American Politics and Society

McKay fills in the social background to American political and economic life, preparing the ground for the central discussion of the book: the institutions of the US state. Congress, the Supreme Court and the Constitution, the federal government, the Presidency, the party bandwagons and electoral circuses - all are carefully analyzed in turn. Their significance for the way America is governed is evaluated. McKay guides the reader through the jungle of the federal bureaucracy, and assesses the power of interest groups. He discusses in detail how US policy is formulated in the critical areas of urban policy, economic management and foreign affairs. Throughout, he provides an up-to-date survey of the views and criticisms of leading political commentators on the American scene.