Washington, D.C.: Capital of the Free World; the most powerful city on Earth. No other country, company, or international organization can compare with the reach and wealth of the federal government. Policymaking -- the art of deciding what programs to support, what laws to pass, or what regulations to write -- is at the core of what Washington does and is what everyone, from the President on down, wants to influence.

How Washington Actually Works For Dummies isn't a dry explanation of the American system of...