u/DaShiQiang

I want to be politically engaged, but I find myself self-conscious about how little I know about history, theory, moral philosophy, or economics. I find myself identifying as something purposefully vague, like a "cultural liberal," and moderating and subjectivizing my political beliefs severely, based on the assumption that I (and probably >85% of the American electorate) am not educated nor thoughtful enough about any given issue to have earned the right to a strong opinion.

Given this, if I want a basic (as in, significantly above average) understanding of American politics as well as the base political knowledge required to comprehend more advanced topics, what reading materials do you recommend I read?