Understanding American government and politics A guide for A2 politics students (Second edition)

by Watts, Duncan

• ISBN13: 9780719073274
• ISBN10: 0719073278
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-03-16
• Publisher: MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS

Summary

Understanding American government and politics is written specifically for A2 level students and covers the subject in a clear and accessible style. It closely follows the syllabuses of the three main examination boards (AQA, Edexcel and OCR).

Author Biography

Duncan Watts is Editor of the Politics Association Resource Centre and a part-time tutor in a sixth form college.

Table of Contents

Comparative boxes: Britain and the United States	vii
Acknowledgement	ix
US presidents and their parties	x
Map of the US: the sun-belt and the frost-belt	xii
1 Introduction: the setting of American politics	1	(23)
2 The Constitution	24	(17)
The Constitution in theory	25	(12)
The Constitution in action: the protection offered by the Bill of Rights	37	(4)
3 Federalism in theory and practice	41	(24)
4 The executive	65	(58)
The modern presidency	66	(28)
Support for the presidency	94	(29)
5 The legislature: Congress	123	(34)
6 The judiciary: the Supreme Court	157	(26)
7 Elections and voting	183	(54)
General features of elections and electioneering	184	(16)
The media	200	(6)
Electing the president: a choice by Electoral College	206	(12)
How Americans vote and why they vote as they do	218	(4)
Direct legislation	222	(5)
Election 2004: a case study	227	(10)
8 Political parties	237	(37)
9 Pressure groups: the lobby at work	274	(26)
10 Civil liberties and civil rights	300	(38)
11 Conclusion: the condition of American democracy	338	(9)
Index	347
1558853715
Introduction
Kenya Dworkin y Méndez and Agnes Lugo-Ortiz	1	(22)
Part I Rethinking Latino/a Subject Positions
Subject to the Border: The Strange Case of José Agustin Quintero
Kirsten Silva Gruesz	23	(12)
Americo Paredes' George Washington Gómez and U.S. Patriotic Mythology
Roumiana Velikova	35	(20)
Bending Chicano Identity and Experience in Arturo Islas's Early Borderland Short Stories
Frederick Luis Aldama	55	(12)
Part II Negotiating Cultural Authority and the Canon
"La hermosa lengua de Cervantes": An Aesthetic and Utilitarian Defense of Spanish in New Mexico and Its Implications for Cultural Citizenship
Erlinda Gonzales-Berry	67	(14)
La prensa puertorriquena en Nueva York ante el discurso colonial: Reescritura de un imaginario nacional
Edwin Karli Padilla Aponte	81	(11)
Recovering Mexican America in the Classroom
John-Michael Rivera	92	(17)
Part III Orality, Performance, and the Archive
Finding the Voices: The Nuevomexicano Cuentos of the WPA
Tey Diana Rebolledo	109	(12)
"Hijos de la refolufia": Performing the pachuco in the Mexican American "Carpa"
Peter C. Haney	121	(18)
La antologia y el archivo: Reflexiones en torno a Herencia, En otra voz y los limites de un saber
Agnes Lugo-Ortiz	139	(32)
Part IV Re-Contextualizing Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton
The Land Act of 1851 as the Handmaiden of Manifest Destiny
Rosaura Sánchez	171	(14)
Ruiz de Burton's Questioning of "Manifest Destiny"
Beatrice Pita	185	(14)
Part V Bibliographic Reports
Novelas mexicanas y chicanas publicadas en los Estados Unidos: Recuento bibliográfico
Luis Leal	199	(7)
Early New Mexican Criticism: The Case of Breve reseña de la literatura hispana de Nuevo México v Colorado
Francisco A. Lomeli	206	(9)
Contributors	215