I had to take this politics class for my major in history. To be honest, I really did not want to take it. I wanted to know how our government is supposed to work, but I am so fed up with politicians that I didn't want to have to spend an entire semester reading about them. I'm glad I did. This text is excellent. It is very good at going through all the different terminology in regards to Political Science, but also tells about how the govenment is supposed to work (as envisioned by the Founder's) and how and why it is where it is today. For anyone who is wanting to learn all the various aspects of our Federal government and how it relates to the states and local governments (which should be all Americans) then this text would be a great place to start.