How to immerse yourself in US Politics

Books You Should Be Reading…

• Ashbee, E and Ashford, N (1999) US Politics Today, MUP.
• Bennett, A (2009) A2 US Government and Politics, 3rd Edition, Philip Allan.
• Grant, A (2005) The American Political Process, Routledge.
• McKeever, R (1999) et al. Politics USA Prentice Hall.
• Singh, R ed. (2002) American Politics and Society Today, Polity Press.
• Singh, R (2002) American Government and Politics: A Concise Introduction SAGE Publications.
• Tilson, R (2005) Comparative A Level British and American Government and Politics. Anforme.
• Watts, D (2006) Understanding American Government and Politics, Manchester University Press.
• Bennett, A US Government and Politics Annual Survey, Philip Allan Updates, published annually.

Podcasts You Should Be Listening To…

Decode DC
http://www.decodedc.com/

New York Times’ The Daily
https://www.nytimes.com/podcasts/the-daily

Trumpcast
http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/trumpcast.html

Websites You Should Be Visiting…

• From revolution to reconstruction – http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/index.htm
• History Learning Site – historylearningsite.co.uk/ampol.htm
• Project Vote Smart – vote-smart.org/resource_govt101_09.php
• Ben’s Guide to the US Constitution – http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9- 12/documents/constitution/index.html
• Powers of the Presidency – virtualclassroom.net/tvc/powersofpresident/index.htm
• White House – whitehouse.gov/
• Ben’s Guide to the US Government – http://bensguide.gpo.gov/index.html
• Glossary – senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/b_three_sections_with_teasers/glossary
• House of Representatives – house.gov/house/Educate.shtml
• The US Senate – senate.gov/index.htm
• RawStory http://rawstory.com/

Television Shows You Should Be Watching…

Commander in Chief

Created by filmmaker Rod Lurie, this single-season series put the microscope on Mackenzie Allen (Geena Davis), the Vice President who is unceremoniously moved into the top spot after the President dies of a brain aneurysm. The show was inspired by The West Wing, but put a new spin on the template by offering insight into the burden that being the most powerful person in the world had on the President’s children along with the tense international relations and domestic policy.

Madam Secretary

CBS’ Madam Secretary had developed into a solid hour of political intrigue, delivering a heady mix of domestic and foreign politics with a soupçon of humor and an interesting portrayal of home life. While the show doesn’t name the president’s party affiliation, it does tackle both real world potentials like dirty bombs on US soil and a coup in Iran, as well as “ripped-from-the-headlines” bits like increased relations with Cuba and Boko Haram kidnappings.

The Good Wife

Alicia Florrick is the wife of a former state’s attorney for Cook County. He has been imprisoned after a sex and corruption scandal. Alicia must deal with the public humiliation. She must also fend for her two children. After years of being a housewife and mother, she returns to work as a litigator at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. She must now prove herself in the courtroom.

The Good Fight

A year after the finale of The Good Wife, an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of young lawyer Maia and wipes out the savings of her mentor, Diane Lockhart. The two are forced out of Lockhart, Deckler, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert-Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum, & Associates and join Diane’s former employee Lucca Quinn at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad, a prestigious African American-owned firm making waves by taking on Illinois police brutality cases.

The West Wing

Presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.