Introduction to American Politics
A survey of U.S. politics from MIT OpenCourseWare, covering the institutional foundations of American government alongside the behavior of political elites, organizations, and ordinary citizens. The course applies core political science concepts and analytic frameworks to real episodes in U.S. politics, from the design of Congress and the presidency to voting behavior and interest group activity. Materials include a full syllabus, lecture notes, readings, and assignments used in the actual MIT course, making it suitable as a first course in the discipline for students who have not studied political science before. The course is free to access through MIT OpenCourseWare under a Creative Commons license, with no certificate offered. It works well as a self-study introduction to how American political institutions actually function and how political scientists study them.