Most would agree that American democracy thrives when citizens are informed and responsive. So how best to teach today s students not only how government works, but also why it works and maybe, more importantly, why it doesn t always work?

Hudson provides the perfect supplement for those who want to elicit a more critical look at the functioning of our political system. He outlines eight major challenges facing America as a new president takes office, ranging from the strength of the judiciary to the trade-offs between national security and personal privacy. Challenging students to respond robustly to these challenges, he also offers possible solutions to each. The end result is to provide a sound conceptual framework for evaluating the American political system one that stimulates analytical thinking and discussion.

Timely updates examine elections and voting specifically primaries and how they work, machine politics, and voting restrictions and the national security state, with a focus on the Bush administration s expansion of presidential power, as well as questions of spreading democracy abroad and the rationale for international intervention.

Looking at public policy debates in conventional terms in terms of conflict between the left and the right has grown increasingly cumbersome in an era where conservatives call themselves revolutionaries and liberals strike positively Burkean poses when it comes to reforming Social Security or Medicare. Through an examination of the libertarian worldview, once on the margins of American politics but now in the mainstream, William E. Hudson shows how it has attracted powerful political supporters and is promoted by a network of institutions and policy advocates dedicated to its ideals. The Libertarian Illusion offers a well researched, balanced, and systematic critique of libertarian policy proposals on both the conservative (taxation and fiscal policy, health care, social security, and business regulation) and liberal (abortion, stem cell research, and euthanasia) sides of the traditional political spectrum.

Always engaging and provocative, Hudson hones in on the fundamental value differences that drive political debate, arguing that a more communitarian outlook offers solutions more likely to solve America s policy problems.