Aristotle, “MIT Internet Classics Archive.” 1994-2000.http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/politics.html (accessed 6/30/08).
This is an easily accessible, and well-translated web version of Aristotle’s
Politics.
It is approachable and easily navigated. Most importantly, the web-site offers Aristotle’s whole catalog of writing, providing students with an opportunity to explore fully his wide range of writings.
Hobbes,Thomas.
Leviathan.
Richard Tuck
Revised Student Edition
ed. New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
With this edition of
Leviathan
,
Richard Tuck has succeeded in providing the original text in fashion and form very close to original. He includes a very good introduction and a full list of citations and annotations which allow the reader to approach the text more fully.
Tuck also includes an index which is organized along multiple levels and includes a concordance with earlier editions.
Locke,John.
Two Treatises of Government A Critical Edition with an Introduction and Aparatus Criticus.
2, Peter Laslett. New York NY: Cambridge University Press, 1967.
This critical edition of Locke’s
Two Treatises of Government
is both comprehensive and well researched. Laslett has put a great deal of research into this book, and that research shows. It is evidenced in an extremely comprehensive introduction, which includes notes on Locke and Hobbes (eminently useful for a teacher of this unit), insight into the role of the 1688 revolution on Locke, and a good deal of historical information on Locke and his
Treatises
.
Schmidt, Steffen W, and Mack C Shelley.
American Government and Politics Today
. 2007-2008 ed. Belmont, CA: Thompson, Wadsworth, 2007.
This is a comprehensive text book on American government and politics. The book offers in depth coverage of a wide range of topics. In addition, it includes a full index of ancillary readings as well as both Federalist 10 and 51. I use this book as my text for my AP U.S. Government and Politics course.
Serrow, Ann G. and Everett C. Ladd, Ed.
The Lanahan Readings in the American Polity
. 4 ed. Baltimore: Lanahan Publishers Inc, 2007.
This book is a compilation of excerpts and essays designed to support a course in American government. Serrow and Ladd have compiled a large number of readings on a wide array of topics. Each reading addresses some concept or idea in American government in a greater degree of depth than a typical text. These readings range from classics, including excerpts from Tocqueville’s
Democracy in America
to modern scholarly essays on various political topics.
Tocqueville,Alexis De.
Democracy in America.
Harvey C. Mansfield and Delba Winthrop trans. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Alexis De Tocqueville’s
Democracy in America
is a pivotal work in American history, government, and culture. Tocqueville represents a unique, timely and timeless account of America in its infancy. It would be hard to picture a course in American history or government failing to include his work. Furthermore, Mansfield and Winthrop provide a complete and approachable translation that allows even a novice to appreciate the genius of this work.
Whitman, Walt. “Democratic Vistas.” http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/Whitman/vistas/vistas.html (accessed 6/30/08).
Walt Whitman’s “Democratic Vistas,” represents a kind of capstone to his discussion of government and his life as an American. Whitman uses this essay as a forum for discussion of his thoughts, feelings, and impressions of American Democracy. This web site offers the full text of the essay.
Whitman,Walt.
Walt Whitman: The Complete Poems.
Francis Murphy. London: Penguin, 2004.
This version of Walt Whitman’s poetry provides a complete catalog of his work. It includes all the revisions of “Leaves of Grass” as well as including the rest of his works. This compilation is excellent as both an introduction to Whitman and a tool for study of his work.
