The American people-and their government-are deeply at odds over how best to overcome the obstacles currently facing the country. After observing the strains of intense partisanship and divided government, your students are probably asking what logic, if any, can be found in politics. Weaving together historical context, current politics, and analytic concepts, this text builds an understanding of political institutions and practices as imperfect solutions to collective action problems. In addition, it provides a "toolkit" of institutional design concepts-command, veto, agenda control, voting rules, delegation.