Preface Admit it. You do not believe that an introductory course in political science will be very rewarding. In fact, you doubt that you will learn anything useful in this course. Maybe you won't--or maybe you will. As with most college experiences, what you gain from participating in a course will greatly depend on what you put into the course. However, many social, environmental, and psychological factors affect learning. Some of you are taking this course simply to meet your social science requirement during a time slot that fits your desired course schedule. For whatever reasons, college students today generally have very little interest in politics. Sure, some of you may actually be interested in learning about current events or "American government," but most college students look forward to studying politics about as much as they look forward to having their wisdom teeth extracted. Therefore, I can only conclude that students' social, environmental, and psychological experiences so far have done something to "turn them off" to this fascinating field of study. First, let's explore the myths that exist regarding the study of political science. Myth #1: Political science is boring. Fact: By its nature, political science is not boring. Every day, thousands of people entertain themselves by reading spy novels, playing board games like monopoly, watching television shows like Mad Men, or renting movies like Ocean's Eleven. Why are these things interesting? What do all of these diversions have in common? All of these sources of entertainment are about power and what people will do to get it. Spying is about power, money is about power, and clearly organized crime is about power. Politics is all about power, too. It can be entertaining to see what some people in real life actually do to get it--and through legal means! (Well, most of the time, anyway.) Myth #2: Political science doesn't matter. Understanding politics really won't help me in my job or everyday life. Fact: Oh, au contraire! Most people need to understand governmental processes in order to get ahead. What if you learn someday that the government approved a policy that allowed a company to store toxic waste behind your new house? Would you know whom to contact? If you hired an attorney, would you have the working knowledge to judge her performance? What if you graduate, become successful in your career, and someday want to purchase investments? Would you know which governmental forces can affect the economy? Face it. Politics affects absolutely everything--your right to own property, marry whom you want, or travel where you want. Politics directly affects the drinking age, future military drafts, and the sale of music downloads. Politics also affects how much of your earnings you get to keep for yourself (taxes). Myth #3: The study of politics does not directly relate to any career fields or decent jobs. Studying politics is useful only for pre-law students. Fact: There are thousands of jobs in many different career fields that require or prefer graduates with a major in political science. Think about this. There are over 86,000 units of government in the United States. Compare this to the fact that there are only 31,000 McDonald's restaurants in the entire world. In other words, there are quite a few government offices with quite a few government employees. Many of these employees are well-paid managers who have degrees in political science. Occupations well suited to political science majors include city managers, lobbyists, corporate officers for government affairs, school district employees, judges, court administrators, court docket managers, not-for-profit corporation managers, journalists, and television hosts or anchor persons, to name a few. Even with all these reasons to study political science, students would rather take classes in something more relevant, more interactive and more interesting. This is where this book can help. This book contains the things you will need to make politics more relevant, more pragmatic, and fun. You will be participating in various activities to learn how different facets of the U.S. political process work. Then, hopefully, you will find politics to be both interesting and important.