American Government Audiobook Chapters

Audiobook Chapters

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Good news! High quality audiobook recordings are available as an enhancement to our course textbook. These recordings can be particularly helpful for auditory learners, students with learning disabilities, and those who speak English as a second language. Many students enjoy listening to the audio recordings while simultaneously reading the text.

You can find a recording of each chapter by using the embedded audio players below. You can also listen or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

🎧 Audiobook Introduction

🎧 Chapter 1 - American Government and Civic Engagement

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:39 - Introduction
0:02:28 - What is Government? (1.1)
0:25:56 - Who Governs? Elitism, Pluralism, and Tradeoffs (1.2)
0:42:28 - Engagement in a Democracy (1.3)
1:11:05 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 2 - The Constitution and Its Origins

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:39 - Introduction
0:02:29 - The Pre-Revolutionary Period and the Roots of the American Political Tradition (2.1)
0:20:22 - The Articles of Confederation (2.2)
0:32:59 - The Development of the Constitution (2.3)
0:56:28 - The Ratification of the Constitution (2.4)
1:19:57 - Constitutional Change (2.5)
1:35:17 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 3 - American Federalism

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:02:40 - The Division of Powers (3.1)
0:35:26 - The Evolution of American Federalism (3.2)
1:05:13 - Intergovernmental Relationships (3.3)
1:23:46 - Competitive Federalism Today (3.4)
1:38:44 - Advantages and Disadvantages of Federalism (3.5)
1:47:13 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 4 - Civil Liberties

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:31 - Introduction
0:02:16 - What Are Civil Liberties? (4.1)
0:26:34 - Securing Basic Freedoms (4.2)
1:21:14 - The Rights of Suspects (4.3)
1:49:44 - Interpreting the Bill of Rights (4.4)
2:15:11 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 5 - Civil Rights

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:36 - Introduction
0:02:24 - What Are Civil Rights and How Do We Identify Them? (5.1)
0:17:29 - The African American Struggle for Equality (5.2)
0:57:10 - The Fight for Women’s Rights (5.3)
1:19:39 - Civil Rights for Indigenous Groups: Native Americans, Alaskans, and Hawaiians (5.4)
1:39:37 - Equal Protection for Other Groups (5.5)
2:16:33 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 6 - The Politics of Public Opinion

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:36 - Introduction
0:02:23 - The Nature of Public Opinion (6.1)
0:32:32 - How Is Public Opinion Measured? (6.2)
1:00:00 - What Does the Public Think? (6.3)
1:37:00 - The Effects of Public Opinion (6.4)
2:04:04 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 7 - Voting and Elections

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:02:38 - Voter Registration (7.1)
0:20:36 - Voter Turnout (7.2)
0:47:44 - Elections (7.3)
1:30:19 - Campaigns and Voting (7.4)
1:57:39 - Direct Democracy (7.5)
2:12:13 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 8 - The Media

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:02:14 - What Is the Media? (8.1)
0:28:21 - The Evolution of the Media (8.2)
1:00:38 - Regulating the Media (8.3)
1:32:12 - The Impact of the Media (8.4)
1:58:37 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 9 - Political Parties

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:01:17 - What Are Parties and How Did They Form? (9.1)
0:26:03 - The Two-Party System (9.2)
0:54:08 - The Shape of Modern Political Parties (9.3)
1:23:42 - Divided Government and Partisan Polarization (9.4)
1:56:15 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 10 - Interest Groups and Lobbying

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:38 - Introduction
0:02:34 - Interest Groups Defined (10.1)
0:24:55 - Collective Action and Interest Group Formation (10.2)
0:38:31 - Interest Groups as Political Participation (10.3)
1:08:12 - Pathways of Interest Group Influence (10.4)
1:21:47 - Free Speech and the Regulation of Interest Groups (10.5)
1:36:44 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 11 - Congress

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:02:26 - The Institutional Design of Congress (11.1)
0:32:21 - Congressional Elections (11.2)
0:55:52 - Congressional Representation (11.3)
1:20:15 - House and Senate Organizations (11.4)
1:33:59 - The Legislative Process (11.5)
1:50:19 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 12 - The Presidency

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:02:32 - The Design and Evolution of the Presidency (12.1)
0:28:35 - The Presidential Election Process (12.2)
0:45:18 - Organizing to Govern (12.3)
1:06:42 - The Public Presidency (12.4)
1:21:06 - Presidential Governance: Direct Presidential Action (12.5)
1:46:17 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 13 - The Courts

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:31 - Introduction
0:02:11 - Guardians of the Constitution and Individual Rights (13.1)
0:26:14 - The Dual Court System (13.2)
0:43:24 - The Federal Court System (13.3)
1:00:00 - The Supreme Court (13.4)
1:15:05 - Judicial Decision-Making and Implementation by the Supreme Court (13.5)
1:29:36 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 14 - State and Local Government

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:38 - Introduction
0:02:03 - State Power and Delegation (14.1)
0:25:38 - State Political Culture (14.2)
0:41:30 - Governors and State Legislatures (14.3)
1:18:07 - State Legislative Term Limits (14.4)
1:26:44 - County and City Government (14.5)
1:33:20 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 15 - The Bureaucracy

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:00:37 - Introduction
0:02:04 - Bureaucracy and the Evolution of Public Administration (15.1)
0:22:32 - Toward a Merit-Based Civil Service (15.2)
0:37:49 - Understanding Bureaucracies and their Types (15.3)
1:00:16 - Controlling the Bureaucracy (15.4)
1:23:49 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 16 - Domestic Policy

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:38:00 - Introduction
0:02:59 - What Is Public Policy? (16.1)
0:15:39 - Categorizing Public Policy (16.2)
0:38:04 - Policy Arenas (16.3)
0:55:09 - Policymakers (16.4)
1:12:27 - Budgeting and Tax Policy (16.5)
1:34:35 - Credits

🎧 Chapter 17 - Foreign Policy

⏱ Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Welcome
0:38:00 - Introduction
0:02:27 - Defining Foreign Policy (17.1)
0:35:44 - Foreign Policy Instruments (17.2)
0:54:53 - Institutional Relations in Foreign Policy (17.3)
1:16:58 - Approaches to Foreign Policy (17.4)
1:37:01 - Credits

📝 License

This audiobook project was developed by Brian Barrick Links to an external site. and is offered under a Creative Commons License (CC-BY-SA-4.0).

This is an audio adaptation of American Government 3e by OpenStax. Access for free at openstax.org Links to an external site.. Some editorial changes were made to ensure a better listening experience. The audio from this project is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY-SA-4.0). The intro and outro music is “Take Me Higher” by Jahzzar Links to an external site. (CC-BY-SA).

The funding for this project was provided by CC-ECHO (California Consortium for Equitable Change in Hispanic Serving Institutions Open Educational Resources). You can learn more about CC-ECHO at https://www.hancockcollege.edu/ccecho Links to an external site..

The formatting of this Canvas instructor resource page was inspired by the UC Irvine Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI). Their Canvas template Links to an external site. is available under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY) and served as a reference.

The contents of this audiobook were developed under an Open Textbooks Pilot grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education.  However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.