We created this site to help you learn about American politics and the problems posed when ordinary citizens--who often disagree over the relative value of freedom, order, and equality--rely on democratic government to make public policy. As its title implies, The Challenge of Democracy argues that good government often involves difficult choices.

Our publisher (Wadsworth/Cengage Learning) maintains its own student site for our book. Please go there for a rich collection of learning aids.

Here, we offer some material not available from the Cengage site. For example:

Useful Internet Links Organized by Chapters

I have created over 300 Internet links tied to all 20 individual chapters of the full edition of The Challenge of Democracy. Click to go to the Table of Contents and then click on individual chapters.

In Our Own Words--the Text

Early in each chapter in The Challenge of Democracy, a "call-out" in the margin invites students to listen to the primary authors of the chapters describe "In Our Own Words--the Audio" the teaching objectives for that chapter. But if you don't have time to listen to us blab, you can quickly read what we say about each chapter by linking to the text of our comments. Try it, we think you'll ge a good orientation to each chapter.

NYTimes Tool to Cut the Deficit

On November 13, 2010, the Times published this interactive tool to cut the deficit, saying: Today, you're in charge of the nation's finances. Some of your options have more short-term savings and some have more long-term savings. When you have closed the budget gaps for both 2015 and 2030, you are done. Make your own plan, then share it online. You might think you can dance, but can you cut the deficit? Try doing it. It's not easy.

Government Actions in the Financial Crisis, 2008-2009

This a chronology of actions taken by the Bush and Obama administration to deal with the financial crisis confronting the United States after the collapse of the subprime mortgage msrket in 2007. It tells what the government did and when.

2012 Election Quiz

"Indeed, the latest Pew Research Center knowledge survey finds that while voters know many key things about the candidates and their issue positions, voters are less familiar with Romney than with Obama." How about you. How much do you know about either candiate or the election itself?

Do-It-Yourself Examination Pretest

Students in one of Janda's large lecture classes devised and submitted their own multiple-choice items for possible use on the final examination. (If Janda used a submitted question, the author might stand a good chance of getting it right.) The items were then posted on the class web site without answers as a pretest to stimulate studying. You might find the questions similarly useful.

Party Platforms

Janda maintains a site for all major party platforms from 1840 to 2012. The site links to a Google search engine for finding key terms. You might find this collection useful for class projects. For example, create a list of words concerning a given concept (e.g., the environment, religion, taxation) and then search each party's platforms for how often the words occur and what the platform said. One student wrote about the Republican and Democratic platform references to the issue of "equal pay." Guess which party referred to it most often.

State of the Union Addresses

Janda also maintains his own site of all presidential State of the Union Addresses since1913. Similar research might be done with these addresses. One undergraduate at Northwestern wrote her thesis on which president was most likely to make religious references in his State of the Union addresses. For the period she covered, it was Ronald Reagan by far.

Global Terrorism, Domestic Order, and the United States

Shortly after 9/11, a Russian colleague asked me to write something about the event and the U.S. response for a Russian yearbook. It focuses on events leading to the successful routing of the Taliban in 2001. It might be useful for students who know little about this successful phase of the "war on terror."

Please watch this space. In the future, I'll add more information that I hope will be useful to your study of American politics. Please write me at k-janda@northwestern.edu with comments and suggestions.

Happy Surfing-- Kenneth Janda, Jeffrey Berry, Jerry Goldman