Investigations in American Government

Steady encouragement

Embedded questions on every page help students stay focused, actively process the information, and construct new knowledge.

Presentation and exploration

The 32 investigations guide students through an examination of real-world artifacts, case studies, and data to put key concepts into context and test the limits of the ideas presented.

All the benefits of the Soomo platform

Like all our webtexts, Investigations in American Government comes with a suite of tools for instructors and students, such as LMS integration, note sharing, Analytics, Read to Me (our text-to-speech feature), mobile app access, and more.

1. Data Investigation: Congress Divided (click to expand)
   1. Students use DW-NOMINATE scores and Pew survey data about party ideology to investigate party polarization and its potential effects.
2. Data Investigation: Executive Orders and Power
   1. As they examine data on executive orders in three different ways (total, average, and first 100 days), students consider how the practice of executive orders relates to the principle of checks and balances.
3. Data Investigation: Framing and Funding Education
   1. Students compare the language used in state constitutions with state levels of educational funding. They then consider what the practice of education funding reveals about the principle of federalism.
4. Data Investigation: The Land of the Free
   1. Through measures of civil and political freedom over time, students consider the shifting landscape of individual liberties in the U.S. and abroad.
5. Data Investigation: We, the People Who Participate
   1. Students use voter turnout data to consider whether the practice of voting aligns with the principle of popular sovereignty.
6. Supreme Court Story Investigation: Brown v. Board
   1. Part I: An original video features political science professors explaining the background and legal issues involved in the struggle for school desegregation.
   2. Part II: Students read about more recent cases involving school integration as they consider the lasting effects of the decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
7. Supreme Court Story Investigation: Marbury v. Madison
   1. Part I: An original video features political science professors describing the events leading to Marbury v. Madison and the legal legacy of the case.
   2. Part II: Students continue their consideration of jurisdiction and judicial review as they read Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution as well as the Court’s majority opinion in the case.
8. Supreme Court Story Investigation: McCulloch v. Maryland
   1. Part I: An original video features political science professors explaining chartered banks and discussing the battle between state and federal power in McCulloch v. Maryland.
   2. Part II: Students explore Oregon v. Mitchell, a different case involving state and federal powers, and consider how the Supreme Court’s decision was influenced by McCulloch v. Maryland.
9. Investigation: Am I Blue, Purple, or Red?
   1. Using the Pew Research Center’s Political Typology Quiz, students consider their own political typology as they investigate U.S. political ideology.
10. Investigation: The American Pizza Community
    1. Through news coverage and congressional testimony excerpts, students investigate the formation and strategies of a specific interest group, the American Pizza Community.
11. Investigation: The Broken Presidency
    1. In this investigation, students consider journalist John Dickerson’s ideas about the evolution of the modern presidency.
12. Investigation: The Business of Weed
    1. In this investigation, students explore how differences among state marijuana laws illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of a federal system.
13. Investigation: Comparing Constitutions
    1. Students compare the text of the U.S. and Russian constitutions as well as maps and excerpts from Freedom House’s “Freedom in the World” report.
14. Investigation: #Divide
    1. Using findings from a Pew Research Center report and excerpts from a news article, students consider political polarization and its connection to selective exposure to media.
15. Investigation: Drawing Political Lines
    1. Students first learn more about gerrymandering, with a focus on what it is and why it happens. Then they consider an argument from FiveThirtyEight about whether gerrymandering is to blame for problems in the U.S. political system.
16. Investigation: Eavesdropping on the Oval Office: LBJ’s First Days
    1. Students listen to recorded phone calls from Lyndon B. Johnson’s first month in office as they consider presidential personality and the challenges faced by an unexpected president.
17. Investigation: Federalist No. 10
    1. Students consider faction and democracy as they read one of the best-known Federalist Papers.
18. Investigation: Foreign Policy in Two Conflicts
    1. Students consider presidential decision-making and foreign policy as they learn about Nixon’s plan for peace in Vietnam and Obama’s strategy in Afghanistan.
19. Investigation: Free Speech for Students
    1. Through the example of Mahoney Area School District vs. B.L., students investigate debates over free speech.
20. Investigation: Healthcare: Quality
    1. An original documentary on health care reform guides students through debates on comparative effectiveness research and shows the role of the bureaucracy in implementing legislation.
21. Investigation: Implementing the ACA
    1. By examining documents meant to inform the public about the Affordable Care Act, students consider the bureaucratic process of implementing new legislation.
22. Investigation: The Ins and Outs of the Electoral College
    1. Students watch an original video features interviews with electors from the 2016 presidential election and also examine an interactive map showing electoral votes and partisan consistency.
23. Investigation: The Ins and Outs of Exit Polls
    1. Students first dig into details of exit polling and then consider exit poll issues from the 2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election.
24. Investigation: License to Vote
    1. Students compare voter registration by state and then take a closer look at the prospect of automatic voter registration.
25. Investigation: Making the News
    1. An original documentary takes students behind the scenes with reporters to learn how news stories are developed.
26. Investigation: Managing Guns in America
    1. Students examine federalism as well as state and local government through the lens of gun legislation.
27. Investigation: The Meaning of the Right to Privacy
    1. Students first read about the groundwork laid for a right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut. They then consider the evolution of the Court’s thinking as they read excerpts from majority and dissenting opinions in Dobbs v. Jackson.
28. Investigation: Party Platforms
    1. Students take a comparative look at Democratic and Republican party platforms from the 2024 presidential election.
29. Investigation: Passing the 19th Amendment
    1. A Soomo original video is paired with a primary-source pamphlet and other materials to walk students through the two-stage amendment process as it played out with the 19th Amendment.
30. Investigation: The Path to Marriage Equality
    1. Through public opinion data, an interactive timeline, and excerpts from court decisions, students evaluate how public opinion and political context influenced the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.
31. Investigation: Setting the Legislative Agenda
    1. An original documentary features representatives from North Carolina and California, as well as the former House Judiciary Committee chief of staff, as they discuss past legislative attempts at immigration reform.
32. Investigation: These Divided States
    1. By reading maps and historical analysis, students consider state-level political culture along with the idea that the United States should be understood as 11 distinct nations.
33. Investigation: Till We Have Suffrage: The Movement
    1. Students explore the tactics used by the women’s suffrage movement through an original video and a collection of primary sources from the period. These include photographs, newspaper excerpts, and the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments.
34. Investigation: The USDA: An Agency for Farmers
    1. By examining USDA materials about the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, students get a window into how the federal bureaucracy implements legislation.
35. Investigation: We the Protesters
    1. As they read a selection of news stories and analysis, students consider what factors make political demonstrations successful and how protests can affect policymaking.
36. Investigation: What Can Third Parties Do?
    1. Students first learn more about the role of third parties in American politics and then consider the performance of third parties in both the 2016 and 2024 elections.
37. Investigation: What Lobbyists Do
    1. Students gain insight into the workings of Congress and interest groups through original videos that feature working lobbyists sharing their experiences.
38. Investigation: The Year of the Woman
    1. Through a video news series, students meet four women who ran for different levels of office and consider the hurdles they faced in the political arena.

Interactive content

Study questions

Multiple-choice questions on each page guide students to critical information by providing immediate feedback. These low-risk opportunities allow students to reset answers to try again or to study for tests.

Investigations

Investigation pages incorporate videos, news articles, data visualizations, primary source documents, and other sources to help students explore key concepts in greater depth.

Response boards

Students consider other perspectives through response boards that allow them to see the responses of their peers only after they’ve posted their own comment.

Polls

Polls allow students to share their opinions and see the breakdown of their classmates’ anonymous responses. In some cases, students will also see a larger dataset.

Study tools

Webtext Reader app

Students can access materials and complete assignments offline with our mobile app available for iOS and Android.

Reading tools

Reading tools allow students to click on vocabulary terms for definitions and mark up their own webtext by highlighting and adding notes in the margins.

Read to Me

Our text-to-speech feature instantly creates an audio version of the webtext page to extend the reach of online content.

My Progress

Students can keep track of their own work inside My Progress, which records their scores, time spent, and completion.

The following materials are available for this course:

• lecture slides

Authors

Jocelyn Evans, PhD
University of West Florida

Kristy Michaud, PhD
California State University–Northridge

Investigation Contributors

Jennie Linder Cunningham, MA
Texas A&M University–Kingsville

Jocelyn Evans, PhD
University of West Florida

Lilly Goren, PhD
Carroll University

Jessica Hayden, PhD
Western Carolina University

Kristy Michaud, PhD
California State University–Northridge

Cynthia Newton, PhD
Wesley College

Tressa Tabares, PhD
American River College

Advisors

Philip Ardoin, PhD
Appalachian State University

Janet Box-Steffensmeier, PhD
Ohio State University

Asiya Daud, PhD
Pitzer College

Anna Fleming, PhD
Mercer University

Terry Gilmour, PhD
Midland College

Lilly Goren, PhD
Carroll University

Jessica Hayden, PhD
Western Carolina University

Erin Richards
Cascadia Community College

Cammy Shay, PhD
Houston Community College

Steven Tran, PhD
Houston Community College

Justin Vaughn, PhD
Coastal Carolina University

Sherri L. Wallace, PhD
University of Louisville

Sarah Young, PhD
University of South Carolina

Peer Reviewers

Jean-Marc Akakpo
Kennesaw State University

Scott Buchanan, PhD
The Citadel

Michelle Buehlmann, PhD
Northern Virginia Community College

Tony Carey, Jr., PhD
University of North Texas

Larry Carter, PhD
University of Texas-Arlington

Carl D. Cavalli, PhD
North Georgia College

Linda C. Davis, MA
Hillsborough Community College

Matthew DeSantis, PhD
Guilford Technical Community College

Gregory Domin, PhD
Columbus State University

Michael Evans, PhD
Georgia State University

Bailey R. Fairbanks
Georgia State University

Anna McCaghren Fleming
Georgia State University

David Hill, PhD
Stetson University

Parakh Hoon, PhD
South Puget Sound Community College

Gary Johnson, PhD
Weber State University

Joseph Jozwiak, PhD
Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi

William Kelly, PhD
Auburn University

Marvin King, PhD
University of Mississippi

Robert J. King, PhD
Georgia Perimeter College

Glen Krutz, PhD
University of Oklahoma

Julie Lester, PhD
Macon State College

Christie Maloyed, PhD
University of Nebraska–Kearney

Benjamin Melusky, PhD
University of Pittsburgh

Sara Moats, PhD
West Virginia University

Dwight Mullen, PhD
University of North Carolina—Asheville (ret.)

Cynthia Newton, PhD
Wesley College

God’swill Osa, MA
University of Texas—Austin

Sandra Popiden, PhD
Bridgewater State College

Amanda Rosen, PhD
Webster University

Mikhail Rybalko, PhD
Texas Tech University

Joanna Sabo, PhD
Monroe County Community College

Lauren R. Santoro, PhD
Ohio State University

Mayia Shulga, PhD
Lone Star College

Tressa Tabares, PhD
American River College

Christopher Witt, PhD
Augustana College

Shawn Williams, PhD
Campbellsville University

David Woodard, PhD
Clemson University

Publisher

Mary Jane Lindrum

Executive Editor

Jenny Westrick

Creative Director

Zara Elizabeth Crockett

Senior Editor

Jill Gallagher

Project Manager

Autumn McGimsey

Lead Learning Designer

Lindsy Pietroski

Learning Design Coordinator

Laura Aitcheson

Learning Designers

Jonathan Campbell
Rebekah Krahe

Assistant Learning Designer

Stephen Clark

Production Editor & Coordinator

Natalie Welch

Production Editors

Rachel Garzarelli
Marquita Jones

Assistant Production Editors

Angelica Burac
Erin Griffin Collum
Thinacha Newberry

Photo Research & Permissions

Zara Elizabeth Crockett

Illustrations

Macks Lazo

Permissions Coordinator

Mallory Edwards

User Interface Design

Sam Korthof
Clint McFarlin

Note

Some multiple-choice questions were developed using ChatGPT; these questions were factchecked and edited for style and accuracy.