This is our introductory course to the field of American politics. The course is taught in multiple sections of about twenty-five students. Classes are taught with lectures and discussions. The course begins with a study of the American founding and the political thought of the Founders, including readings from the Federalist Papers. We then study each of the major institutions of our political system: the presidency, bureaucracy, Congress, Supreme Court, political parties and elections, and other topics. This section of the course regularly employs current events to illuminate and challenge the analyses of institutions. The course concludes with a broad overview of the character of liberal democracy, through a reading of Tocqueville's Democracy in America.