As the United States prepared to celebrate the bicentennial of the Constitution, the national political scene gave evidence of both stability and change. While the 1986 election reaffirmed the relative ineffectiveness of presidential campaigning for Congress, it also revealed the continued growth of the Republican party, particularly at the state level. Most analysts characterized the mood of the nation as 'centrist' and predicted few major political upheavals in the next few years. The goal of this textbook is to enable students to perceive and understand both the dynamics of political change and those structures and patterns which reinforce comprehensive understanding of the system and its historical roots while at the same time catching the excitement of current political events. The inclusion of the most up to date material available increases the students enthusiasm for the political process and therefore enhances their desire to learn.