The Play of Power: An Introduction to American Government
James Eisenstein, Mark Kessler, Bruce A. Williams and Jacqueline Vaughn Switzer. The Play of Power: An Introduction to American Government. New York St. Martin's Press, 1996. 639 pp. Tables, appendices, glossary, references, index. ISBN 0-312-13662-5.
There are dozens of American Government textbooks on the market, many of them very respected and successful, some even regarded as classics in their umpteenth(无数次的) edition. Frequently there is little that distinguishes one from an other, other than an idiosyncratic(特殊的) "conceptual framework," the number and kinds of graphics, boxes, and photos, or the package of ancillary(辅助的) materials available to the adopter. The Play of Power: An Introduction to American Government is typical of the standard American Government textbook on the market. It provides balanced coverage of political and constitutional history, American political institutions and processes, and political participation. This basic version does not include separate chapters on public policy, but many policy issues are addressed in the coverage of the congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, the courts, and interest groups.
The chapters are organized in a logical sequence but they are written so that they may be used in an alternative sequence if an instructor would so desire. The writing style. is very straightforward and not unnecessarily academic and jargonistic. The tone is respectful of students and their experiences and, despite multiple authors, it remains consistent throughout the text.
There are a number of features of The Play of Power that make it attractive and that make it one of the textbooks that I have used with satisfaction for several years. As is suggested by the title, the authors describe politics as a game of power played by many players, though theirs is not an application of formal game theories to polities. Instead, they ask students to think of a number of familiar games, like basketball or Monopoly(强手棋), and the ways that the rules, strategies, and resources shape how players go about pursuing their goals and with what effect. The authors invite students, then, to look at polities as a game—a "grand" game with sometimes deadly consequences—that is shaped by certain rules (some found in the Constitution), that is played by many players (politicians, voters, organized interests, etc.) who bring various and un- equal resources (money, status, connections, etc.) to the game, and who win various material and symbolic outcomes. The "game of politics" metaphor is sometimes difficult to sustain throughout the coverage of many topics, but it provides a useful organizational framework. It dashes some of the idealistic notions of American government and politics that students may have picked up in high school civics classes, as well as the more cynical notions that they pick up in the popular media. In the end, I think it is useful in helping students make sense of who gets what, and how, as well as who does what, and why—and with what success.
Another attractive feature of The Play of Power is a serious, consistent, and ultimately successful effort to draw on students' own experience to uncover the relevance of politics and government. The authors compare and contrast political issues and dilemmas to student issues, to student relationships among themselves, with the university, with their parents, and with local government. This helps students see the rule-making and choice—making, as web as the tradeoffs(权衡) of the political process.
The authors of The Play of Power also pall off fairly effectively the challenge of describing the roles of minorities and women in American political history and contemporary politics. This has become an increasingly common undertaking for authors of American government textbooks. Some authors weave a discussion of these

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