1212 Chapter 1 | Understanding American Politicspopulation is united behind common goals—such as supporters of Donald Trump
after the 2016 election, who demanded repeal of Obamacare—these individuals
almost always find that translating these demands into policy change requires them
to accept something short of their ideal. Hard-core Trump supporters, and Trump
himself, for example, had to accept that there was not enough consensus in Congress
(or support from American citizens) for an outright appeal of Obamacare. The need for
compromise does not mean that change is impossible, but rather means that what is
achievable often falls short of individuals’ demands.Political Process Matters
The political process is often described like a sporting event, with a focus on strategies
and ultimately on “winning.” In fact, the National Journal magazine regularly
publishes a segment titled “Play of the Day” on its online site. This focus overlooks an
important point: politics is the process that determines what government does, none of
which is inevitable. Public policy—everything from defending the nation to spending
on Medicare—is up for grabs. It is not just a game.
Elections are an excellent example of the importance of the political process.
Elections allow voters to give fellow citizens the power to enact laws, write budgets,
and appoint senior bureaucrats and federal judges. It matters who gets elected. After
the 2016 election, which produced unified Republican control of the presidency
and Congress, many Obama-era environmental and employment regulations were
repealed, conservatives were appointed to the Supreme Court and other federal
courts, corporate tax rates were cut, and the United States withdrew from the Paris
Agreement on climate change. Clearly, political process matters: if the 2016 election
had gone the other way, outcomes in all these important areas would have been
significantly different.
Yet politics is more than elections. As you will see, many unelected members
of the federal bureaucracy have influence over what government does by virtue of
their roles in developing and implementing government policies. The same is true
for federal judges, who review government actions to see if they are consistent with
the Constitution and other federal laws. These individuals’ decisions are part of the
political process, even though they are not elected to their positions.
Ordinary citizens are also part of politics. They can vote; donate time or money to
interest groups, party organizations, or individual candidates; or demand action from
these groups or individuals. Such actions can influence government policy, either byThe political process mattered in the
2016 election, from determining who
the candidates were, to affecting
which states received the most
attention from campaigns. Both
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton
spent a lot of time campaigning in
Pennsylvania in a bid to win the state’s
electoral college votes.Full_02_APT_64431_ch01_002-029.indd 12 16/11/18 1:35 PM