DEVELOPMENTS IN AMERICAN POLITICS

by Gillian Peele

• ISBN13: 9781566430487
• ISBN10: 1566430488
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

President George W. Bush gained re-election in 2004 with a clear, if narrow, victory that appeared to vindicate his personal handling of the presidency and to give him a mandate to pursue his conservative agenda. Within a year the prospects for the remaining years of the Bush presidency seemed much less promising, as the war in Iraq, natural disasters, and political problems served to undermine the president's political capital. Covering a wide range of key contemporary institutional, policy, and political issues, Developments in American Politics 5 examines the record and prospects of the Bush administration - highlighting the complex interweaving of long-, medium-, and short-term factors that structure contemporary American politics. Written by a team of leading international scholars and tightly edited to provide an accessible and coherent student text, Developments in American Politics 5 is an entirely new book designed to continue the tradition of authoritative, up-to-date, and informed analysis set by its predecessors. It will prove invaluable to all serious observers of American politics. Book jacket.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi	(2)
List of Contributors	xiii	(2)
List of Tables, Figures and Maps	xv	(2)
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms	xvii	(5)
Map of the United States of America	xxii
1 Introduction: The United States in the 1990s	1	(18)
Gillian Peele
Christopher J. Bailey
Bruce Cain
B. Guy Peters
PART ONE THE INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK	19	(118)
2 The Presidency	19	(23)
Graham Wilson
A shrunken presidency?	19	(1)
Perspectives on the presidency	20	(3)
The significance of Clinton	23	(3)
Dimensions of disaster and triumph	26	(5)
Rebuilding a reputation:	31	(2)
The importance of formal powers	31	(1)
A rhetorical presidency	32	(1)
The Executive Branch presidency	33	(4)
"Ours is not a presidential system"	37	(2)
Implications for future presidents	39	(3)
3 Congress and Partisan Change	42	(29)
John E. Owens
Agenda change and partisan change	42	(3)
Institutional Change	45	(3)
Conditional party government	46	(2)
Republican Party government in the House	48	(7)
The Contract With America -- a party manifesto	48	(1)
More centralized leadership	49	(1)
Party control and committees	49	(2)
Centralization within committees	51	(1)
Enacting the Contract	52	(1)
After the Contract	53	(2)
Change in the Senate	55	(10)
Enacting the Contract	55	(1)
The individualistic Senate	56	(1)
Dole and the Senate Republicans	57	(2)
Making the Senate (a little bit) more like the House	59	(3)
A more combative leadership?	62	(2)
The limits of institutional change	64	(1)
Explaining institutional change	65	(4)
Conclusions	69	(2)
4 The Supreme Court and the Constitution	71	(26)
Cornell W. Clayton
James Giordano
The Court's legal and political context	72	(3)
Judicial decision-making	75	(5)
The right to privacy and abortion	80	(2)
Equal protection and affirmative action	82	(2)
Church and state	84	(2)
Free expression	86	(1)
The separation of powers and federalism	87	(1)
The Justice Department and Clinton's legal policy	88	(6)
Lower-Court appointments	94	(1)
Conclusions	95	(2)
5 The Federal Bureaucracy	97	(17)
Patricia Ingraham
Assessment of the role and effectiveness of bureaucratic institutions	97	(3)
"Reinventing government"	100	(3)
Downsizing the American federal government	103	(4)
The administrative implications of policy devolution	107	(3)
The Government Performance and Results Act (1993)	110	(2)
Performance-based organizations	112	(1)
Conclusions	112	(2)
6 The Changing Federal System	114	(23)
Christopher J. Bailey
The dynamics of federalism	116	(3)
The politics of contemporary federalism	119	(6)
The "Devolution Revolution"	125	(7)
Conclusions	132	(5)
PART TWO DYNAMICS	137	(74)
7 Political Parties	137	(25)
Gillian Peele
An anti-party environment?	138	(2)
Perot and the third-party phenomenon	140	(1)
Ideology, issues, and the party response	141	(2)
The Democratic Party	143	(5)
The Republican Party	148	(3)
Republican presidential politics	151	(1)
The Republican Party in Congress	152	(3)
Republican governors	155	(1)
Party organization	156	(1)
Democratic organization	156	(1)
Republican organization	157	(1)
Candidates, campaigns, and money	158	(2)
Conclusions	160	(2)
8 Interest Groups in National Politics	162	(21)
Steve Reilly
Interest groups and organized interests	162	(2)
Organized interests in the 1990s	164	(9)
Business groups	164	(2)
Labor unions	166	(3)
Other membership groups	169	(4)
Think-tanks	173	(2)
Trends in strategy and tactics	175	(1)
Coalitions	176	(2)
Organized interests and campaign finance	178	(2)
The Internet	180	(2)
Conclusions	182	(1)
9 Electoral Politics	183	(28)
Bruce Cain
Allison Wegner
Volatility examined	184	(9)
Trends in state government	193	(4)
Republican gains and frustrations	197	(4)
The quest to control short-term forces	201	(10)
PART THREE PUBLIC POLICY	211	(66)
10 Economic Policy	211	(19)
B. Guy Peters
The Challenges of economic policy	212	(1)
The goals of economic policy	213	(2)
The instruments of economic policy	215	(3)
The public household	218	(1)
Emerging issues in the economy	219	(1)
The basic paradox: doing better and feeling worse	220	(1)
Macro-performance	221	(7)
Conclusions	228	(2)
11 Social Policy	230	(22)
Dilys M. Hill
The policy climate	231	(2)
Heath care insurance for all	233	(7)
The demands for change	233	(1)
The groundwork of the plan	234	(2)
Challenges to change	236	(1)
From opposition to defeat	237	(3)
Welfare, work, and dependency	240	(10)
The American approach to welfare	240	(3)
Attacking poverty or attacking the poor?	243	(1)
The Clinton plan	244	(2)
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act (1996)	246	(2)
Outputs and outcomes	248	(1)
Ending the New Deal assumptions	249	(1)
Conclusions	250	(2)
12 Foreign Policy	252	(25)
John Dumbrell
The Clinton Administration and post-Cold War internationalism	253	(7)
Republicans and foreign policy	260	(3)
Defense, intelligence and trade	263	(4)
Post-Cold War foreign policy-making	267	(4)
Conclusions	271	(6)
PART FOUR CONTEMPORARY ISSUES	277	(80)
13 Education Policy	277	(15)
Jonathan Parker
State and local control of elementary and secondary education	279	(2)
The limited role of the federal government	281	(3)
The role of the courts	284	(1)
Education reform	285	(4)
Higher education	289	(1)
Prospects for the future	290	(2)
14 Affirmative Action and the Politics of Race	292	(15)
Richard L. Engstrom
Compensatory action as policy	294	(1)
White reactions to affirmative action	295	(4)
Affirmative action as a political issue	299	(3)
Affirmative action as a legal issue	302	(2)
The uncertain future of affirmative action	304	(3)
15 Campaign-finance Reform	307	(13)
Jason F. Kirksey
The 1996 elections	308	(7)
The presidential election	308	(2)
"Soft" money	310	(2)
Congressional elections	312	(2)
Independent expenditures	314	(1)
Prospects for campaign-finance reform	315	(3)
Campaign-finance reform opponents	317	(1)
Congressional hearings	318	(1)
Conclusion: the structure of campaign-finance reform	318	(2)
16 The Regional City: Governance and Competitiveness in Pittsburgh	320	(17)
Brian D. Jacobs
Cities are important	320	(3)
Entrepreneurial cities	323	(1)
The competitive challenge in "America's new economy"	324	(2)
Pittsburgh: defending the base	326	(3)
Networked governance: overcoming fragmentation	329	(5)
Community empowerment	334	(2)
Conclusion	336	(1)
17 The Media and U.S. Politics	337	(20)
Philip John Davies
All's fair in love and war	337	(2)
The Hollywood sign: the fear and fascination of mass-media entertainment	339	(1)
Drawing a line in the sand: grandstanding against cultural threats	340	(1)
The media market	341	(2)
Segmentation of provision	343	(1)
The developing information environment	344	(2)
The traditional news media	346	(1)
The political campaign and the media	347	(2)
1996	349	(3)
Conclusions	352	(5)
PART FIVE AMERICAN POLITICS AT THE CENTURY'S END: AN OVERVIEW	357	(26)
18 The American Political System in Transition to a New Century	357	(26)
Alan Ware
Evidence of turbulence and conflict	357	(6)
Would we have expected the 1990s to be an era of political conflict?	363	(1)
The sources of political conflict and turbulence	364	(2)
Antagonistic subcultures	366	(1)
The worsening position of the American worker	367	(4)
The impact of the end of the Cold War	371	(1)
Increasing ideological cohesion in the political parties	372	(1)
The consequences of political reform in the 1970s	373	(1)
The role of individual politicians	374	(2)
The future of the unquiet polity	376	(7)
Guide to Further Reading	383	(4)
Bibliography	387	(25)
Index	412