My goal in writing this book is to help you develop the knowledge, skills, and ideals you need to protect your own freedom; to keep democracy alive in the United States. In the pages that follow you will find information to help you better understand how the machinery of representative government works and why it sometimes does not work. You will have the chance to develop skills for making sound judgments about public policy and for taking part in politics. And you will read about key principles of democracy such as majority rule with minority rights, free elections, and individual liberty. - A letter to students.