This reader provides substantial extracts from the core texts in the field of American social and political thought. It demonstrates the rich intellectual tradition of the United States, giving an unparalleled understanding of American society and politics through the reproduction of key writings from a wide variety of thinkers.

The first part covers the core traditions of American social and political thought—American Exceptionalism, Political Theology, Republicanism, Liberalism, and Pragmatism. In the second part, texts have been selected to demonstrate the ways in which these traditions have been applied to a broad range of issues and conditions.

Exceptionally well-written and jargon-free, with helpful introductions and selections from Frederick Jackson Turner, Max Weber, Michael Sandel, John Rawls, C. Wright Mills, Sheldon Wolin, Judith N. Shklar, bell hooks, Michael Walzer and Richard Rorty, among others, American Social and Political Thought will be the core text in the field.