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Keeping the Republic: Power and Citizenship In American Politics, 4th Edition, the Essentials

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Instructor's Resources include an instructor's manual; a test bank; Power Point lecture and "clicker" slides; and electornic files of tables, figures, and maps.

republic-brief.cqpress.com includes chapter summaries, interactive quizzes, vocabulary flashcards and crossword puzzles, research Web links, critical thinking exercises, and Christine Barbour's KTRBlog, which links current news to chapter material.

723 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

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57 people want to read

About the author

Barbour C

3 books

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5 stars
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4 stars
29 (28%)
3 stars
33 (32%)
2 stars
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1 star
12 (11%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Jason Harper.
167 reviews5 followers
June 4, 2020
This is a fairly decent textbook for gaining an understanding of the basics of American government. But when the authors attempt to go beyond explaining how government works, they resort to strawmanning their opposition's stances, which does a disservice to the target audience.
129 reviews1 follower
April 26, 2015
A very ideological biased textbook
Profile Image for Katie.
48 reviews
April 14, 2020
I used this textbook for an American Government college class. It was a little frustrating because it wasn’t written objectively and it was clearly slanted toward the left. It made for an interesting class with a conservative professor, though.
Profile Image for mackenzie.
115 reviews
July 20, 2023
Kind of annoyed at how clearly slanted this was toward one side of the political spectrum. Educate me on every perspective and let me form my own opinion, don't feed me exactly what you believe. Charts and graphs were insightful, and it was an easy read with enough going on to keep my attention.
1 review
September 17, 2025
Very biased.

The author claims to be nonpartisan, but the text leans noticeably left. Throughout the chapters, Trump criticisms are consistently woven in, even when they aren’t directly relevant to the main discussion. While the book does contain interesting and insightful content about American politics, the recurring snide commentary makes it difficult to view the text as balanced.

Conservative or Republican viewpoints are often dismissed or portrayed as inherently flawed, while liberal perspectives are frequently presented as fact. At times, those who disagree with these "facts" are implied to be uneducated or in denial. The occasional mention of conservative positions feels more like a token effort to uphold a “nonpartisan” label than a genuine attempt at balance.

If you are considering this book for a political science class, I would recommend seeking a more balanced, less biased textbook instead.
44 reviews
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December 31, 2020
Read for Intro to American Government

Good for a textbook. I didn't hate myself while reading it, and some of it was actually very interesting. Great graphs.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Library Bee.
66 reviews3 followers
December 7, 2021
Almost done with it. I have to read it because of a intro to Politics collage class, and it's blatantly left leaning. Not vary objective when dealing with Republicans or Democrats; it hardly has anything good to say about conservatives, and constantly praises the liberals. And goes on about Democracy, but hardly talks about the Republic.

I dislike it, and only keep it as a reminder of how twisted and one-sided things have become.

Hate it, and politics.
Profile Image for Jodi.
27 reviews1 follower
March 12, 2012
I read this in my political science course. Very good book, but it reads like a textbook, which is what it is. Still, I really think that all US citizens should read and learn about the government for which we all participate. Not that I think everyone should read this book...
Profile Image for Amanda Miller.
27 reviews
March 29, 2017
A great introductory book for those getting started in political science.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

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