Good Book on American Politics

Walter Russel Mead is a scholar who writes about American Politics. He does a good job of tracing developments of American Political thought through the ages, and how these different strands affect American foreign policy. From the Jeffersonians who advocated a limited government, and foreign policy which still shows today in strands of libertarian attitude, and isolationism, to the Hamilitonians, after Alexander Hamilton, who beleived in a strong Federal government, which was the ancestor of today's liberal thought. He also introduces the Jacksonians, who do not neccesarily question a larger goverment, but are also expansionist, and hawkish on foreign policy. This strand is evident in the current administration. All three types haves to be understood in order to understand American foreign policy.