--- title: American Government description: This topic examines the structures, institutions, and processes of the United States political system. You will analyze the Constitution, the branches of federal government, political parties, elections, and public policy formulation. category: social-sciences subcategory: political-science difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/american-government --- # American Government This topic examines the structures, institutions, and processes of the United States political system. You will analyze the Constitution, the branches of federal government, political parties, elections, and public policy formulation. ## Available Resources 1 Videos • 2 Books • 3 Courses • 7 Websites ## Websites ### 1. GovTrack.us Independent legislative tracker covering bills, roll-call votes, and members of Congress. Users can follow a bill's progress through committee and floor stages, compare voting records across legislators, and read plain-language summaries of pending federal legislation. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.govtrack.us/ **Tags:** congress, legislation, roll-call-votes, bill-tracking, us-politics ### 2. Ballotpedia Nonpartisan online encyclopedia of American politics covering federal, state, and local offices, ballot measures, court rulings, and election results. Readers can look up any officeholder or candidate and trace how a specific election or measure was decided. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page **Tags:** elections, ballot-measures, state-government, local-government, political-reference ### 3. congress.gov Congress.gov is the official portal for United States Congress, offering up-to-date and historical legislative information. You can find bill texts and summaries, status and amendments, committee reports, roll-call votes, member and committee profiles, and searchable records from the Congressional Record. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://congress.gov **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, political-science ### 4. constitutioncenter.org National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan educational resource in Philadelphia that teaches the U.S. Constitution through interactive exhibits, primary sources, and explainers (such as Interactive Constitution and Constitution 101), plus articles, videos, and lesson plans on constitutional basics, landmark cases, and amendments. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://constitutioncenter.org **Tags:** websites, law-legal-studies, legal-literacy ### 5. whitehouse.gov Whitehouse.gov is the official website of the U.S. President and the White House staff. It offers current news, speeches and remarks, press briefings, policy priorities, executive actions, and explanations of how the federal government operates. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://whitehouse.gov **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, political-science ### 6. supremecourt.gov Official website of the U.S. Supreme Court, offering opinions, case information, rules, calendars, and educational resources. Explore recent and historic decisions, oral argument videos and transcripts, and guidance on how the Court operates and its procedures. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://supremecourt.gov **Tags:** websites, law-legal-studies, legal-career ### 7. oyez.org Oyez is a multimedia archive of U.S. Supreme Court cases. It provides official audio of opinions, full text opinions, case summaries, transcripts, and background on justices and landmark rulings—an essential resource for learning constitutional law basics. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://oyez.org **Tags:** websites, law-legal-studies, legal-literacy ## Videos ### 1. The Constitution, the Articles, and Federalism: Crash Course US History #8 Intro to US policy-making process by John Green, highly recommended in r/PoliticalScience **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO7FQsCcbD8 **Tags:** constitution, federalism, articles-of-confederation, founding-era, us-history ## Courses ### 1. American Government Learn the fundamentals of American government and prepare for college credit. Study key concepts, history, and institutions! **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.modernstates.org/course/american-government/ **Tags:** clep-exam-prep, civics, constitution, political-institutions ### 2. American Government Learn US government and public policy through engaging videos and practice exercises! Free course from Khan Academy. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-government-and-civics **Tags:** us government, civics, constitution, public policy, ap us government ### 3. Introduction to Constitutional Law Examine the most important and vexing questions in American constitutional interpretation. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.edx.org/learn/law/princeton-university-constitutional-interpretation **Tags:** courses, law-legal-studies, legal-literacy ## Podcasts ### 1. Left, Right & Center **Author:** KCRW Left Right & Center is for listeners who feel like people on the other side of the political divide are on Mars. David Greene pieces together the big picture by inviting people from the left and the right to unpack their ideological differences, not to smooth them over, and look at what’s truly at stake. The show offers a rare kind of clarity. It doesn’t ask you to agree. It asks you to look more closely at what’s happening and to challenge your assumptions.  You might not always agree – you might even get angry – but you’ll know why you feel... **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/left-right-center?utm_source=KCRW&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=kcrw-show-rss **Tags:** political-commentary, public-radio, current-affairs, us-politics, ideological-debate ### 2. The Political Scene **Author:** WNYC Studios and The New Yorker Join The New Yorker’s writers and editors for reporting, insight, and analysis of the most pressing political issues of our time. On Mondays, David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, presents conversations and feature stories about current events. On Wednesdays, the senior editor Tyler Foggatt goes deep on a consequential political story via far-reaching interviews with staff writers and outside experts. And, on Fridays, the staff writers Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos discuss the latest developments in Washington and beyond, offering an encompassing understanding of this moment in American politics. Please help us improve New Yo... **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://the-political-scene-the-new-yorker.simplecast.com **Tags:** american-politics, current-affairs, political-journalism, washington ## Books ### 1. The Logic of American Politics **Author:** Samuel H. Kernell, Gary C. Jacobson, Thad Kousser, Lynn Vavreck Undergraduate textbook that explains American political institutions through collective-action problems, transaction costs, and institutional design. Readers finish able to analyze why Congress, the presidency, and the bureaucracy behave as they do rather than only describing their formal powers. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1544322992?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, political-science ### 2. American Government **Author:** Glen Krutz, Sylvie Waskiewicz Openly licensed introductory college textbook covering constitutional foundations, civil liberties, political participation, Congress, the presidency, courts, and public policy. Chapter summaries and review questions let readers check comprehension of how each federal institution functions and interacts. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1593995768?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, political-science --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/american-government