This fourth edition is thoroughly updated to reflect the challenges New Jersey has overcome and those it continues to face: sustaining growth and opportunity in a multicultural society, providing quality education, and protecting the environment. State politics and government have been almost entirely reshaped in recent decades, and those changes are analyzed in every chapter of this edition.

Offering a comprehensive overview of New Jersey politics and government, chapters cover the state’s political history; campaigns and elections; interest groups; the constitution; the development of government institutions; relationships with neighboring states, the federal government, and its own municipalities and counties; tax and spending policies; education; and quality of life issues.

BARBARA G. SALMORE served as dean and professor of political science at Fairleigh Dickinson–Madison and associate dean and professor at Drew University.

STEPHEN A. SALMORE was a political consultant and professor emeritus of political science at Rutgers University.