This text offers a comprehensive and thought-provoking assessment of government, politics, and policy in the United States. Written by an international team of leading scholars and focused on the trends of the 1990s, this book sets the scene for a thorough understanding of American politics. Part One concentrates on the institutional framework of American government; Part Two examines the parties, pressure groups, and electoral system and the ways in which these dynamic forces channel public opinion and shape the political agenda; Part Three surveys both the substance and the process of public policy in three key areas--the economy, social policy, and foreign policy; Part Four provides overviews of some issues of contemporary political controversy--affirmative action, campaign finance reform, the role of the media, education, and city governance; Part Five assesses the state of American politics at the century's end.