| Part 1: Introduction and Preliminaries | 
| 1 | What is the Role of Government? (PDF) | 
| Part 2: Institutions and American Politics | 
| 2 | Understanding Institutions: The Median Voter Theorem (PDF) | 
| 3 | Agenda Setting: The Committee Model (PDF 1) (PDF 2) | 
| 4 | Making Legislation: Veto Players (PDF) | 
| 5 | Making Legislation: Ideas and Policy Entrepreneurs (PDF) | 
| 6 | The Preferences of Policymakers: Elections and Responsiveness | 
| Part 3: Public Opinion, Elections, and Democracy | 
| 7 | Campaigns and Elections (PDF 1) (PDF 2) | 
| 8 | The Measure and Meaning of Public Opinion (PDF) | 
| 9 | The Structure of Public Opinion (PDF) | 
| 10 | Understanding Public Opinion and American Politics: War and Race (PDF) | 
| Part 4: Personal Interests and Political Equality | 
| 11 | Mobilization of Interests (PDF) | 
| 12 | Participation and the Political System (PDF) | 
| Part 5: American Politics: Bringing it all Together | 
| 13 | The Welfare Implications of Government | 
| 14 | Conclusions (PDF) |