American Political Thought: Theory and Practice provides students with a carefully curated selection of short and accessible readings that explore essential themes in American political thought. The anthology comprises diverse writings from a variety of American political thinkers throughout time. Opening chapters present readers with reflections on the founding of the United States of America and its Constitution. Additional chapters explore the enduring debate over the scope and power of American government and attendant discussions of federalism. Students examine the role of "the common person" in American politics as embodied by Jacksonian democracy; individualism and transcendentalism; race, gender, and sexuality in American politics and society; America's role in the world system; and more. Political thinkers featured within the volume include Thomas Paine, George Washington, Stephen Howard Browne, Walt Whitman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Andrew Bracevich, and Noam Chomsky, to name a few. Designed to ignite a lifelong interest in the subject matter, American Political Thought is an ideal textbook for American history and politics courses.