Clued in to Politics

Book excerpt: Clued in to Politics: A Critical Thinking Reader in American Government, Fourth Edition, edited by Christine Barbour and Matthew J. Streb, is a collection of contemporary American government readings (more than half new to this edition) that uses proven pedagogy for modeling critical thinking. The editors write a contextual headnote—“why we chose this piece”—and then follow every reading with questions that employ the CLUES method: Consider the source, Lay out the argument, Uncover the evidence, Evaluate the conclusion, and Sort out the political implications. By consistently walking students through a process for close reading and analysis, students pick up the habit of critical thinking and internalize a process that moves them far beyond regurgitating information. The chapters line up with coverage in introductory American government texts.