By the People Debating American Government, Brief Edition

by Morone, James A.; Kersh, Rogan

• ISBN13: 9780195383324
• ISBN10: 019538332X
• Edition: Brief
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-08-02
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Challenge your students to ENGAGE in the conversation and process; THINK about the ideas, history, structure, and function; and DEBATE the merits of American government and politics in the 21st century.

In a storytelling approach that weaves contemporary examples together with historical context, By the People: Debating American Government, Brief Edition, explores the themes and ideas that drive the great debates in American government and politics. It introduces students to big questions like Who governs? How does our system of government work? What does government do? and Who are we? By challenging students with these questions, the text gets them to think about, engage with, and debate the merits of U.S. government and politics.

Ideal for professors who prefer a shorter text, By the People, Brief Edition, condenses the content of the comprehensive edition while also preserving its essential insights, organization, and approach. Approximately 20% shorter and less expensive than its parent text, the full-color Brief Edition features a more streamlined narrative, deletes the "Comparing Nations" boxes, and is enhanced by the same extensive support package as the longer edition.

FEATURES:

ENGAGE

* "By the Numbers" boxes containing fun facts help frame the quizzical reality of American politics and government

* "See For Yourself" features enable students to connect with the click of a smart phone to videos and other interactive online content

THINK

* Chapter One introduces students to seven key American ideas, which are revisited throughout the text

* "The Bottom Line" summaries conclude each chapter section, underscoring the most important aspects of the discussion

DEBATE

* "What Do You Think?" boxes encourage students to use their critical-thinking skills and debate and/or take a stand on important issues

* Four major themes, in the form of questions to spark debate, are presented to students in Chapter One and appear throughout the text

Author Biography

James Morone (B.A., Middlebury College, and M.A. and PhD, University of Chicago) is Professor of Political Science at Brown University and five-time winner of the Hazeltine Citation for outstanding teacher of the year. A renowned scholar of American Political Science, Dr. Morone, an award-winning author, has published eight books including The Heart of Power (2009), Hellfire Nation (2003), and The Democratic Wish (1990). He served as President of the Politics and History Section of the American Political Science Association from 1999-2000 and the New England Political Science Association from 2002-03. He has been on the board of editors for eight scholarly journals and comments on politics in The New York Times, The London Review of Books, and The American Prospect.

Rogan Kersh (M.A. and PhD, Yale) is Provost and Professor of Political Science at Wake Forest University. A leading scholar in American Political Science, Dr. Kersh is best known for his work on health reform, obesity politics, and interest groups/lobbying. From 2006-12 he served as Associate Dean of the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, where he built an undergraduate program, helped conceive and create NYU's new campus in Abu Dhabi, and was integral in the launch of a new Global Institute of Public Health. Dr. Kersh has published two books and more than fifty academic articles and has provided commentary on U.S politics for dozens of different media outlets including CNN, Newsweek, and The New York Times. He was President of the American Political Science Association's organized section on Health Politics and Policy in 2011-12, and is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Table of Contents

Each chapter ends with a Summary and Study Questions.
About the Authors
Preface
PART I. IDEAS AND RIGHTS
Chapter 1: Ideas that Shape American Politics
The Spirit of American Politics
Who Governs
How Does American Politics Work?
What Does Government Do?
Who Are We?
A Nation of Ideas
Liberty
"The Land of the Free"
The Two Sides of Liberty
The Idea of Freedom is Always Changing
What Do You Think: Negative Versus Positive Liberty
Self-Rule
Power from the People
One Side of Self-Rule: Democracy
Another Side of Self-Rule: A Republic
A Mixed System
Limited Government
The Origins of Limited Government
And Yet . . . The United States Has a Big Government
Limits on Government Action
When Ideas Clash: Self-Rule and Limited Government
What Do You Think: Self-Rule versus Limited Government
Individualism
Community Versus Individualism
The Roots of American Individualism: Opportunity and Discord
Who Are We: Individualism and Solidarity?
The American Dream
Spreading the Dream
What Do You Think: Individualism versus Solidarity
Challenging the Dream
Equality
Three Kinds of Equality
How Much Economic Inequality Is Too Much?
Opportunity or Outcome?
Religion
Still Religious: A Religious Country
So Many Religions
The Politics of Religion
How Do Ideas Affect Politics
Ideas in American Culture
The Ideas in Political Institutions
Culture of Institutions
Chapter 2: The Constitution
The Colonial Roots of the Constitution
Why the Colonists Revolted
The Colonial Complaint: Representation
The Conflict Begins with Blood on the Frontier
The Stamp Tax and the First Hints of Independence
The Townshend Acts Worsen the Conflict
The Boston Tea Party
Revolution!
The Declaration of Independence
The Principle: "We Hold These Truths . . . "
Grievances
The First American Government: The Articles of Confederation
The National Government
Some Success . . .
. . . And Some Problems
Winner and Losers
The First Step: Annapolis Convention
What Do You Think: Your Advice is Needed
Secrecy
The Constitutional Convention
What Do You Think: Was Delegate Secrecy Warranted?
1. How Much Power to the People?
2. National Government versus State Government
3. Big States versus Small States
4. The President
5. Separation of Powers
6. Principle of Which We Were Ashamed
An Overview of the Constitution
Preamble
Article 1: Congress
What Do You Think: Have We Achieve the Constitution's Goals Today?
Article 2: The President
What Do You Think: Detention of Terrorism Suspects
Article 3: The Courts
Article 4: Relations between the States
Article 5: Amendments
Article 6: The Law of the Land
Article 7: Ratification
The Missing Articles
Ratification
The Anti-Federalists
The Federalists
Two Strong Arguments
A Very Close Vote
A Popular Surge Propels People into Politics
Changing the Constitution
The Bill of Rights
The Seventeen Amendments
The Constitution Today
What Do You Think: How Strictly Should We Interpret the Constitution?
Chapter 3: Federalism and Nationalism
Why Federalism?
Choosing Federalism
Federalism's Advantages
The Disadvantages
The Stakes
What Do You Think: Preserving Local Values or Continuing a Terrible Injustice?
How Federalism Works
The Constitution Sets the Ground Rules
Dual Federalism
Cooperative Federalism
New Federalism
Battles over Federalism Today
Federalism and the Parties
What Do You Think: Intergovernmental Lobbying, American Style
Federalism in the Courts
Nationalism, American Style
The Imagined Community
America's Weak National Government
The Hidden State
Chapter 4: Civil Liberties
The Rise of Civil Liberties
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
The Slow Rise of Rights
Privacy
Penumbras and Emanations
What Do You Think: Is There a Right to Privacy?
Roe v. Wade
Sexuality between Consenting Adults
Freedom of Religion
The Establishment Clause
Free Exercise of Religion
What Do You Think: May the Christian Youth Club Meet in School?
Freedom of Speech
A Preferred Position
What Do You Think: David's Law
Political Speech
Symbolic Speech
Limits to Free Speech: Fighting Words
Limited Protection: Student Speech
Freedom of the Press
Prior Restraint
Obscenity
Libel
The Right to Bear Arms
A Relic of the Revolution?
The Rights of the Accused
Americans Behind Bars
The Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure
The Fifth Amendment: Rights at Trials
The Sixth Amendment: The Right to Counsel
The Eighth Amendment: The Death Penalty
What Do You Think: End the Death Penalty?
Fighting Terrorism and Protecting Liberty
Chapter 5: The Struggle for Civil Rights
Winning Rights: The Political Process
Seven Steps to Political Equality
How the Courts Review Cases
Race and Civil Rights: Revolt against Slavery
The Clash over Slavery
Dred Scott v. Sandford
The Second American Founding: A New Birth of Freedom?
Freedom Fails
The Fight for Racial Equality
Two Kinds of Discrimination
The Civil Rights Campaign Begins
The Courts
The Civil Rights Movement
What Do You Think: Would You Have Been a Sixties Protester?
Congress and the Civil Rights Act
The End of the Civil Rights Era
Affirmative Action in the Workplace
Affirmative Action in Education
Where Are We Now?
What Do You Think: Higher Education and Affirmative Action
Gender
Suffrage
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Courts
Progress-- But How Much?
Reproductive Politics
Hispanics
Challenging Discrimination
The Politics of Immigration
The Controversy over Language
Political Mobilization
Asian Americans
The Asian Stereotypes
What Do You Think: Simple Decency? Or Political Correctness Run Amuck?
Native Americans
The Lost Way of Life
Indians and the Federal Government
Social Problems and Politics
Groups without Special Protection
People with Disabilities
Sexual Orientation
PART II. POLITICAL BEHAVIOR
Chapter 6: Public Opinion and Political Participation
Measuring Public Opinion
Polling 101
Do Opinion Surveys Influence Us?
Sources of Public Opinion
What Do You Think: Calling the Election Early?
Self-Interest: Voting Our Pocketbooks
Demographic Effects: From Region to Religion
Partisan Effects
Elite Influence
Wars and Other Focusing Events
Public Opinion in a Democracy
What Do You Think: How Do You Participate?
Do the People Know What They Want?
How Do the People Communicate Their Desires?
Do Leaders Respond to the Public?
Getting Involved: Electoral, Voluntary, and Political Voice
Electoral Activities
Civic Voluntarism
Political Voice
What Do You Think: Volunteer Globally?
What Inspires Political Participation?
Spurs to Individual Participation
What Discourages Political Participation?
Age, Wealth, and Education
Alienation
Institutional Barriers
Complacency
Shifting Mobilization Patterns
Generation Y and Political Participation
The Internet, Social Media, and Participation
Chapter 7: The Media
American Media Today: Traditional Formats Are Declining
Where People Go for News
Newspaper Decline
Radio Holds Steady
Television: From News to Infotainment
What Do You Think: Movies That Take a Stand
The Rise of the New Media
Scenario 1: Rebooting Democracy
Scenario 2: More Hype and Danger than Democratic Renaissance
Is the Media Biased?
Reporters Are Democrats
Profits Drive the News Industry
Drama Delivers Audiences
Sex and Scandal
The Skeptical Media
How Governments Shape the Media
The First Amendment Protects Print Media from Government Regulation
Regulating Broadcasters
Protecting Competition
How the Media Shapes Politics
News Stories Reinforce Existing Beliefs
The Political Agenda
Priming the Public
Framing the Issue
The Media's Electoral Connection
The Campaign as Drama
Candidate Profiles
What Do You Think: Does the Media Enhance Democracy?
Chapter 8: Campaigns and Elections
How Democratic are American Elections?
Frequent and Fixed Elections
Number of Elected Officials
What Do You Think: Too Many Elected Positions?
Financing Campaigns: The New Inequality?
Presidential Campaigns and Elections
Who Runs for President?
Presidential Campaigns Have Three Phases
Winning the Nomination
What Do You Think: Why Iowa and New Hampshire?
Organizing the Convention
The General Election
Winning Presidential Elections
Congressional Campaigns and Elections
Candidates: Who Runs for Congress?
The Power of Incumbency
Congressional Election Results
Redrawing the Lines: The Art of the Gerrymander
Nonpartisan Districting and Minority Representation
How to Run for Congress
Chapter 9: Interest Groups and Political Parties
What Interest Groups Do
Public Advocacy Groups
Private Interest Groups
Interest Groups, Representation, and Power
Interest Groups and Representation
Interest Groups and Power
Lobbyist Spending
Regulating Interest Groups
What Do You Think: Assessing the Influence of Lobbyists
Lobbying the Federal Branches of Government
Rise of the Issue Network
Intergovernmental and Reverse Lobbying
Lobbying the Courts
Political Parties and US Government
What the Parties Do
Two-Party America
Third Parties in American Politics
How Parties Are Organized
Party-in-Government
Party Organization
Party in the Electorate
The Big Party Tents
America's Party Systems: Origins and Change
Beginnings: First Party System (1789-1828)
Rise: Second Party System (ca. 1828-1860)
War and Reconstruction: Third Party System (1860-1896)
Business and Reform: Fourth Party System (1896-1932)
Depression and New Deal: Fifth Party System (1933-1972)
The Sixth Party System: The Parties at Equal Strength (1972-Present)
What Do You Think: Does the 2012 Election Suggest a New Party Period?
Party Identification . . . and Ideas
Building Party Identification
The Power of Party Attachment
What Do You Think: Personality and Party
Party Competitionand Partisanship
Parties Rise Again
Competition Intensifies
Partisanship and Its Discontents
What Do You Think: Winner Take All
What Do You Think: Third Parties
What Do You Think: Partisanship
PART III. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS
Chapter 10: Congress
Introducing Congress
Two Houses, Different Styles
What Do You Think: Senate Filibusters
The House and the Senate Have Some Unique Roles
Congressional Representation
What Do You Think: Who Really Represents You?
Trustees and Delegates
What Do You Think: Two Views of Representation
Elections: Getting to Congress--and Staying There
Congressional Elections
Congress at Work
The City on the Hill
Minnows and Whales: Congressional Leadership
Committees: Workhorses of Congress
Legislative Policy Making
The Importance of the Legislative Process
Drafting a Bill
Submitting the Bill
Committee Action
Floor Action
Conference Committee
Presidential Action: Separated Powers, Once More
Why Is Congress So Unpopular?
Partisan Polarization in Congress
Divided Government
What Do You Think: Is a Partisan Congress a Good Thing?
Chapter 11: The Presidency
Defining the Presidency
The President's Powers
An Imperial Presidency?
A Weak Office?
What Presidents Do
Commander in Chief
Top Diplomat
The First Legislator
Chief Bureaucrat
Economist in Chief
The Head of State
Party Leader
The Bully Pulpit: Introducing Ideas
The Impossible Job
Presidential Leadership: Success and Failure in the Oval Office
Managing the Public
Approval Ratings
The President's Team: A Tour of the White House
The Political Solar System: Presidential Appointments
The Vice President
The Cabinet
The Executive Office of the President
The Heart of Power: The White House Office (WHO)
The First Spouse
Chapter 12: Bureaucracy
Bureaucracies in an American Democracy
How the Bureaucracy Grew
The Bureaucratic Model
Bureaucratic Pathologies
The Democratic Dilemma
What Bureaucracies Do
Rule Making
Implementation
How the Bureaucracy Is Organized
The Cabinet Departments
Other Agencies
Who Controls the Federal Bureaucracy?
The People
The President
Congress
Interest Groups
Bureaucratic Autonomy
Democracy Revisited
Reforming the Bureaucracy
Open Up the System
Reinventing Government
Privatization
What Do You Think: Should We Privatize More Government Functions?
Chapter 13: The Judicial Branch
Who Are We? A Nation of Lawsand Lawyers
Embracing the Law-- and Lawsuits
Declining trust
Courts in American Culture
Organizing the Judicial Branch
Divided We Rule
State and Local Courts
Judicial Selection
What Do You Think: How Should States Select Their Judges?
Federal Courts
Specialized Courts
What Do You Think: Identity on the Bench
Diversity in the Federal Judiciary
The Court's Role
Judicial Review
Activism Versus Restraint
The Judicial Process
Too Much Power . . . or Still the "Least Dangerous" Branch?
The Supreme Court and How It Operates
Hearing Cases
Selecting Cases: Formal Requirements
Conference Sessions and Written Decisions
Confirmation Battles
Judicial Decision Making and Reform
The Role of Law
Ideology and Partisanship
Collegiality and Peer Pressure
Institutional Concerns
Nineteen Cases You Should Know
1. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
2. McCullogh v. Maryland (1819)
3. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
4. Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857: discussed in Chapter 4)
5. Santa Clara Co. v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886)
6. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896: see Chapter 5)
7. Lochner v. New York (1905)
8. Muller v. Oregon (1908)
9. Schenck v. United States (1919: discussed in Chapter 5)
10. National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937)
11. Korematsu v. US (1944)
12. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
13. Brown v. Board of Education (1954: discussed in Chapter 2 and Chapter 5)
14. Mapp v. Ohio (1961: discussed in Chapter 4)
15. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963: see Chapter 5)
16. Roe v. Wade (1973: discussed in Chapter 4)
17. US v. Nixon (1974)
18. Bush v. Gore (2000)
19. National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012)
What Do You Think: Name another Landmark Case
Reforming the Judiciary
Ideas for Reform: More Resources
Term Limits
PART IV. POLICYMAKING
Chapter 14: Domestic and Foreign Policy
Public Policymaking in Five (Not-So-Easy) Stages
1. Agenda Setting
2. Framing
3. Policy Formation
4. Policy Implementation
5. Policy Evaluation and Feedback
US Social Policy
Wars and Social Policy
Old-Age Insurance: Social Security
Unemployment Benefits
Health and Disability: Medicare/Medicaid
What Do You Think: Should We Reform Social Security and Medicare?
The Federal Budget Process
President's Budget Proposal
Congressional Budget Resolution
American Foreign Policy Goals
Goal No. 1: Security
Goal No. 2: Prosperity
Goal No. 3: Spreading American Ideals
What Do You Think: Is America Exceptional?
Foreign Policy Strategies over Time
Strategy 1: Standing Alone (1918-1939)
Strategy 2: The Cold War (1945-1991)
Strategy 3: The New World Order (1989-2003)
Strategy 4: The War on Terror (began 2001)
What Do You Think: Terrorists and the Rule of Law
APPENDIX I: The Declaration of Independence
APPENDIX II: The Constitution of the United States of America
APPENDIX III: Federalist Papers 1, 10, and 51
Glossary
Notes
Credits
Index