New @ the Library: U.S. Government
What is New or on Display at the library
New to You @ the Library
While we're not on campus and therefore not getting new print books, DVDs and other items, this page will feature topical lists of items from our Ebook collection. Ebooks are accessible to all Central Penn students, faculty, and staff--any time, anywhere you have an internet connection. If you have questions/problems accessing the ebooks, please contact the Library.
Ebooks - U.S. Government
The U.S. Constitution organizes the federal government into three branches, to not only divide up the responsibilities and work of the government but to ensure no one branch has too much power. For each branch, another branch has the power to negate/change what that branch attempts to do. The term for this type of governmental organization is separation of powers which creates a system of checks and balances.
- Legislative Branch (Congress, House of Representatives and Senate): proposes and enacts laws
- Judicial Branch (Supreme Court): evaluates and interprets laws
- Executive Branch (President, Vice-President, most federal agencies): carries out laws
America's Prophets: How Judicial Activism Makes America Great by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780313377082Publication Date: 2009
The American Commonwealth by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780865971172Publication Date: 1995 [1888]
The American Congress: A Reference Handbook by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781440865800Publication Date: 2019
American Constitutionalism: From Theory to Politics by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780691034041Publication Date: 1996
American Governance (Five Volumes) by Call Number: Credo ReferenceISBN: 9780028662497Publication Date: 2016
American Government and Politics: A Concise Introduction by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780761940937Publication Date: 2003
American Politicians Confront the Court: Opposition Politics and Changing Responses to Judicial Power by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780521192958Publication Date: 2011
The Cavalier Presidency: Executive Power and Prerogative in Times of Crisis by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780739188842Publication Date: 2014
The Challenge of the American Presidency: Washington to Obama by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780739166666Publication Date: 2011
Checking the Courts: Law, Ideology, and Contingent Discretion by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781438452876Publication Date: 2014
A Citizen's Guide to American Ideology: Conservatism and Liberalism in Contemporary Politics by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780203183090Publication Date: 2012
Congress, Presidents, and American Politics: Fifty Years of Writings and Reflections by
When Lee H. Hamilton joined Congress in 1965 as a US Representative from southern Indiana, he began writing commentaries for his constituents describing his experiences, impressions, and developing views of what was right and wrong in American politics. He continued to write regularly throughout his 34 years in office and up to the present.
Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780253020864Publication Date: 2016
Congress, the Constitution, and Divided Government by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781593326289Publication Date: 2013
Congress and Crime: The Impact of Federalization of State Criminal Laws by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780739198063Publication Date: 2014
Constitutional Conservatism: Liberty, Self-Government, and Political Moderation by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780817916046Publication Date: 2013
Constitutionalism and the Separation of Powers by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780865971752Publication Date: 1998 [1967]
Contemporary Supreme Court Cases: Landmark Decisions since Roe V. Wade by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781440837128Publication Date: 2016
Democracy and Its Elected Enemies: American Political Capture and Economic Decline by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781107012653Publication Date: 2013
Encyclopedia of American Government and Civics, Second Edition by Call Number: Credo ReferenceISBN: 9781438141855Publication Date: 2017
Encyclopedia of the American Presidency by Call Number: Credo ReferenceISBN: 9781438141848Publication Date: 2017
The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall, and the Rise of Presidential Democracy by
"Ackerman presents a revised understanding of the early days of two great institutions that continue to have a major impact on American history: the plebiscitarian presidency and a Supreme Court that struggles to put the presidency's claims of a popular mandate into constitutional perspective."--from Amazon summary
Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780674023956Publication Date: 2007
Foreign Law?: Congress v. The Supreme Court by
Should the Supreme Court use and/or reference laws and/or court decisions of foreign countries in making decisions about American cases?
Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781593327491Publication Date: 2014
The Founding Fathers V. the People: Paradoxes of American Democracy by
"The result was a political system tangled up in conflicts that persist to this day: unelected and unaccountable Supreme Court justices who exercise enormous personal power; severe restrictions on the kind of person the people can elect as president; popular referendums at the state and local level but none at the federal level, not even to ratify amendments to the Constitution."--from publisher summary
Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780674045736Publication Date: 2012
Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780199890750Publication Date: 2012"We should be aware of the 50 state constitutions, often interestingly different--and perhaps better--than the national model. Many states have updated their constitutions by frequent amendment or by complete replacement via state constitutional conventions."--from publisher summary
Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and Expression (Series: Landmark Supreme Court Cases) by Call Number: Credo ReferenceISBN: 9781438185460Publication Date: 2017
Historical Dictionary of the U. S. Supreme Court by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780810872486Publication Date: 2015
How Governors Built the Modern American Presidency by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780812243963Publication Date: 2012
Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780199385522Publication Date: 2015
Is Congress Broken?: The Virtues and Defects of Partisanship and Gridlock by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780815730361Publication Date: 2017
James Madison Rules America: The Constitutional Origins of Congressional Partisanship by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780742599659Publication Date: 2010
Judging Law and Policy: Courts and Policymaking in the American Political System by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780415885249Publication Date: 2011
Making of the Postmodern Presidency: From Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781594517822Publication Date: 2011
The New Deal and Modern American Conservatism: A Defining Rivalry by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780817916848Publication Date: 2013
The Presidency and Public Policy: The Four Arenas of Presidential Power by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780817357467Publication Date: 2012
Presidential Power and Accountability: Toward a Presidential Accountability System by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780415536554Publication Date: 2012
The Puzzle of Unanimity: Consensus on the United States Supreme Court by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780804784726Publication Date: 2013
Restoring the Lost Constitution: The Presumption of Liberty by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780691159737Publication Date: 2013
The Solicitor General and the United States Supreme Court: Executive Branch Influence and Judicial Decisions by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781107015296Publication Date: 2012
Supreme Court Jurisprudence in Times of National Crisis, Terrorism, and War: A Historical Perspective by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780739151020Publication Date: 2011
Take up Your Pen: Unilateral Presidential Directives in American Politics by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780812245110Publication Date: 2013"Executive orders and proclamations afford presidents an independent means of controlling a wide range of activities in the federal government--yet they are not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution...[The author] reminds us that not only has every single president issued executive orders, such orders have figured in many of the most significant episodes in American political history...and [he] questions how unilateral presidential directives fit the conception of democracy and the needs of American citizens."--from publisher summary
Taking the Fight to the Enemy: Neoconservatism and the Age of Ideology by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780739167571Publication Date: 2011
To Promote the General Welfare: The Case for Big Government by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9780199858552Publication Date: 2012
War Powers: The Politics of Constitutional Authority by Call Number: Ebook CentralISBN: 9781400846771Publication Date: 2013
Contact the Library
The Library is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday from 10AM - 5PM and Wednesday from 1PM - 8PM.
If you need help from the librarian or need to access the library resources outside of those hours let us know!
Call or text 717-728-2500 or email Library@centralpenn.edu to make an appointment.
Remember the Learning Hub is also open with lots of great faculty and staff willing to help with tutoring, advising, and general questions.
