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How Your Government Really Works A Topical Encyclopedia of the Federal Government
Glenn L. Starks, F. Erik Brooks
ISBN: 0-313-34761-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-34761-0
352 pages
Greenwood Press
Publication: 10/30/2008
List Price: $75.00 (UK Sterling Price: £51.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 7 x 10
Subjects:
Description: The U.S. government is an ever-more-complex system that few American citizens comprehend in any detail. Even some of its most basic operations, seemingly clear in concept, are in reality intricate and obscure. Although textbooks explain how the government is supposed to work in theory, they don't reveal how it actually works in practice. This book offers a concise and objective explanation of government operations, mapping the federal government's branches, departments, agencies, corporations, and quasi-official bodies—and the bureaucracies that support them. The authors effectively bridge the gap between the government's ideal, balanced structure, laid out in the Constitution, and its actual institutionalized form today, making this a superb resource for students and citizens at large.

Coverage of the government's inner workings includes such subjects as executive-branch appointments, domestic and foreign policy development and execution, the federal budget, the legislative process, the Congressional committee system, the drawing of Congressional districts, the levels of the federal judiciary, aides in all three branches, and the various government offices and oversight agencies.

Title Features:
25 black-and-white photographs
Figures and charts capturing the structure of the federal government and many aspects of its functioning, such as the federal budgeting process, the apportionment of electoral votes, and U.S. government receipts and outlays
Timelines
Quick-reference chart listing past presidents, their years in office, and their party affiliation
Table of Contents:
  • Acknowledgements
    Preface
    Alphabetical List of Entries
    Charts, Figures, Graphs, Photographs, and Tables
    Introduction
    Chapter 1: How the United States Government Began
    Chapter 2: Structure of the United States Government Today
    Chapter 3: Federal Government Employees
    Chapter 4: Federal Elections
    Chapter 5: The Legislative Process
    Chapter 6: The Executive Process
    Chapter 7: The Judicial Process
    Chapter 8: United States Foreign Policy
    Chapter 9: United States Domestic Policy
    Chapter 10: The United States Federal Budget
    Appendixes
    Bibliography
    About the Authors
About the Author: Glenn L. Starks has more than 15 years of experience in government procurement, most recently in his current position as Strategic Material Sourcing Program Manager, Defense Logistics Agency, and prior to that as Chief of Planning and Requirements, Defense Supply Center Richmond. He has written extensively on public administration and American politics and holds a doctorate in Public Policy and Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

F. Erik Brooks teaches at Georgia Southern University, where he currently holds appointments in the Political Science Department and the Center for Africana Studies. He has also served as director of Georgia Southern's Master of Public Administration program. He holds a doctorate in Public Policy and Administration from the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.
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