issuhub.com

American Politics Today - Essentials (3rd Ed)

(vip2019) #1



    1. UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN POLITICS PART I: FOUNDATIONS



  • Making Sense of American Government and Politics

  • Why Do We Have a Government?

    • Forms of Government

    • Governments Provide Order

    • Governments Promote the General Welfare



  • What Is Politics?

    • Key Idea 1: Politics Is Confl ictual

    • Key Idea 2: Political Process Matters

    • Key Idea 3: Politics Is Everywhere



  • Sources of Confl ict in American Politics

    • Economic Interests

    • Cultural Values

    • Racial, Gender, and Ethnic Diff erences

    • Ideology



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. THE CONSTITUTION AND THE FOUNDING



  • The Historical Context of the Constitution

    • Articles of Confederation: The First Attempt at Government

    • Political Theories of the Framers

    • Economic Interests



  • The Politics of Compromise at the Constitutional Convention xii

    • Majority Rule versus Minority Rights

    • Small States versus Large States

    • Legislative Power versus Executive Power

    • National Power versus State and Local Power

    • Slave States versus Nonslave States



  • Ratifi cation

    • The Antifederalists’ Concerns

    • The Federalists’ Strategies



  • The Constitution: A Framework for Government

    • Exclusive Powers

    • Shared Powers

    • Negative or Checking Powers



  • Is the Constitution a “Living” Document?

    • Changing the Constitution

    • Flexibility and Interpretation



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. FEDERALISM



  • What Is Federalism and Why Does It Matter?

    • Levels of Government and Their Degrees of Autonomy

    • A Comparative Perspective



  • Balancing National and State Power in the Constitution

    • A Strong National Government

    • State Powers and Limits on National Power

    • Clauses that Favor Both Perspectives



  • The Evolving Concept of Federalism

    • The Early Years

    • Dual Federalism

    • Cooperative Federalism



  • Federalism Today

    • Cooperative Federalism Lives On: Fiscal Federalism

    • The Rise of Coercive Federalism

    • Fighting For States’ Rights: The Role of the Modern Supreme Court

    • Assessing Federalism Today



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. CIVIL LIBERTIES xiiixiii



  • Defi ning Civil Liberties

    • Origins of the Bill of Rights

    • Selective Incorporation and the Fourteenth Amendment



  • Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and the Press

    • Generally Protected Expression

    • Less Protected Speech and Publications



  • Freedom of Religion

    • The Establishment Clause and Separation of Church and State

    • The Free Exercise Clause



  • The Right to Bear Arms

  • Law, Order, and the Rights of Criminal Defendants

    • The Fourth Amendment: Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

    • The Fifth Amendment: Self- Incrimination

    • The Sixth Amendment: The Right to Legal Counsel and a Jury Trial

    • The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment



  • Privacy Rights

    • Abortion Rights

    • The Right to Die

    • Gay Rights



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. PUBLIC OPINION AND THE MEDIA PART II: POLITICS



  • What Is Public Opinion?

    • Describing Public Opinion

    • Many Opinions Are Latent

    • How People Form Opinions



  • Sources of Opinions

    • Socialization: Families and Communities

    • Events

    • Group Identity

    • Politicians and Other Political Actors



  • Measuring Public Opinion

    • Mass Surveys

    • Problems in Measuring Public Opinion xiv

    • The Accuracy of Public Opinion



  • Characteristics of American Public Opinion

    • Ideological Polarization

    • Evaluations of Government and Offi ceholders

    • Policy Preferences

    • Does Public Opinion Infl uence Government



  • The News Media

    • Media Sources

    • What Diff erence Does the Internet Make?

    • Regulating the Media

    • Media Eff ects on Citizenry and Government



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. POLITICAL PARTIES



  • Parties and Party Systems

    • The First Five Party Systems

    • The Sixth Party System, 1969–Present

    • Realignments



  • Modern American Political Parties

    • The Party Organization

    • The Party in Government

    • The Party in the Electorate



  • The Role of Political Parties in American Politics

    • Contesting Elections

    • Cooperation in Government



  • Minor Parties

  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. ELECTIONS



  • How Do American Elections Work?

    • Two Stages of Elections

    • Constituencies: Who Chooses Representatives?

    • Determining Who Wins

    • Presidential Elections



  • Electoral Campaigns xv

    • Setting the Stage

    • Before the Campaign

    • The General Election Campaign

    • Campaign Advertising: Getting the Word Out

    • Campaign Finance



  • How Do Voters Decide?

    • The Decision to Vote

    • How Do People Vote?

    • Voting in Nationalized Elections



  • Understanding the 2012 Election

    • The Path to 2012: The 2008 and 2010 Elections

    • The State of the Country in

    • The Presidential Nomination Process and Conventions

    • The General Election: Obama vs. Romney

    • Congressional Races

    • Analyzing the 2012 Elections



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. INTEREST GROUPS



  • The Interest Group Universe

    • Organizational Structures

    • Membership: Benefi ts and Incentives

    • Resources

    • Staff

    • The Business of Lobbying



  • Interest Group Strategies

    • Inside Strategies

    • Outside Strategies



  • How Much Power Do Interest Groups Have?

    • What Determines When Interest Groups Succeed?

    • How Groups Succeed



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. CONGRESS PART III: INSTITUTIONS



  • Congress’s Place in Our Constitutional System

  • Congress and the People

    • Representation and the Constituency

    • The Electoral Connection

    • Redistricting

    • Congress’s Image Problem



  • The Incumbency Advantage and Its Sources

  • The Structure of Congress

    • Informal Structures

    • Formal Structures



  • How a Bill Becomes a Law

    • The Conventional Process

    • Deviations from the Conventional Process

    • Key Diff erences between House and Senate Processes



  • Oversight

  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. THE PRESIDENCY



  • America’s Presidents

    • Early Years through World War I

    • The Great Depression through the Present



  • The President’s Job Description

    • Head of the Executive Branch

    • The President as Politician

    • Presidential Succession



  • The Executive Branch

    • The Executive Offi ce of the President

    • The Vice President

    • The President’s Cabinet



  • The American Public and the President

  • Assessing Presidential Power

  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



      1. THE BUREAUCRACY xvii



    • What Is the Federal Bureaucracy?

      • What Do Bureaucrats Do?

      • Bureaucratic Expertise and Its Consequences



    • History of the American Bureaucracy

      • The Beginning of America’s Bureaucracy

      • Building a New American State: The Progressive Era

      • The New Deal, the Great Society, and the Reagan Revolution



    • The Modern Federal Bureaucracy

      • The Structure of the Federal Government

      • The Size of the Federal Government



    • The Human Face of the Bureaucracy

      • Civil Service Regulations

      • Political Appointees and the Senior Executive Service

      • Limits on Political Activity



    • Controlling the Bureaucracy

      • Agency Organization

      • Monitoring

      • Correcting Violations

      • The Consequences of Control



    • Conclusion

    • STUDY GUIDE



      1. THE COURTS



    • The Development of an Independent and Powerful Federal Judiciary

      • The Founders’ Views of the Courts: The Weakest Branch?

      • Judicial Review and Marbury v. Madison

      • Judicial Review in Practice





  • The American Legal and Judicial System

    • Court Fundamentals

    • Structure of the Court and Federalism

    • How Judges are Selected



  • Access to the Supreme Court

    • The Court’s Workload

    • Rules of Access

    • The Court’s Criteria



  • Hearing Cases before the Supreme Court

    • Briefs

    • Oral Argument

    • Conference xviii

    • Opinion Writing



  • Supreme Court Decision Making

    • Legal Factors

    • Political Factors



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. CIVIL RIGHTS PART IV: POLICY



  • The Context of Civil Rights

    • African Americans

    • Native Americans, Asians, and Latinos

    • Women and Civil Rights

    • Gay Men and Lesbians



  • The Racial Divide Today

    • Diff erences in Voting Access

    • Socioeconomic Indicators

    • Criminal Justice and Hate Crimes



  • The Policy- Making Process and Civil Rights

    • Social Movements

    • The Judicial Arena

    • The Legislative Arena

    • The Executive Arena



  • Continuing and Future Civil Rights Issues

    • Affi rmative Action

    • Multicultural Issues



  • Conclusion

  • STUDY GUIDE



    1. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL POLICY



  • Making Public Policy

    • The Policy-Making Process

    • The Key Players in Economic and Social Policy Making



  • Economic Policy

    • Goals of Economic Policy

    • Tools and Theory of Economic Policy



Free download pdf
Get our desktop app
Company
Features
Documentation
Resources
© ISSUHUB. 2024. All rights reserved.