Debating Democracy A Reader in American Politics

by Miroff, Bruce

• ISBN13: 9780618437665
• ISBN10: 0618437665
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-01
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

This supplementary text offers two readings per chapter organized in a debate-style format, representing opposing viewpoints. The straightforward, thought-provoking presentation facilitates class discussion. New! Updated and expanded coverage includes 33% new material. New! Additional debates include American Political Culture and the War on Terrorism; Civil Liberties in a Time of War: Debating the Patriot Act; Democrats Versus Republicans: Is There a New Majority?, Tax Cuts and Deficits; and U.S. Foreign Policy: Debating Preemptive War. New! One new essay in the Congress chapter and original essays by Greenstein and Skowronek on the presidency will be updated to cover George W. Bush.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	ix
INTRODUCTION How to Read This Book	1	(13)
CHAPTER 1 The Founding: Debating the Constitution	14	(17)
James Madison,
Federalist No. 10	17	(6)
Brutus,
Anti-federalist Paper, 18 October 1787	23	(8)
CHAPTER 2 Democracy: Overrated or Undervalued?	31	(21)
John Mueller,
Democracy's Romantic Myths	34	(7)
Paul Rogat Loeb,
The Active Citizen	41	(11)
CHAPTER 3 The New Federalism: Does It Create Laboratories of Democracy or a Race to the Bottom?	52	(16)
William D. Eggers and John O'Leary,
Beyond the Beltway	55	(5)
John D. Donahue,
The Devil in Devolution	60	(8)
CHAPTER 4 Civil Society: Does America Face a Crisis in Civic Engagement?	68	(22)
Robert D. Putnam,
Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community	72	(11)
William A. Galston and Peter Levine,
America's Civic Condition: A Glance at the Evidence	83	(7)
CHAPTER 5 Political Economy: How Democratic Is the Free Market Economy?	90	(28)
Milton Friedman,
Capitalism and Freedom	93	(10)
Samuel Bowles, Frank Roosevelt, and Richard Edwards,
Corporate Capitalism Hurts American Democracy	103	(15)
CHAPTER 6 Civil Liberties and War: Debating the USA Patriot Act	118	(24)
Viet Dinh,
Defending Liberty Against the Tyranny of Terror	121	(8)
Stephen J. Schulhofer,
No Checks, No Balances: Discarding Bedrock Constitutional Principles	129	(13)
CHAPTER 7 Civil Rights: How Far Have We Progressed?	142	(22)
Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Thernstrom,
One Nation, Indivisible	144	(9)
David K. Shipler,
A Country of Strangers	153	(11)
CHAPTER 8 Public Opinion: The American People and War	164	(18)
Greg Shafer,
Lessons from the U.S. War on Iraq	166	(8)
David Brooks,
The Collapse of the Dream Palaces	174	(8)
CHAPTER 9 The New Media and the Internet: Corporate Wasteland or Democratic Frontier?	182	(21)
Cass R. Sunstein,
The Daily We	184	(12)
Robert McChesney,
The Power of the Producers	196	(7)
CHAPTER 10 Political Parties and Elections: Are Voters United or Divided?	203	(23)
David Brooks,
One Nation, Slightly Divisible	205	(12)
Michael Tomasky,
The Clinton Formula	217	(9)
CHAPTER 11 Campaigns and Elections: Organized Money Versus (Dis)Organized People?	226	(22)
Bradley A. Smith,
Free Speech Requires Campaign Money	229	(6)
Dan Clawson,
Alan Neustadtl, and Mark Weller, Dollars and Votes	235	(13)
CHAPTER 12 Debating the Deficit and the Size of Government	248	(21)
Stephen Moore,
Tax Policy: The Theory Behind the Supply-Side Model	251	(7)
Jonathan Chait,
Race to the Bottom	258	(11)
CHAPTER 13 Congress: Can It Serve the Public Good?	269	(22)
Morris P. Fiorina,
The Rise of the Washington Establishment	272	(8)
William F. Connelly Jr. and John J. Pitney Jr.,
The House Republicans: Lessons for Political Science	280	(11)
CHAPTER 14 The Presidency: How Much Difference Does the Individual Make?	291	(25)
Fred I. Greenstein,
Lessons from the Modern Presidency	294	(7)
Stephen Skowronek,
The Changing Political Structures of Presidential Leadership	301	(15)
CHAPTER 15 The Judiciary: What Should Its Role Be in a Democracy?	316	(18)
Edwin Meese III,
A Jurisprudence of Original Intention	318	(6)
William J. Brennan Jr.,
Reading the Constitution as Twentieth-Century Americans	324	(10)
CHAPTER 16 Economic Inequality: A Threat to Democracy?	334	(21)
W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm,
Myths of Rich and Poor	338	(6)
Paul Krugman,
For Richer	344	(11)
CHAPTER 17 The United States and the Global Economy: Serving Citizens or Corporate Elites?	355	(20)
Thomas Friedman,
Revolution Is U.S.	358	(7)
David C. Korten,
When Corporations Rule the World	365	(10)
CHAPTER 18 U.S. Foreign Policy After September 11: American Hegemony or International Cooperation?	375
George W. Bush,
The Bush Doctrine and the War in Iraq	378	(8)
Benjamin R. Barber,
Fear's Empire	386