American Panorama A Comprehensive Guide To The Culture Of The United States [Paperback]

American Panorama provides a comprehensive up to date guide to the culture of the United States in 12 chapters for the citizen, citizenship applicant, businessperson, the civics, language and culture student and the traveler, particularly readers who have limited access to libraries. American Panorama is a concise encyclopedia informed by the latest scholarship and statistics. In easy language, American Panorama surveys America's vast expanses and patterns of settlement, describes the rise and fall of cities, the growth of suburbs and gated communities, and the campaigns of the environmental movement. American Panorama describes the unity and conflict among the peoples of many heritages and identities who make up America, focusing on patterns of immigration, minorities, and the growth and aging of the population. Believing the founding of the United States to be the most important event in modern history, American Panorama explores the bases of its epoch-making Constitution, outlines the role and practice of government and the system of legal and cultural checks and balances that avert the abuse of power, and discusses current issues such as gun control and the surveillance society, candidates, elections, political action committees and campaign funding. American Panorama outlines the characteristics of the world's leading economy, its free markets, corporations, labor struggles, disparities in wealth, the effects of globalization and the changes in the workforce, with analysis of the current financial crisis. The book illustrates the sources of American power in its unparalleled ability to innovate, integrate and renew, to generate solutions to problems, to produce what people want and enjoy, and hire any passing talent to do it. The triumphs and problems of America's education system, especially its world class universities, are discussed and its groundbreaking achievements in science, space research and medicine outlined. The changes in print and electronic medl#·