The best-selling book for Texas government courses provides accessible, comprehensive coverage of how Texas government works. The Seventh Edition features an exciting new chapter on Public Opinion and the Media, exploring the interplay between public opinion and public policy, and the key role of national and local media in politics. The Norton Illumine Ebook highlights the book’s key strengths with new videos and interactive features. 

Anthony Champagne

Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Illinois, 1973, has research interests in judicial politics and in Congressional history. He is the author of Congressman Sam Rayburn, Sam Rayburn: A Bio-bibliography, and Judicial Politics in Texas: Partisanship, Money, and Politics in State Courts. He has won three university-wide teaching awards. 

Edward J. Harpham

is professor of political science at the University of Texas at Dallas. An award-winning teacher, Harpham was the inaugural director and dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College from 1998 to 2021. He teaches courses in political theory, Texas and American government, and public policy. His research focuses on the role that economic ideas play in modern political thought and their impact upon modern state institutions. He is the author and editor of numerous books and articles in peer-reviewed journals.  

Jason Casellas

Associate professor at the University of Houston, specializes in American politics, with specific research and teaching interests in Latino politics, legislative politics, and state and local politics. He is the author of Latino Representation in State Houses and Congress (New York: Cambridge University Press). He is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, and he is a member of the Texas Advisory Committee of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. His work has appeared in the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, and other peer-reviewed journals.  

Jennifer Hayes Clark

Associate professor of political science at the University of Houston where she teaches American politics, public policy, and methodology. She is the author of Minority Parties in U.S. Legislatures: Conditions of Influence. She was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow and was the recipient of the Ross M. Lence Award for Teaching Excellence. Her work has appeared in various peer-reviewed journals, including the American Political Science Review, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and State Politics & Policy Quarterly.