The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics

Abstract

A study of American government. In this eleventh edition, Thomas Dye again presents an unrepentant elitist approach to American democracy, contending that it is the elites, and not the masses, that govern the country. While the theme of the text may be uncommon, Dye provides a solid introduction to American government and politics through contrasting elite theory to democratic theory and to modern pluralist political theory in examinations of the U.S. Constitution, political history, power structures, public opinion, mass media, elections, parties, interest groups, the Presidency, Congress, the Bureaucracy, and more. The text strongly encourages students to formulate their own political views, and to decide for themselves whether elite theory indeed applies.

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