Jesus Tapdancing Christ, I hate my political science text

[LeftyMom]

It's odd. My instructor is a good lecturer, he tells interesting stories, he comes to nuanced conclusions, yet he picked this dull, polyannaish, overly theoretical text for us to read. He comes across as more than a bit to the left, yet he's got us reading this book that talks about women in Afghanistan being able to walk around unveiled (Is that in Kabul? The Taliban is still running the rest!) and Iraqis struggling with an emerging democracy. (Gee, that's funny, I thought they swapped a Sunni dictatorship for an American Military Dictatorship.)

How the hell am I supposed to study for a test when I can't read the damned book without getting a bit of nausea?

[ThomCat]

1. Can you discuss the inaccuracies in class?

It would show that you have read the book, and he might appreciate the discussion/feedback.

[LeftyMom]

3. We don't discuss the book in class

We read it at home and get tested on it. The lecture material is a separate test and entirely separate from what we're reading in the book. It's pretty much to paralell classes, because there's no overlap between the text part and the lecture part, they're not even tested the same way or on the same days.

[MrCoffee]

2. What book is it?

[LeftyMom]

4. Approaching Democracy

http://www.amazon.com/Approaching-Democracy-5th-Larry-Berman/dp/0131744011/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_3_txt/102-4522159-0046527?ie=UTF8

[huskerlaw]

5. Oh good lord

the cover is quite the Freeper wet dream, isn't it? All that's missing is an eagle. :puke:

Seriously, it looks like a Colbert spoof.

[LeftyMom]

6. Doesn't it?

Even worse, Chapter One, covering basics about democracy, starts with a 2 page pic of * at the National Prayer Breakfast. Chapter 2, on the founders and the Constitution, has a 2 page pic of the flag and that I beam stuck to another that looks vaugely like a cross at Ground Zero.

It's beyond shameless, and I paid good money for this shit.

[huskerlaw]

8. That's disgusting.

Makes me wonder if your prof had any control over the book choice.

I minored in PoliSci and none of my books looked like that. Of course, I graduated in 2000...that may have something to do with it. :eyes:

[LeftyMom]

10. I would assume so, he's the department chair

I looked and there's one other text used for the course, which I'm looking up right now.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Government-Continuity-Change-Paperbound/dp/0321209184 <-The other Poli Sci 301 text currently in use at my school.

[Book Lover]

7. Just a quick note

*ALL* Poli sci covers look like that. Big surprise, it's a very conservative market.

[Juffo Wup]

12. Mine didn't

It had Gandhi, MLK, and a Greenpeace banner:

http://www.amazon.com/Political-Ideologies-Democratic-Ideal-Terence/dp/0321005414/ref=sr_11_1/102-0575589-9550569?ie=UTF8

[Book Lover]

13. That's pretty unusual,

but it is an international book, fwiw...

[rug]

9. Too bad there's no chapter on the Lounge.

[pscot]

11. Maybe you should review the book

for Amazon. Looks like you would be the first. Get your licks in.

[LeftyMom]

14. Once I finish with it I will

I wouldn't want to review it only a few chapters in, though I looked through it a bit more and there was a lot more that I found concerning. One thing was a glowing blurb on the role of evangelicals in the last election that'd be more at home in a BJU test than a supposedly unbiased one geared toward a general audience. I also noted that the pictures of protests were interestingly skewed, with right wingers being orderly and the left represented by pics from the battle of seattle and other protests that look bad. If they're going to show the black bloc, shouldn't they show the Shiavo protest freaks or the people with the dismembered fetus pictures too/