THE AMERICAN HERITAGE
Political culture: the core principles of American government a. the American creed—liberty,
self-government, equality, individualism, diversity, and unity b. the power of ideals c. the
limits of ideals Politics: the process of deciding upon society’s
goals a. government, power, authority, and
policy b. the rules of the game of
politics 1.
democracy 2. constitutionalism 3. capitalism c. theories of power 1. rule by the people: majoritarianism 2. rule by groups: pluralism 3. rule by a few: elitism 4. who does govern? The U. S. political system a. governmental structure and individual rights b. the demands people and groups place on government and
the support they provide c. the nation’s elective and appointed institutions and how
they function d. economic, social, and foreign policy CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY Before the Constitution: the Colonial and Revolutionary experiences a. “the rights of
Englishmen” b. the Declaration of
Independence c. the Articles of
Confederation d. Shays’s rebellion: a nation
dissolving Negotiating toward a Constitution a.
the great compromise: a two-chamber Congress b. the
North-South compromise: the issue of slavery c. a strategy
for ratification d. the Framer’s goals Providing for
a limited government a. grants and denials of
power b. using power to offset power
c. separated institutions sharing power: checks and
balances 1. shared legislative
powers 2. shared executive
powers 3. shared judicial
powers d. the Bill of Rights e.
judicial review Providing for self-government a.
democracy versus republic b. limited popular
rule c. altering the Constitution: more power to the
people 1. Jeffersonian democracy:
a revolution of the spirit 2.
Jacksonian democracy: linking the people and the
presidency 3. the progressives:
Senate and primary elections Constitutional democracy
today
FEDERALISM
Federalism: national and
state sovereignty a. the argument for
federalism 1. protecting
liberty 2. moderating the power of
government 3. strengthening the
union b. the powers of the
nation 1. enumerated
power 2. implied
power c. the powers of the states Federalism in
historical perspective a. an indestructible union
(1789-1865) 1. the nationalist
view: McCulloch v. Maryland 2. the
states’-rights view: the Dred Scott decision b. dual
federalism and laissez-faire capitalism
(1865-1937) 1. judicial protection
of business 2. national authority
prevails Federalism today a. interdependency and intergovernmental
relations b. government revenues and intergovernmental relations 1. fiscal federalism 2. categorical and black grants c. devolution: a new federalism 1. budgetary pressures and public
opinion 2. the Republican revolution
CIVIL LIBERTIES Freedom of expression a. the early period: the
uncertain status of the right of free expression b. the
modern period: protecting free
expression 1. free speech and
assembly 2. press freedom and
prior restraint c. free expression and state
government 1. the Fourteenth
Amendment and selective
incorporation 2. limiting the
authority of states to restrict expression d. libel and
slander e. obscenity Freedom of
religion a. the establishment
clause b. the free-exercise clause The right of
privacy Rights of persons accused of crimes
a. selective incorporation of procedural rights b.
restricting defendants’ rights 1.
the exclusionary rule 2. habeas
corpus appeals c. crime and punishment The courts
and a free society
EQUAL RIGHTS
The struggle for
equality a. African
Americans 1. the Brown
decision 2. the black civil rights
movement b.
women 1. women’s legal and
political gains 2. job-related
issues: family leave, comparable worth, and sexual
harassment c. Native Americans d.
Hispanic Americans 1. legal and
political action 2. growing
political power e. Asian Americans
f. other groups and their rights Equality under the
law a. equal protection: the Fourteenth
Amendment b. equal access: the Civil Rights Acts of 1964
and 1968 1. accommodations and
jobs 2.
housing 3. equal ballots: the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended Equality of
result a. affirmative
action 1. opinions on affirmative
action 2. affirmative action in
the law b. social integration:
busing 1. the Swann
decision 2. the course and impact
of busing Superficial differences; deep divisions PUBLIC OPINION
AND POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION The nature of public opinion a. defining public
opinion b. how public opinion is
formed c. measuring public
opinion 1. public opinion
polls 2. problems with
polls Political socialization: how political values are
formed/learned a. the process of political
socialization 1. primacy
tendency 2. structuring
tendency 3. age-cohort
tendency b. what influences our political
values 1. the importance of
family 2. educational influence on
public opinion 3. peers and peer
group influence 4. the influence
of economic status and occupation
5. the influence of the mass media
6. the influence of political events, political leaders, and opinion
leaders 7. churches Frames
of reference: how Americans think politically a.
cultural thinking: common ideas b. ideological
thinking 1.
conservatives 2.
liberals 3.
populists 4.
libertarians c. group
thinking 1.
religion 2.
class 3.
region 4. race and
ethnicity 5.
gender 6.
age d. cross-cutting cleavages Partisan thinking:
the line that divides The influence of public opinion on
policy VOTING AND POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION Voter participation a. factors in voter
turnout: a comparative perspective
1. registration requirements 2.
frequency of elections 3. party
differences b. why some Americans vote and others do
not 1. feelings of civic duty,
alienation, and apathy 2.
age 3.
education 4. economic
class c. the impact of the vote Conventional forms
of participation other than voting a. campaign
activities b. community activities
c. lobbying group activities d. following politics in the
news e. virtual participation Social movements and
protest politics Participation and the potential for influence POLITICAL PARTIES,
CANDIDATES, AND CAMPAIGNS Party competition and majority rule: the history of U. S.
parties a. the first parties b.
Andrew Jackson and grass-root parties c. Republicans vs.
Democrats: realignments and the enduring party system d. a
new realignment? e. the dealignment thesis Electoral
and party systems a. the single-member-district system
of election b. policies and coalitions in the two-party
system 1. seeking the center,
usually 2. party
coalitions c. minor
parties 1. single-issue
parties 2. ideological
parties 3. factional
parties 4. independent
candidates Party organizations a. the weakening
of party organizations b. the structure and role of party
organizations 1. local party
organizations 2. state party
organizations 3. national party
organizations 4. the parties and
money The candidate-centered campaign a. running
for office 1. seeking funds: “the
money chase” 2. creating
organization: “hired guns” 3.
devising strategy: “packaging the
candidate” 4. going public: “air
wars” and “spin” Parties, candidates, and the public’s
influence INTEREST
GROUPS The
interest-group system a. economic
groups 1. business
groups 2. labor
groups 3. agricultural
groups 4. professional
groups b. citizens’
groups 1. public interest
groups 2. single-issue
groups 3. ideological
groups c. governments: a special category of interest
group Inside lobbying: seeking influence through official
contacts a. lobbying Congress b.
lobbying executive agencies c. lobbying the
courts d. webs of influence: groups in the policy
process 1. iron
triangles 2. issue
networks Outside lobbying: seeking influence through public
pressure a. constituency advocacy: grass-roots
lobbying b. electoral action: votes and PAC
money The group system: indispensable but biased
a. the contribution of groups to self-government:
pluralism b. flaws in pluralism: interest-group liberalism
and economic bias c. a Madisonian dilemma THE NEWS
MEDIA The
development of the news media: from partisanship to objective
journalism a. from a partisan press to an “objective”
press b. the development of broadcast
media 1. radio and television, the
truly national media 2. government
licensing and regulation of broadcasters c. the emergence
of the Internet Freedom and conformity in the U. S. news
media a. domination of news
production b. news values and imperatives Roles the
press can and cannot perform a. the signaler
role b. the common-carrier role c.
the watchdog role d. the public representative
role Organizing the public in the media age CONGRESS Why Congress was created The powers of
Congress a. the lawmaking function of
Congress 1. the limits of
fragmentation on Congress’s role
2. Congress in the lead: fragmentation as a policymaking
strength b. the representation function of
Congress 1. representation of
states and districts 2.
representation of the nation through parties c. the
oversight function of Congress Election to
Congress a. using incumbency to stay in
Congress b. the pitfalls of
incumbency 1. troublesome
issues 2. personal
misconduct 3. turnout variation:
the midterm election 4. strong
challengers: a problem for
senators 5. redistricting: a
problem for House members c. safe incumbency and
representation Congressional leadership a. party
leadership in Congress 1. the
House leadership 2. the Senate
leadership 3. the power of party
leaders b. committee chairpersons: the seniority
principle c. oligarchy or democracy: which principle
should govern? The committee system a. committee
membership b. committee jurisdiction How a bill
becomes law a. committee hearings and
decisions b. from committee to the
floor c. leadership and floor action
d. conference committees and the President Congress: too much
pluralism? THE
PRESIDENCY Foundations of the modern presidency a.
the need for presidential leadership of an activist
government 1. foreign policy
leadership 2. domestic policy
leadership b. the campaign for
nomination c. the campaign for
election 1. election
strategy 2. media and
money 3. the
winners Staffing the presidency a. presidential
appointees 1. the executive office
of the president 2. the
president’s cabinet 3. other
presidential appointees b. the problem of
control Factors in presidential leadership a.
the force of circumstance b. the stage of the president’s
term c. the nature of the issue: foreign or
domestic d. relations with
Congress 1. seeking cooperation
from Congress 2. the president’s
partisan support in Congress 3.
colliding with Congress e. nurturing public
support 1. events and
issues 2. the televised
presidency 3. the illusion of
presidential government THE
BUREAUCRACY The
federal bureaucracy: form, personnel, and activities
a. the federal bureaucracy in American’s daily lives b.
types of administrative
organizations 1. cabinet
departments 2. independent
agencies 3. regulatory
agencies 4. government
corporations 5. presidential
commissions c. federal employment d.
the federal bureaucracy’s policy responsibilities Development of the
federal bureaucracy: politics and administration a.
small government and the patronage system b. growth in
government and the merit system The bureaucracy’s power
imperative a. the agency point of
view b. sources of bureaucratic
power 1. the power of
expertise 2. the power of
clientele groups c. accountability through the
presidency 1.
reorganization 2. presidential
appointments 3. the executive
budget d. accountability through
Congress e. accountability through the
courts f. accountability within the bureaucracy
itself 1.
whistle-blowing 2. demographic
representativeness Reinventing government
THE
JUDICIARY The federal judicial system a. the Supreme
Court of the United States
1.
selecting cases
2. deciding
case
3. issuing decisions and
opinions
b. other federal
courts
1. U. S. district
courts
2. U. S. courts of
appeals
3. special U. S.
courts
c. the state courts
Federal court
appointees
a. selecting supreme court justices and
federal judges
1. supreme court
nominees
2. lower court
nominees
b. justices and judges as political
officials
1. the role of
partisanship
2. other
characteristics of judicial appointees
The nature of judicial decision
making a. the legal context of judicial
decisions
1. the constraints of
facts
2. the constraints of the
law
(a)
interpretation of the
Constitution
(b) interpretation of
statutes
(c) interpretation of precedent
b. political influences on
judicial decisions
1. outside
influences on court decisions 2.
inside influences: the justices’ own political beliefs Judicial power
and democratic government a. the debate over the
proper role of the judiciary 1.
the doctrine of judicial
restraints 2. the doctrine of
judicial activism b. the judiciary’s proper role: a
question of competing values ECONOMIC AND
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY Regulating the economy a. efficiency
through government intervention 1.
preventing restraint of trade 2.
making business pay for indirect
costs 3. curbing
overregulation 4.
deregulation b. equity through government
intervention c. the politics of regulatory
policy 1. the reforms of the
Progressive and New Dealers 2. the
era of new social regulation Government as protector of the
environment a. conservationism: the older
wave b. environmentalism: the newer wave Government
as promoter of economic interests a. promoting
business b. promoting labor c.
promoting agricultural Fiscal policy: government as manager of the
economy a. taxing and spending
policy 1. demand-side stimulation
and the deficit problem 2.
supply-side stimulation 3.
controlling inflation b. the process and politics of
fiscal policy 1. the budgetary
process c. partisan differences Monetary policy:
government as manager of the economy a. the
“Fed” b. the politics of the “Fed” SOCIAL WELFARE AND
EDUCATION POLICY Poverty in America: the nature of the proble a.
the poor: who and how many? b. living in poverty: by
choice or chance? The politics and policies of social
welfare a. job training b.
education initiatives, i.e. Head Start c. income and tax
measures Individual-benefit programs a. social
insurance programs 1. Social
Security 2. unemployment
insurance 3.
Medicare b. public assistance
programs 1. Supplemental Security
Income 2. aid to needy
families
(a) TANF
(b) food
stamps (c)
subsidized
housing
(d) Medicaid Education as equality of opportunity: the American
way a. equality, inequality, and public
opinion b. public education: leveling through the
schools c. the federal role in education: political
differences Culture, politics, and social
welfare a. inefficiency: the welfare
web b. inequity: the middle-class advantage FOREIGN AND DEFENSE
POLICY The
roots of U. S. foreign and defense policy a. The
United States as global superpower
1. the doctrine of containment 2.
the cold war b. The limits of American power: The Vietnam
War 1.
dé´¥nte 2. disintegration of the
“evil empire” 3. a new world
order The process of foreign and military
policymaking a. the policymaking
instruments b. the policymaking
machinery 1. defense
organizations 2. intelligence
organizations 3. diplomatic
organizations 4. economic
organizations The military dimension of national security
policy a. defense capability b.
the uses of military power 1.
unlimited nuclear warfare 2.
limited nuclear warfare 3.
unlimited conventional warfare 4.
limited conventional warfare 5.
counterinsurgency 6. police-type
action c. the politics of national
defense 1. public opinion and
elite conflict 2. the
military-industrial complex The economic dimension of national security
policy a. a changing world
economy b. American goals in the global
economy 1. global
trade 2. access to natural
resources 3. relations with the
developing world c. the politics of global economic
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