This course will provide undergraduate students with a substantial introduction into the philosophic foundations and the evolving institutional and behavioral practices of American government since its founding. While this course will cast a broad net covering much of American government, among those themes that will receive a lion’s share of attention none seems more deserving than the work of the Founding Fathers of American government. Their thoughts about human nature and government, and the influence that thinkers like Locke and Montesquieu had on America's “Founding Generation” will be critically reviewed, inviting comparisons between the original design and the present operation of American political institutions. This comparison will be enlivened by frequent references to original framing documents—e.g., the Federalist Papers, and selected writings of Jefferson—and bedrock decisions of the Supreme Court over the course of the Republic’s life. Additional topics that shall be scrutinized include: the powers of, and relationships among, our three branches of government; federalism and its strengths and weaknesses in contemporary America; and the growing influence of the bureaucracy—America’s 4th branch of government—in the policymaking process.The book on which this course will be grounded is Peter Woll’s American Government: Readings and Cases; now in its 19th edition, Woll has managed to gather an outstanding collection of original source material from which underlying principles about the nature of American government can be appreciated, and about which fascinating questions can be raised and debated.