American Government in Black and White: Diversity and Democracy, Seventh Edition, is a unique introduction to American government that uses racial and ethnic equality as its underlying theme. Through the course of teaching students the standard topics about the American governmental system and politics, authors Paula D. McClain and Steven C. Tauber address issues of inequality in major facets of government including the U.S. Constitution, key American political institutions and instruments of political behavior, and the making of public policy. Using the original voices of racial and ethnic actors in our nation's history, they show students how to measure and evaluate the quest for and importance of equality in America, from its founding up to today.

Paula D. McClain is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University and Dean of The Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education. She directs the American Political Science Association's Ralph Bunche Summer Institute hosted by Duke University, and funded by the National Science Foundation and Duke University. A Howard University Ph.D., her primary research interests are in racial minority group politics, particularly inter-minority political and social competition, and urban politics, especially public policy and urban crime. Her articles have appeared in numerous journals, most recently the Journal of Politics, American Political Science Review, Urban Affairs Review, and The Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race. In addition to this text, she is coauthor of “Can We All Get Along?” Racial and Ethnic Minorities in American Politics, Fifth Edition, coauthored with Joseph Stewart, Jr. (2009).

Steven C. Tauber is Associate Professor of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida and Director of the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies. His research interests include Judicial Politics and Behavior, Politics and Animal Rights, Race and Politics, and Constitutional Law and Methodology. He has published numerous articles on the above subjects in several journals including Social Science Quarterly and Political Science Quarterly.