Understanding the US Government

by Jennifer Nicoll Victor

Whether we participate or not, government plays a deeply fundamental role in how we live. By gaining a clear grasp of political institutions, we’re better equipped to engage with government and politics; to be discerning consumers of news, media, and public opinion; and to grasp the deeper content and meaning of the legislation and policies we live with.

In these 24 refreshingly balanced lectures, Professor Victor presents a comprehensive examination of American politics in which she demystifies its many puzzles and offers a nonpartisan look at the outcomes it produces. You’ll delve into essential topics such as:

How the federal bureaucracy is organized. Learn how our bureaucracy breaks down into the 15 cabinet departments, the many independent governmental agencies, and the government corporations;
Intricacies of Congress and the legislature. Across three lectures, study how the House and Senate function and interact, how congressional bills are passed, and how congressional elections operate;
The politics of the Supreme Court. Investigate outside influences on the Court’s rulings, take account of judicial ideology within the Court, and witness the political and policy effects of the Court’s actions;
The challenge of campaign finance. Observe how organized interests maneuver around campaign finance laws, ensuring that a small group of people finance most of what happens during our elections;
Politics and the media. Track the phenomenon of political media as both information and entertainment, and grasp how our media environment is ripe for misinformation and conspiracy theories;
America’s deep political polarization. Take a rigorous look at how the United States has become more politically polarized than at any time in the past 140 years.
In Understanding the US Government, you’ll gain valuable insights for assessing the policies coming out of Washington, the news, the media, and the ongoing political dialogue that moves our democracy and shapes the actions of the United States on the world stage.

Genres: Politics, Audiobook, History, Nonfiction, American History, Law, Reference

Audible Audio

Published September 11, 2020

Reviews

[Patrick Buchholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

While much of the content covered should be well known to any news junky, there are a few informative and detailed sections where a politically engaged reader could still glean useful information. In fact, the whole first half of the book takes a deep dive into representative democracy and the policy-making process.

In the sections on congress, Victor explains in detail how committees work, how bills are drafted and signed into law, how budgets are planned out. She covers the duties and powers of the executive branch, and the various bureaus and departments of the federal government are discussed in detail.

The latter half of the book takes a more high-level view of democracy, so-called "collective action" problems, and economic and foreign policy. Victor occasionally injects her professional opinion of U.S. current events, but she avoids editorializing

Overall, the book seems like a great introduction to U.S. government, and a jumping-off point for more detailed research.

I recommend this to anyone becoming interested in politics, and as a clear, concise refresher of the basics for those who are already engaged.

[Toros Yesja · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite pastimes is looking at modern institutions and events from a historical perspective. Of course, it is fairly certain that in the distant future, the US government will be viewed as a very revolutionary type of government, since it was the prototype for the revival/expansion of republicanism across the Western world, as well as the most influential empire for at least one century. As a non-American, I find sufficient motivation in this to learn a bit more about how the US government works.

I expected this course to go into more detail about the actual machinery, but in retrospect, I can happily admit that this was not a realistic expectation because in fact, the US government is simply much more than just the three branches that make it up. So, judging the course from this perspective, it does a decent job.

The lecturer is of course your run-of-the-mill liberal intellectual, but she is well-qualified for this subject. She is mostly conservative in regards to her ideas and vision about the institutions of the US government, and this is tbh as it should be if the purpose is to understand the government as it is, rather than how it should be.

Finally, as a person born and living in a failed state, I find it a pity that Americans do not appreciate and safeguard their institutions more. Of course it is a very flawed system, always has been, but relevant here is Churchill's quote that democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others. It is very depressing to consider how remote my country is from having such institutions and by the time it will be ready for them (if it ever will be), some novel and fancier system will be in vogue in the rest of the world.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a pretty brief but thorough introduction to the complexities of the US government, this is a good choice. It covers A LOT without too much oversimplification in a surprisingly brief 12 hours, including how the the historical context behind the governmental structure, how elections work, the interplay between the judicial branch and politics, the polarization of contemporary politics, and much more. While I'd like to think I'm relatively knowledgeable on a lot of these subjects already, I still learned quite a bit.

Dr. Victor takes pains to be quite neutral regarding contemporary politics. I don't think there's much room to be offended here. Her most extreme stance is the repeated recommendations to consume a variety of news sources, including traditional news media that follows journalistic standards.

[Murray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of the various functions of the US government, from a political, economic, policy, and functional point of view. Some intersting history and context shows how the US governmant has arrived at this point, and the lectures are pretty up to date, including the 45th president's administration. The role of government, and the balance, or conflict between liberty and equality are central themes, and play out in multiple areas. The reader/listener is left to decide many questions, but is provided a lot of information on which to make their decisions. I found one of the most interesting areas of discussion to be about current news sources, the issue of fake news, journalistic ethics & integrity, and some of the history of media, and the "yellow" (read biased news, or even propaganda) which existed about a century ago.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great course covering the United States government. I have read quite a bit on this topic and founds different sections providing new and fresh information that serves all well. It is a fascinating tour through what went into creating the United States in everything from tax policy to representation. She does a good job in looking into the past, as it was, and not through a modern lens.

This, like so many books and courses I have consumed, was pretty good until the timeline was closer to the present day. Then, it shifted to something else which is just par for the course. However, its hard to soberly judge ones own day as the passions are real and cannot be avoided. I add that she is far better than most at looking at some of the causes of certain things.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Understanding the US Government by Jennifer Nicoll Victor is a capable survey on how the government of the United States functions. Some of Victor's lectures are descriptive an unlikely to cause much of a stir, while others incorporate some explanations and solutions that may ruffle some feathers. Most of them are vanilla to me with two exceptions, but I've come across a few people who have lodged complaints, so I figured I'd mention it. This is about what'd you expect from a government 101 course, or maybe an AP US Government course in high school. A decent refresher, though perhaps not all that interesting for most politically engaged folks.

84/100

[Joe Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid course likely from the center left so a bit left of my center right position. Learners who lean further right will likely be upset by the course. It covers a bit of everything in government, civics and history. The actual working of committees and such was the best part of the course for me as that was new information. This was a good course to watch as a run up to the 2020 election. Who won by the way?

[Emma Pontzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives context to so many weird things that happen in the US government. The electoral-college is even more confusing than I initially thought, but its the reasoning behind creating it has context. I understand why certain the US government do certain things. The history behind different structures in government makes some odd things make sense.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice guide to how the U.S. government functions. It will be of less use to people who are reasonably well informed about modern politics, but I still suspect they will find some nuggets that make listening to it worth their while.

[Peter Mendrela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview. Wonderful lecturer.

[JanaT · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mix of good social science and a galore of practical examples. Probably, not suitable as a first touch, but if one follows the US media outlets and get puzzled at times, then use it.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read 25%.

[Neo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to American government.