American Government Institutions and Policies 11th Edition

CONTENTS
PREFACE
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PART I: The American System
	1 The Study of American Government
		What Is Political Power?
		What Is Democracy?
		Is Representative
Democracy Best?
		How Is Political Power Distributed?
		Is Democracy Driven by Self-Interest?
		What Explains Political Change?
		The Nature of Politics
	2 The Constitution
		The Problem of Liberty
		The Constitutional Convention
		The Challenge
		The Constitution and Democracy
		The Constitution and Liberty
		The Motives of the Framers
		Constitutional Reform: Modern Views
	3 Federalism
		Why Federalism Matters
		Governmental Structure
		The Founding
		The Debate on the Meaning of Federalism
		Federal-State Relations
		Federal Aid and Federal Control
		A Devolution Revolution?
		Congress and Federalism
	4 American Political Culture
		Political Culture
		Comparing America with Other Nations
		The Sources of Political Culture
		Mistrust of Government
		Political Tolerance
	5 Civil Liberties
		Culture and Civil Liberties
		Interpreting and Applying the First Amendment
		What Is Speech?
		Who Is a Person?
		Church and State
		Crime and Due Process
	6 Civil Rights
		The Black Predicament
		The Campaign in the Courts
		The Campaign in Congress
		Women and Equal Rights
		Affirmative Action
		Gays and the Constitution
PART II: Opinions, Interests, and Organizations
	7 Public Opinion
		Public Opinion and Democracy
		What Is Public Opinion?
		Political Socialization: The Family
		Cleavages in Public Opinion
		Political Ideology
		Political Elites, Public Opinion, and Public Policy
	8 Political Participation
		A Closer Look at Nonvoting
		The Rise of the American Electorate
		Who Participates in Politics?
	9 Political Parties
		Parties—Here and Abroad
		The Rise and Decline of the Political Party
		The National Party Structure Today
		State and Local Parties
		The Two-Party System
		Minor Parties
		Nominating a President
		Parties Versus Voters
	10 Elections and Campaigns
		Campaigns, Then and Now
		Presidential Versus Congressional Campaigns
		Primary Versus General Campaigns
		Money
		Who Decides the Election?
		The Effects of Elections on Policy
	11 Interest Groups
		Explaining Proliferation
		The Birth of Interest Groups
		Kinds of Organizations
		Interest Groups and Social Movements
		Funds for Interest Groups
		The Problem of Bias
		The Activities of Interest Groups
		Regulating Interest Groups
	12 The Media
		Journalism in American Political History
		The Structure of the Media
		Rules Governing the Media
		Are the National Media Biased?
		Government and the News
PART III: Institutions of Government
	13 Congress
		Congress Versus Parliament
		The Evolution of Congress
		Who Is in Congress?
		Do Members Represent Their Voters?
		A Polarized Congress
		The Organization of Congress: Parties and Caucuses
		The Organization of Congress: Committees
		The Organization of Congress: Staffs and Specialized Offices
		How a Bill Becomes Law
		Reducing Power and Perks
		The Post–9/11 Congress
	14 The Presidency
		Presidents and Prime Ministers
		Divided Government
		The Evolution of the Presidency
		The Powers of the President
		The Office of the President
		Who Gets Appointed
		Presidential Character
		The Power to Persuade
		The Power to Say No
		The President’s Program
		Presidential Transition
		How Powerful Is the President?
	15 The Bureaucracy
		Distinctiveness of the American Bureaucracy
		Proxy Government
		The Growth of the Bureaucracy
		The Federal Bureaucracy Today
		Congressional Oversight
		Bureaucratic “Pathologies”
		Reforming the Bureaucracy
	16 The Judiciary
		The Development of the Federal Courts
		The Structure of the Federal Courts
		The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts
		Getting to Court
		The Supreme Court in Action
		The Power of the Federal Courts
		Checks on Judicial Power
PART IV: The Politics of Public Policy
	17 The Policy-Making Process
		Setting the Agenda
		Making a Decision
		Majoritarian Politics: Distributed Benefits, Distributed Costs
		Interest Group Politics: Concentrated Benefits, Concentrated Costs
		Client Politics: Concentrated Benefits, Distributed Costs
		Entrepreneurial Politics: Distributed Benefits, Concentrated Costs
		The Case of Business Regulation
		Perceptions, Beliefs, Interests, and Values
	18 Economic Policy
		How Reliable Are Projections About the Future?
		The Politics of Economic Prosperity
		The Politics of Taxing and Spending
		Economic Theories and Political Needs
		The Machinery of Economic Policy Making
		Spending Money
		The Budget
		Reducing Spending
		Levying Taxes
	19 Social Welfare
		Two Kinds of Welfare Programs
		Social Welfare in the United States
		Majoritarian Versus Client Politics
	20 Foreign and Military Policy
		Kinds of Foreign Policy
		The Constitutional and Legal Context
		The Machinery of Foreign Policy
		Foreign Policy and Public Opinion
		Cleavages Among Foreign Policy Elites
		The Use of Military Force
		The Defense Budget
		The Structure of Defense Decision-Making
		The New Problem of Terrorism
	21 Environmental Policy
		The American Context
		Entrepreneurial Politics: Global Warming
		Majoritarian Politics: Pollution from Automobiles
		Interest Group Politics: Acid Rain
		Client Politics: Agricultural Pesticides
		The Environmental Uncertainties
		The Results
PART V: The Nature of American Democracy
	22 Who Governs? To What Ends?
		Restraints on the Growth of Government
		Relaxing the Restraints
		The Old System
		The New System
		Consequences of Activist Government
		The Influence of Structure
		The Influence of Ideas
APPENDIXES
GLOSSARY
NOTES
INDEX
PHOTO CREDITS