The foundation of the United States was defined by wide-ranging debates about what a government should be. Those debates continue today and have day-to-day effects on Americans and, through foreign policy, countries around the world. Politics and Power in the United States traces the history of America’s government and other political institutions, including major political parties like the Federalists, Anti-Federalists, Whigs, Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians. The book examines how politics in the United States has domestic and international impacts and how the country’s activists and reformers work toward realizing their vision of America.