caucus? How do primaries work? How can you sift through all the babble to get to the truth?
Politics For Dummies offers all these answers and more. And it’s not just for political novices; even those with a firm understanding of politics can use this book to fill out their knowledge of the little complexities – from how the Electoral College works to campaign contribution limits. If you have little or no knowledge of politics, don’t worry. Most people need answers just like you do, that’s why this book helps you:
Pick the candidate who best represents your views
Donate time or money to a campaign
Let your representatives know how you feel
Run for office yourself
This simple, friendly guide offers the kind of straight talk on politics you won’t get from a politician. It covers the nuts and bolts of the political process so you’ll have a working knowledge of the system. It shows you how to get involved at the grass-roots level and explains the rationale behind the two-party system. It helps you parse the propaganda to get at the truth and offers a complete explanation of presidential politics. Politics For Dummies covers these topics and many more:
How public opinion polls work
How money influences policy
Why your opinion really does count
How to donate to political campaigns and causes
Contacting your representatives
Politics on the Internet
Choosing parties and candidates
Lobbyists and special interest groups
How candidates sell themselves
How negative campaigning works
What happened in the 2000 presidential election
You’ll also find fun and helpful extras like famous political quotes, the ten things you should teach your children about politics, and voting requirements for every state. Democracy won’t work for if you don’t participate in it. So pick up Politics For Dummies, get informed, and get involved. Your country will thank you!
Details: I'm really disappointed in this book and would not recommend it to anyone interested in understanding the basics of politics.
There seemed to be many gaps of elementary information missing from this book. Such as, there was no discussion of term limits for elected officials (federal). How long the terms were for was discussed but not a word on the limits.
Also, I understand this book was written by a woman but this author's over use of the pronouns 'her' and 'she' drove me nuts. Okay, we get it females play a part in politics but the conventional way would have been to use 'his' or 'he'.
I'll be returning this book.
Review Summary: Great Political Tool
Date: 2008-10-01
Details: Right now Sarah Palin is using this most adequate political tool preparing for her debate against Joe Biden. After tomorrow evening (10/02/2008) we'll see how it worked.
Review Summary: Is was fine
Date: 2008-09-13
Details: I thought this book was informative and easy to read. I was happy with the purchase and the shipping time especially for the price.
Review Summary: Good, despite being very simple at times
Date: 2007-03-27
Details: First of all, I didn't get this book from Amazon, so I was forced to write this review without an account. I borrowed this book from my local library. I am not actually under thirteen, if that matters at all.
On to the book. The book begins with a very basic overview of how the government works. You should probably have some basic knowledge of the legislative branch and executive branch in the United States (for which the book is written, if you live outside the US, sorry, but this probably isn't for you). Once you know this, this book explains in very plain language the politics surrounding elections. The book explains why candidates make actions, who has the largest impact on official descisions, what you can do to help candidates and much more. It doesn't go that in-depth on the topic, but if you want to learn about politics just to get a better of elections and such, this is definitely for you.
Review Summary: Politics for Dummies
Date: 2007-01-09
Details: Haven't read the whole thing, but so far it has been very simple to understand and read.
out of 20 Reviews
