American Politics Today (Sixth Edition)

Cover (American Politics Today 6E)......Page 1
116th
Congressional Map......Page 2
United States Senate Map......Page 3
Front Matter......Page 4
Title Page......Page 6
Copyright......Page 7
About the Authors......Page 9
Contents in Brief......Page 10
Contents......Page 12
Preface......Page 24
Features of the Text and Media Package......Page 27
Acknowledgments......Page 30
1. Understanding American Politics......Page 37
Making Sense of American Government and Politics......Page 39
Why Do We Have a Government?......Page 40
What Is Politics?......Page 43
How It Works: Three Key Ideas for Understanding Politics......Page 44
Politics Is Conflictual......Page 45
Political Process Matters......Page 47
Politics Is Everywhere......Page 48
Cultural Values......Page 50
Identity Politics: Racial, Gender, and Ethnic Differences......Page 52
Ideology......Page 54
Resolving Conflict: Democracy and American Political Values......Page 55
Liberty......Page 56
Equality......Page 57
How to Be a Critical Consumer of Politics......Page 59
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 60
Study Guide......Page 62
2. The Constitution and the Founding......Page 65
The Historical Context of the Constitution......Page 67
The Articles of Confederation: The First Attempt at Government......Page 68
Political Theories of the Framers......Page 71
Economic Interests......Page 73
The Politics of Compromise at the Constitutional Convention......Page 74
Small States versus Large States......Page 76
Legislative Power versus Executive Power......Page 77
National Power versus State and Local Power......Page 79
Slave States versus Nonslave States......Page 80
The Antifederalists’ Concerns......Page 83
The Federalists’ Strategies......Page 85
Exclusive Powers......Page 86
How It Works: Checks and Balances......Page 87
Shared Powers......Page 89
Negative or Checking Powers......Page 91
Ambiguity......Page 94
Changing the Constitution......Page 96
Multiple Interpreters......Page 98
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 100
Study Guide......Page 102
3. Federalism......Page 105
What Is Federalism and Why Does It Matter?......Page 107
A Comparative Perspective......Page 108
A Strong National Government......Page 110
Clauses that Favor Both Perspectives......Page 111
The Early Years......Page 112
The Emergence of States’ Rights and Dual Federalism......Page 114
Cooperative Federalism......Page 116
Cooperative Federalism Lives On: Fiscal Federalism......Page 118
How It Works: Versions of Federalism......Page 119
Expanding National Power......Page 123
The States Fight Back......Page 124
Fighting for States’ Rights: The Role of the Modern Supreme Court......Page 125
Advantages of a Strong Role for the States......Page 129
Disadvantages of Too Much State Power......Page 131
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 133
Study Guide......Page 134
4. Civil Liberties......Page 137
Balancing Interests......Page 139
Drawing Lines......Page 140
Origins of the Bill of Rights......Page 141
Selective Incorporation and the Fourteenth Amendment......Page 144
How It Works: The First Amendment......Page 145
Freedom of Religion......Page 147
The Establishment Clause and Separation of Church and State......Page 149
The Free Exercise Clause......Page 150
Generally Protected Expression......Page 152
Less Protected Speech and Publications......Page 161
The Right to Bear Arms......Page 165
The Fourth Amendment: Unreasonable Searches and Seizures......Page 167
The Fifth Amendment......Page 172
The Sixth Amendment: The Right to Legal Counsel and a Jury Trial......Page 173
The Eighth Amendment: Cruel and Unusual Punishment......Page 174
Privacy Rights......Page 175
Abortion Rights......Page 176
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 178
Study Guide......Page 180
5. Civil Rights......Page 183
The Context of Civil Rights......Page 185
African Americans......Page 186
Native Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans......Page 189
Women and Civil Rights......Page 191
The LGBTQ Community......Page 192
Differences in Voting Access......Page 194
Socioeconomic Indicators......Page 196
Criminal Justice and Hate Crimes......Page 198
Social Movements......Page 201
The Courts......Page 207
How It Works: Civil Rights......Page 213
Congress......Page 217
The President......Page 221
Affirmative Action......Page 223
Multicultural and Immigration Issues......Page 225
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 229
Study Guide......Page 230
6. Public Opinion......Page 233
What Is Public Opinion?......Page 235
Different Kinds of Opinion......Page 236
Socialization: Families, Communities, and Networks......Page 238
Group Identity......Page 239
Politicians and Other Political Actors......Page 241
Considerations: The Process of Forming Opinions......Page 242
Measuring Public Opinion......Page 246
How It Works: Measuring What a Nation of 330 Million Thinks:
A Checklist......Page 247
Problems in Measuring Public Opinion......Page 250
How Useful Are Surveys?......Page 253
Ideological Polarization......Page 255
Evaluations of Government and Officeholders......Page 257
Policy Preferences......Page 259
Does Public Opinion Matter?......Page 261
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 263
Study Guide......Page 264
7. The Media......Page 267
Historical Overview: How Did We Get Here?......Page 269
Media Sources in the Twenty-First Century......Page 271
Where Do People Get Political Information?......Page 274
Politicians’ Media Strategies......Page 276
The Pressures and Legal Limits on Reporters......Page 278
How Do The Media Influence their Audience?......Page 280
How It Works: How News Makes It to the Public......Page 281
Media Bias and Partisanship......Page 283
Filtering and Framing......Page 285
Lack of Citizen Interest......Page 288
Market Forces......Page 289
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 292
Study Guide......Page 294
8. Political Parties......Page 297
What Are Political Parties and Where Did Today’s Parties
Come From?......Page 299
History of American Political Parties......Page 300
The Party Organization......Page 303
The Party in Government......Page 305
The Party in the Electorate......Page 307
Organizing Elections......Page 313
How It Works: Nominating Presidential Candidates......Page 317
Cooperation in Government......Page 319
Minor Parties......Page 322
Working Together in Campaigns......Page 324
Working Together in Office......Page 325
Providing Accountability......Page 326
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 327
Study Guide......Page 328
9. Elections......Page 331
Functions of Elections......Page 333
Two Stages of Elections......Page 334
Mechanics of Elections......Page 335
Presidential Elections......Page 337
How It Works: The Electoral College......Page 341
The “Fundamentals”......Page 344
Setting the Stage......Page 346
Before the Campaign......Page 347
Primaries and the General Election......Page 351
Campaign Advertising: Getting the Word Out......Page 353
Campaign Finance......Page 355
Who Votes, and Why?......Page 361
How Do People Vote?......Page 362
Who (Usually) Wins......Page 363
The Path to 2018: The 2016 Elections......Page 366
The 2018 Midterms......Page 368
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 371
Study Guide......Page 372
10. Interest Groups......Page 375
What Are Interest Groups?......Page 377
The Business of Lobbying......Page 379
Staff......Page 382
Resources......Page 385
The Logic of Collective Action......Page 387
Inside Strategies......Page 390
How It Works: Lobbying the Federal Government: Inside and Outside
Strategies......Page 391
Outside Strategies......Page 394
Choosing Strategies......Page 399
How Much Power Do Interest Groups Have?......Page 400
What Determines When Interest Groups Succeed?......Page 401
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 405
Study Guide......Page 406
11. Congress......Page 409
Congress and the Constitution......Page 411
Congress Represents the People (or Tries To)......Page 413
Members of Congress Want to Keep Their Jobs......Page 418
Redistricting Connects Representation and Elections......Page 424
The Responsibility–Responsiveness Dilemma......Page 429
Informal Structures......Page 430
Formal Structures......Page 431
The Conventional Process......Page 439
How It Works: Passing Legislation......Page 441
Deviations from the Conventional Process......Page 444
Differences in the House and Senate Legislative Processes......Page 445
Oversight......Page 447
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 449
Study Guide......Page 450
12. The Presidency......Page 453
Early Years through World War I......Page 455
The Great Depression through the Present......Page 456
The President’s Job Description......Page 458
Head of the Executive Branch......Page 459
Appointments......Page 460
Executive Orders......Page 461
Commander in Chief......Page 463
Treaty Making and Foreign Policy......Page 464
Legislative Power......Page 465
Executive Privilege......Page 468
How It Works: How Presidents Make Policy outside the Legislative
Process......Page 469
The Presidency as an Institution......Page 472
The Executive Office of the President......Page 473
The Vice President......Page 474
The President’s Cabinet......Page 475
Presidential Power Today......Page 476
Presidents, Unilateral Action, and Policy Making......Page 477
Congressional Responses to Unilateral Action......Page 479
Presidents as Politicians......Page 481
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 485
Study Guide......Page 486
13. The Bureaucracy......Page 489
What Do Bureaucrats Do?......Page 491
How It Works: Bureaucracy and Legislation......Page 493
Bureaucratic Expertise and Its Consequences......Page 497
How Has the American Bureaucracy Grown?......Page 500
Building a New American State: The Progressive Era......Page 501
The New Deal, the Great Society, and the Reagan Revolution......Page 502
The Structure of the Federal Government......Page 504
The Size of the Federal Government......Page 507
The Human Face of the Bureaucracy......Page 510
Civil Service Regulations......Page 511
Political Appointees and the Senior Executive Service......Page 512
Agency Organization......Page 514
Monitoring......Page 516
Correcting Violations......Page 517
The Consequences of Control......Page 518
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 519
Study Guide......Page 520
14. The Courts......Page 523
The Founders’ Views of the Courts: The Weakest Branch?......Page 525
Judicial Review and Marbury v. Madison......Page 527
Judicial Review in Practice......Page 528
Court Fundamentals......Page 529
Structure of the Court System and Federalism......Page 532
How It Works: The Court System......Page 533
How Judges Are Selected......Page 535
The Court’s Workload......Page 540
Rules of Access......Page 541
The Court’s Criteria......Page 543
Internal Politics......Page 544
Briefs......Page 545
Oral Argument......Page 546
Opinion Writing......Page 547
Supreme Court Decision Making......Page 549
Legal Factors......Page 550
Political Factors......Page 552
Relations with the Other Branches......Page 556
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 561
Study Guide......Page 562
15. Economic Policy......Page 565
Full employment......Page 568
Stable Prices......Page 569
Promotion of the Free Market and Growth......Page 570
Balanced Budgets......Page 571
Balance of Payments, or the Current Account......Page 572
Congress......Page 574
The President......Page 576
How It Works: The Budget Process......Page 577
The Bureaucracy......Page 580
How Economic Policy Makers Interact: The 2008 Economic Crisis......Page 583
Fiscal Policy......Page 586
Monetary Policy......Page 592
Regulatory Policy......Page 594
Trade Policy and the Balance of Payments......Page 597
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 602
Study Guide......Page 604
16. Social Policy......Page 607
Early Social-Policy Efforts......Page 610
The New Deal......Page 611
The Great Society......Page 612
Poverty and Income Inequality......Page 614
Partisanship and Income Inequality......Page 615
Congress and the President......Page 618
The Bureaucracy......Page 619
The States......Page 620
The Policy-Making Process......Page 621
How It Works: The Social Policy–Making Process......Page 623
Alternative Perspectives on the Policy-Making Process......Page 625
Social Security......Page 626
Health Care......Page 633
Income Support and Welfare......Page 638
Education......Page 641
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 644
Study Guide......Page 646
17. Foreign Policy......Page 649
Foreign Policy Principles and Perspectives......Page 651
History of American Foreign Policy......Page 654
Foreign Policy Makers......Page 661
The President and the Executive Branch......Page 662
Congress......Page 665
Groups outside the Federal Government......Page 666
How It Works: War Powers: Who Controls the Armed Forces?......Page 667
Diplomacy......Page 672
Trade and Economic Policies......Page 673
Foreign Aid......Page 675
Alliances and Treaties......Page 676
Military Force......Page 677
Managing International Trade: China......Page 678
Fighting Terrorism: ISIL......Page 681
Preventing the Spread of WMDs: North Korea......Page 683
Unpacking the Conflict......Page 685
Study Guide......Page 686
The Declaration of Independence......Page 690
The Articles of Confederation......Page 692
The Constitution of the United States of America......Page 695
Amendments to the Constitution......Page 700
No. 10: Madison......Page 705
No. 51: Madison......Page 707
No. 78: Hamilton......Page 708
Endnotes......Page 712
Study Guide Answer Key......Page 744
Credits......Page 746
Glossary/Index......Page 750
Voter Registration Information pg. 1......Page 800
Voter Registration Information pg. 2......Page 801