Thomas Dye, along with new co-author Bartholomew Sparrow, has written a lively and absorbing narrative examining the struggle for power that is American politics: the participants, the stakes, the processes, and the institutions. Numerous feature boxes explore timely issues, draw cross-cultural comparisons, promote critical thinking, and provoke thoughtful opinions. The Texas Edition of this classic text includes the same coverage as the comprehensive version, but includes 7 additional chapters on Texas politics. With the intense political conflict of the most expensive presidential campaign in American history and the hotly-contested primary campaigns that led to the national conventions in 2008, theme of the constant competition for power and resources–“who gets what”–has never been more relevant.