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Electoral College Votes in the 2008 Election, i
Copyright, vi
Preface, xxi
About the Authors, xxxi
Chapter 1. Thinking About American Politics, 1
Sarah Palin and the 2008 Election, 2
Thinking About Politics, 4
There are rarely simple solutions, 5
Correlation does not equal causation, 6
How do we know we got it right?, 8
Contexts for Studying American Government and Politics, 9
The presidential system and rights are central to American government, 9
Politics in America is not the only model for politics or democracy, 11
Unique values and attitudes define politics in America, 12
Government and Why It Is Necessary, 13
Citizens in a democracy make a fundamental bargain with their government, 14
Government provides public goods and services, 16
Politics is about influencing decisions, 18
Summary, 19
Key Terms, 19
Suggested Readings, 19
Suggested Websites, 20
Chapter 2. Political Culture, 21
Abortion, Faith, and Campaign Politics, 22
Political Culture in America, 23
The American creed is the dominant political culture in the United States, 24
American creed beliefs became dominant for several possible reasons, 26
The Beliefs of the American Creed, 27
Individualism: People should choose their own path through life, 28
Equal opportunity versus equal outcomes, 28
Different perspectives on individualism across countries, 29
Democracy: Government actions should reflect the will of the people, 29
The will of the people, 30
The consent of the governed, 30
Equal opportunity to influence government, 30
Equal treatment by the law, 30
Liberty: Government restraint on individual behavior should be minimal, 30
Natural rights, 31
Government’s role in securing liberty, 31
Property: Individuals should be free to acquire, own, and use goods and assets, 33
Freedom to acquire property, 33
Freedom to use property, 33
Religion: Individuals should be free to practice their religious faith, 34
Freedom of religious expression, 34
Importance of religion in American political life, 35
The American creed provides a starting point for most Americans to evaluate issues, candidates, and government actions, 36
Widespread belief in the creed, 36
Abstract belief versus practical reality, 37
Framework for political evaluation, 38
Consequences and Implications of the American Creed, 38
Americans prefer government to be limited in the scope of its activities, 39
There is a weak sense of sovereign power in the United States, 39
Competing ideas are viewed with suspicion, 41
“Un-American” beliefs, 41
Appeals to social class, 42
Appeals to the public interest are difficult in an individualistic political culture, 42
Political conflict emerges from tension among the creed’s beliefs and from debate over the meaning of the beliefs, 42
Tension among the creed’s beliefs, 43
Cultural differences across regions, 43
CaseStudy: Defining Democracy When Drawing District Lines, 44
Challenges to the American Creed, 46
Communitarianism emphasizes the contributions and interests of the community, 46
Communitarian beliefs in American history, 46
Private interest and the public good, 47
Refining the American creed, 48
Public support for communitarianism, 49
How Do We Know?: Why Is There No National Health Insurance in the United States?, 50
Discrimination stresses that not all groups deserve equal treatment, 53
Multiculturalism questions the desirability of a common American political culture, 55
Recognition and tolerance of diversity, 55
Rejection of a common culture, 55
Conflict with the American creed, 55
Libertarianism argues for a very limited government role, 57
American political culture is a mosaic of beliefs, 57
Summary, 58
Key Terms, 58
Suggested Readings, 59
Suggested Websites, 59
Chapter 3. The Constitution, 61
Electronic Surveillance and the Constitution, 62
From Revolution to Constitution, 63
The American Revolution changed ideas about governance, 64
The colonists rebelled against taxes imposed unilaterally by the British government, 65
Stamp Act, 66
Townshend Acts, 66
Tea Act, 66
The Declaration of Independence aimed to build a nation, 68
The Articles of Confederation aimed to build a government, 69
Problems with the Articles as a governing framework, 69
Frustration with the Articles led to the writing of a new constitution, 71
Crafting the Constitution, 71
The Great Compromise and Three-Fifths Compromise resolved fundamental splits over representation, 72
The large state–small state split, 73
The slave state–free state split, 75
The Framers wanted public officials to hear the voice of the people but also wanted to prevent “excessive” democracy, 76
Selection of public officials, 77
Separation of powers, 79
Checks and balances, 80
Federalism, 81
The parliamentary system as an alternative distribution of power, 81
Numerous constitutional provisions were designed to protect commerce and property, 82
Certain measures and principles were emphasized to enhance the proposed system’s legitimacy, 83
The Battle for Ratification, 84
Antifederalists argued that the Constitution threatened liberty, 85
Madison responded that a large republic is the best defense for liberty, 86
Belief that change was necessary assisted the Federalists’ ratification campaign, 88
How Do We Know?: What Motivated the Framers of the Constitution?, 89
Amending the Constitution, 91
Amendments should have broad societal acceptance, 91
CaseStudy: Lowering the Voting Age to 18, 94
Twenty-seven amendments have been added to the Constitution, 95
The Constitution can be “amended” through judicial interpretation, 97
Summary, 98
Key Terms, 98
Suggested Readings, 99
Suggested Websites, 99
Chapter 4. Federalism, 101
Deciding End-of-Life Issues in a Federalist System, 102
The Nature of the Union, 103
The Constitution provides the framework for intergovernmental relations, 105
The appropriate balance of national and state power creates significant debate, 106
Dual Federalism, 108
Dual sovereignty provides separate areas of authority for the national and state governments, 108
Citizens of the United States are also citizens of a state, 109
Interpretation of the commerce clause affects national government power, 110
Cooperative Federalism, 112
Implied powers increased the scope of permissible federal government activity, 114
Redefining interstate commerce expands federal government power, 116
CaseStudy: Federalism and the Regulation of Native American Casinos, 117
Cooperative federalism uses multiple methods, 119
Collaboration, 119
Mandates, 120
Persuasion through fiscal federalism, 121
Federalism can create both problems and solutions, 123
How Do We Know?: Are States Engaged in a Race to the Bottom?, 126
Federalism in Flux, 128
Elected officials have initiated changes in federalism, 128
The Supreme Court has redefined contemporary federalism, 129
Reining in Congress’s use of the commerce clause, 129
Reasserting dual sovereignty, 130
State officials have implemented significant new policy, 131
Has there been a revolution in federalism?, 131
Summary, 135
Key Terms, 135
Suggested Readings, 135
Suggested Websites, 136
Chapter 5. Civil Liberties, 137
Pledge of Allegiance, 138
Civil Liberties in American Politics and the Constitution, 140
Civil liberties identify areas where government should not interfere, 140
The Constitution protects civil liberties, 142
Freedom of expression and the rights of the accused are the two main areas of civil liberties protection in the Bill of Rights, 143
Nationalization of the Bill of Rights protected individuals against the actions of state governments, 146
Incorporation and the Fourteenth Amendment, 146
Selective incorporation, 147
Right to keep and bear arms, 149
Denationalization allows variation in states’ protection of civil liberties, 150
Freedom of Speech, 151
Government can attempt to limit speech before and after its utterance, 151
The “presumed reasonableness” standard assumed government restriction on speech was necessary, 152
The “clear and present danger” standard made it more difficult for government to justify restricting speech, 152
How Do We Know?: Did the Public’s Response to 9/11 Lead to Civil Liberties Restrictions?, 154
The “gravity of the danger” standard allowed restrictions on speech if its subject matter was sufficiently “evil.”, 157
The “preferred position” standard presumes the unreasonableness of restrictions on speech, 158
The Supreme Court determines which categories of speech merit constitutional protection, 158
Freedom of Religion, 160
Establishment clause cases have been decided using the Lemon test, 161
Relaxation of the Lemon test, 161
Establishment clause cases, 161
The balancing standard carved out a zone of protection for religious free expression, 162
The neutrality standard narrows the scope of religious free expression, 163
Protest over the Court’s neutrality standard in free exercise cases prompted Congress to respond with legislation, 164
Rights of the Accused, 165
The Supreme Court has established guidelines for the constitutional gathering of evidence, 165
Convictions may not be based on illegally obtained evidence, 166
The Constitution protects defendants during investigations and trials, 167
Informing suspects of their rights, 167
The right to counsel, 168
Cruel and unusual punishment, 168
CaseStudy: The USA Patriot Act, 170
Discovering New Rights That Are Protected by the Constitution, 172
The right to privacy has revolutionized the law concerning birth control, abortion, and same-sex relationships, 172
Birth control, 172
Abortion, 173
Sexual activity, 174
Implications of the right to privacy, 174
Substantive due process discovers new rights by applying specific guarantees to the Fourteenth Amendment’s general guarantee of life, liberty, and property, 176
Summary, 178
Key Terms, 178
Suggested Readings, 178
Suggested Websites, 179
Chapter 6. Civil Rights, 181
Presumed Suspicious: Japanese-American Internment in World War II, 182
Equality and Civil Rights, 184
The Constitution did not prohibit slavery, 184
Dred Scott rejects black citizenship, 185
The Civil War amendments bring civil rights into the Constitution, 185
Congress passes civil rights legislation to bring blacks into American life, 186
“Equal protection of the laws” does not prohibit private discrimination, 187
The Supreme Court declares that segregating the races does not violate equal protection, 188
Equal Protection of the Laws Gains Meaning, 189
Presidents bypass Congress to chip away at racial discrimination, 189
Court decisions begin to challenge separate but equal, 190
Segregation is declared unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education, 191
Civil rights activists seek to extend Brown’s reach to cases of de facto segregation, 193
New laws and executive orders expand civil rights protection, 194
Legislation, 194
Executive orders, 195
Affirmative action, 196
How Do We Know?: Is White Opposition to Affirmative Action Racist?, 197
Civil rights policies vary across countries, 199
The Politics of Civil Rights, 200
The civil rights movement led to civil rights successes for blacks, 201
Changes in the Democratic Party aided the civil rights movement, 203
Obstacles slowed the momentum of the civil rights movement, 204
Collapse of unity in the black civil rights movement, 204
Challenging issues in the late 1960s, 205
Consolidation of black political pressure in one party, 206
Debate continues over how to enhance minority electoral power, 206
Extension of Equal Protection to Other Groups, 207
Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans have experienced unique histories of discrimination, 208
Pervasive sex discrimination in law has eroded, 210
Supreme Court rulings, 210
Actions by Congress and the president, 211
Equal Rights Amendment, 211
Age and disability discrimination are subject to standards of review different from race and sex, 212
Gay and lesbian equality has involved both civil liberties and civil rights, 214
CaseStudy: Marriage as a Civil Rights Issue, 215
Who bears the burden of proof in discrimination cases is controversial, 217
Summary, 218
Key Terms, 218
Suggested Readings, 218
Suggested Websites, 219
Chapter 7. Public Opinion, 221
Guessing Weights, 222
The Nature of Public Opinion, 223
How Do We Know?: Can Surveys Accurately Gauge the Opinions of Almost 300 Million Americans?, 225
Political Socialization, 228
Political sophistication grows as children grow up, 228
Family, 229
Religious institutions and traditions, 230
Peer groups, 231
Educational system, 231
The Media, 231
Events that socialize can have generational, period, or life-cycle effects, 232
Generational effects, 232
Period effects, 233
Life-cycle effects, 234
Attitudes About the American Political System, 234
There has been a long-term decline in political trust, 234
Political leaders and the public keep democracy safe in different ways, 236
Political Knowledge and Ideology, 237
Americans possess less political knowledge than they should, but more than is alleged, 237
Americans are ideologically innocent, 240
Many argue that the American public may not be politically ignorant, 241
CaseStudy: An Experiment in Non-Attitudes, 243
Making Public Opinion Work in a Democracy, 244
The miracle of aggregation can compensate for low levels of information among the mass public, 244
Opinion leaders shape what the public thinks about and what they think about it, 245
Partisanship simplifies political judgments, 247
Moderately politically attentive “scorekeepers” cause most aggregate public opinion change, 247
Summary, 248
Key Terms, 248
Suggested Readings, 248
Suggested Websites, 249
Chapter 8. Political Participation, 251
Literacy Tests, 252
The Paradox of Political Participation, 253
Citizens weigh costs and benefits in deciding whether to vote, 254
It is unlikely that a single individual will influence an election outcome or political decision, 254
There are a number of possible solutions to the paradox of participation, 255
Cost-benefit analysis can help us understand who participates, 256
The Nature and Extent of Political Participation in America, 256
Much political participation goes on outside the voting booth, 257
How Do We Know?: Why Is It So Difficult to Determine How Many People Vote on Election Day?, 259
Factors That Influence Participation, 262
Personal factors have a critical impact on participation, 262
Socioeconomic status, 262
Personal factors and voting behavior, 263
Legal factors affect the cost of participation, 265
CaseStudy: Did Motor Voter Work?, 266
The political environment also influences voter turnout decisions, 267
Mobilization efforts increase turnout, 268
Comparative and Historical Puzzles of Voter Turnout, 271
Voter registration requirements top the list of reasons for America’s low voting rate, 271
Registration regulations, 271
Election scheduling, 271
Plurality decisions, 272
The two-party system, 272
Despite increases in education and the legal ease of voting, turnout has dropped since 1960, 273
Many reasons work in concert to explain the drop in turnout, 275
Who Gets Heard? Does It Matter?, 277
Political participation differs considerably across demographic categories, 277
If demographic groups participated in proportion to their percentage in the population, collective opinion would change little, 278
Does participation matter?, 280
Two key examples demonstrate how much participation matters, 281
Summary, 283
Key Terms, 283
Suggested Readings, 284
Suggested Websites, 284
Chapter 9. Voting, Elections, and Campaigns, 285
The Puzzle of the 2000 Election, 286
The Basic Rules Governing American Elections, 287
The first objective of a candidate running for office is to receive his or her party’s nomination, 287
The nomination process has changed significantly in American history, 289
The watershed year of 1968, 290
Democratic reforms, 290
Super-delegates and brokered conventions, 291
More primaries, earlier primaries, 292
Figuring out the winner in general elections for Congress is easy, 293
Presidential election rules are more complicated, 294
Understanding Individual Vote Choice, 295
Presidential primary voting is less studied and understood than general election voting, 295
Partisanship can both influence and be influenced by the general election vote, 296
Direction and strength of partisan identification, 296
Differing views of party identification, 297
Partisan change and instability, 297
Issue and policy preferences have a complex and uncertain impact on voter choice, 299
Consistency between issue preference and voter choice, 300
Retrospective and prospective voting, 300
Developing positions and making voting decisions, 302
Voters appraise candidates in three “big” ways, 303
Party ID, issues, and candidate appraisals come together to produce a vote choice, 303
Understanding Election Outcomes, 304
Frontrunners have a great advantage in presidential nomination contests, 304
The pre-primary season, 304
Importance of momentum in past primaries, 305
Emergence of the frontrunner, 306
Key factors allow political scientists to accurately forecast election results, 307
Factors in forecasting, 307
CaseStudy: Election 2000: Failed Forecast, 308
The reward/punishment equation, 309
The Presidential Campaign, 310
Turnout, loyalty, defection, and persuasion are the ingredients of a successful campaign, 311
Campaign messages are meticulously researched and targeted, 311
Field operations encourage voting and make it more convenient to vote, 313
Campaign finance laws govern the way campaigns raise and spend money, 314
Hard money, 315
How Do We Know?: Can Congressional Candidates Buy Victory with Campaign Spending?, 317
Soft money, 320
Public money and matching funds, 321
Summary, 322
Key Terms, 323
Suggested Readings, 323
Selected Websites, 324
Chapter 10. Media and Politics, 325
John Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans, 326
The Unique Role of the American Mass Media, 327
American mass media are largely privately owned, 328
American mass media stress objective political coverage, 328
American mass media play a “watchdog” role in government and politics, 329
American mass media operate largely unfettered by government restriction, 330
Constraints on American Media Freedom, 331
The freedom the American press enjoys was not won quickly, 331
Early restrictions on the press, 331
Establishment of press freedoms in the twentieth century, 332
The media can be both forbidden and compelled to provide certain information, 332
Reporters may be compelled by the federal government to reveal their sources, 333
Types of Media and Patterns of Media Use, 334
In the late 1950s, TV supplanted newspapers as Americans’ primary information source, 335
Americans are moving away from broadcast television and national network news, 336
The World Wide Web is becoming an increasingly important source of information, 338
CaseStudy: The Blogosphere Bags an Elephant, 339
The Nature of Media Coverage of Politics and Government, 342
The media devote most of their attention to explaining and interpreting the president’s actions, 342
Reporters receive much more air time than candidates, 342
Since Vietnam and Watergate, TV coverage of politics has become conspicuously cynical, 343
TV coverage generally focuses on strategy over substance, 344
Television coverage focuses on the game of politics, 345
Are the Media Biased?, 345
Anecdotal evidence of bias in the media is mixed, 346
Little conclusive evidence of media bias has been found in examinations of media content, 346
Self-assessment, 346
Content analysis, 347
Media Effects on Public Opinion, 348
Early research into the impact of media pointed to its “minimal effects.”, 349
The media may exert influence through agenda setting and priming, 349
How Do We Know?: Do People React to Coverage of Events or to the Events Themselves?, 350
Three primary phenomena may limit the media’s influence on attitudes and behaviors, 352
Exposure, comprehension, and receptivity are preconditions for media effects, 354
Moderately attentive and predisposed individuals are most likely to feel media influence, 354
Media effects can be found if you look in the right places, 356
Summary, 357
Key Terms, 358
Suggested Readings, 358
Suggested Websites, 359
Chapter 11. Political Parties, 361
The Difficulty of Being Different, 362
What Political Parties Do, 363
Political parties fill gaps left by the Constitution, 364
Parties recruit candidates into the electoral process and nominate them for office, 364
The public exerts leverage over public officials through use of the party label, 366
Parties bridge constitutional gaps between institutions, 366
Political parties bring citizens into the electoral process, 368
Educate and inform voters, 368
Deliver people to the polls, 369
Integrate new social groups, 369
The Two-Party System, 370
Third parties are rarely successful electorally, but may have influence in other ways, 371
Single-member districts with plurality elections favor two-party competition, 373
The-winner-take-all system in presidential elections favors two major parties, 375
Legal and behavioral features of American elections reinforce two-party competition, 375
Anti-fusion laws, 375
Ballot access, 376
Campaign finance, 376
Voter, media, and candidate behavior, 376
Alternative voting rules might assist third-party electoral fortunes, 377
Preference voting, 378
Approval voting, 378
The Evolution of Party Competition and Party Coalitions, 379
Coalitions are dynamic, not static, 380
Captive groups, 380
Intra-coalition group tension, 381
Lessons from past elections, 381
Group change, 382
American parties have evolved through six periods of party competition, 382
The Democratic New Deal coalition dominated electoral politics for over 40 years, 385
The coalition crafted by Ronald Reagan brought the Republicans to national parity, 386
Democrats and Republicans today have significant differences over public policy, 389
How Do We Know?: Is America a Polarized Red/Blue Country?, 392
Party Organization, 395
Party organization in the nineteenth century was informal, 395
Party machines provided organization in urban areas, 396
Party organizations were reformed at the beginning of the twentieth century, 396
Party organizations have become more active in recent decades, 398
State party organizations, 399
National party organizations, 399
CaseStudy: Getting to Know Voters, One by One, 402
A new federalism of the parties is now in place, 403
Summary, 405
Key Terms, 405
Suggested Readings, 405
Suggested Websites, 406
Chapter 12. Interest Groups, 407
Winning the Right to Vote, 408
The Problem of Factions and the Pluralist Answer, 409
Critics of Pluralism, 410
The American political system is resistant to change, 410
Political resources are distributed unequally, 411
Pluralists ignore issues that policymakers ignore, 413
How Do We Know?: Studying What Doesn’t Happen, 414
Groups do not automatically form, 416
Solving the Collective Action Problem: Group Formation and Maintenance, 417
Groups overcome the collective action problem in a number of ways, 417
Selective benefits, 417
Individual entrepreneurship, 420
Patronage, 420
What Groups Do, and Why They Do It, 422
An electoral strategy consists of a variety of tactics, 422
Political action committees, 423
Other spending options, 424
Other electoral tactics, 426
Lobbying is the key ingredient in a legislative strategy, 426
Inside lobbying and Congress, 427
Inside lobbying and the executive branch, 428
Inside lobbying and the judiciary, 428
Grassroots lobbying, 429
CaseStudy: Grassroots Lobbying and the Clinton Healthcare Plan, 431
The electoral strategy and the legislative strategy intertwine, 432
Interest groups have a wide variety of tactics in their toolkits, 432
Do Groups Matter?, 434
It is difficult to prove the impact of campaign contributions, 434
Group influence may be strongest where it is hardest to observe, 435
Summary, 436
Key Terms, 436
Suggested Readings, 437
Suggested Websites, 437
Chapter 13. Congress, 439
Distributing Homeland Security Funds, 440
An Institution with Two Chambers and Shared Powers, 441
Principles and Dilemmas of Representation, 443
Members of Congress share one objective: getting reelected, 443
To improve their reelection prospects, members serve their constituents, 444
Serving constituents can mean different things, 445
Not all constituents are represented equally well, 446
How Members Make Group Decisions, 449
Members of Congress often disagree with one another, 449
Members of Congress confront basic challenges, 450
Collecting information, 450
Acting collectively, 451
Cycling, 452
Imposing Structure on Congress, 452
Committees establish a division of labor, 452
Types of committees, 452
Committee membership, 454
Parties impose order on their members, 456
Party leadership, 456
Party discipline, 457
Party polarization, 458
Staff and support agencies help collect and analyze information, 459
How Do We Know?: Has Congress Abdicated Its War-Making Authority?, 460
Lawmaking, 462
The legislative process is long, 462
Most bills are not enacted into law, 465
CaseStudy: Immigration Reform in 2007, 467
Laws, nonetheless, are enacted, 468
The Appropriations Process, 469
Spending is a two-step process, 469
Appropriations come in three forms, 470
The appropriations process resembles, but does not mirror, the legislative process, 471
Summary, 472
Key Terms, 472
Suggested Readings, 473
Suggested Websites, 473
Chapter 14. The Presidency, 475
Surrounded by Challenges, 476
Presidential Authority and Leadership, 477
The president performs the roles of statesman and politician, 477
The president’s authority was debated and established at the Constitutional Convention, 479
Creating the presidency, 479
Selecting the president, 479
Reaching compromise over the nature of the presidency, 480
Presidents have stretched the language of the Constitution to expand their influence in American government, 481
The early presidency, 481
Creation of the modern presidency, 482
The postwar presidency, 483
Congress delegates authority to the president, 485
Successful presidential leadership gets people to do what the president wants them to do, 486
How Do We Know?: Was President George W. Bush a Successful Leader?, 487
Powers of the President, 490
Formal powers are defined in the Constitution and in law, 490
New legislation, 490
Presidential veto, 490
Line-item veto, 491
Commander-in-chief, 491
Executive agreement and executive order, 492
Formal powers compared to foreign presidents, 494
Presidents have the power to persuade, 494
Persuasion and policymakers, 494
Persuasion and the American creed, 496
Congress and the courts can check presidential power, 496
Public, Electoral, and Contextual Resources for Presidential Leadership, 497
High levels of public approval are used to pressure Congress, 498
Approval and its consequences, 498
Approval ratings and the economy, 498
Approval ratings and rally events, 499
Scandal and approval ratings, 500
Presidents seek popular support by “going public.”, 500
Sizable election victories lead presidents to claim they have a mandate, 501
Presidents rely on fellow partisans to promote their policies, 501
Unified and divided control of government, 501
Differences between presidential and parliamentary systems, 503
Popularity of current policies may affect presidential success, 503
Presidents may have some advantages in foreign policy, 504
Windows of opportunity disrupt presidents’ opponents, 504
CaseStudy: Passing the No Child Left Behind Act, 505
Institutional Resources for Presidential Leadership, 506
The Cabinet departments implement federal programs, 506
The agencies of the Executive Office of the President provide policy advice to the president, 508
The offices of the White House Staff provide political advice to the president, 509
Summary, 511
Key Terms, 511
Suggested Readings, 511
Suggested Websites, 512
Chapter 15. The Federal Court System, 513
The Courts Rule on Global Warming, 514
The Constitutional Design of the Federal Judiciary, 515
The Organization of the Federal Judiciary, 517
The federal judiciary is hierarchical, 517
District and appellate rulings can be appealed to the next level, 520
Supreme Court proceedings are highly scripted, 521
The Number and Types of Cases That Courts Process, 522
In an adversarial system, judges decide criminal and civil cases, 522
Courts do not resolve all disputes, 524
Federal courts process hundreds of thousands of cases each year, 525
The Judiciary Makes and Interprets the Law, 526
Judges develop and apply legal principles in the legal model, 528
Judges have their own policy preferences in the attitudinal model, 529
Judges pay attention to politics in the strategic model, 530
How Do We Know?: Was Bush V. Gore a Political Decision?, 532
Judicial Appointments, 534
Confirmation hearings for district and federal courts are political, 535
Confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court are extremely political, 537
CaseStudy: The Abandoned Nomination of Harriet Miers, 539
Summary, 541
Key Terms, 541
Suggested Readings, 541
Suggested Websites, 542
Chapter 16. The Bureaucracy, 543
Building a Bureaucracy to Combat Terrorism, 544
What Bureaucrats Do, 546
Bureaucrats interpret and implement laws, 546
Bureaucrats make rules, 548
Bureaucrats provide expert advice, 550
Bureaucrats resolve disputes, 550
Growth and Organization of the Bureaucracy, 551
The bureaucracy has changed dramatically over the nation’s history, 551
The bureaucracy today consists of many different units, 553
Departments, 553
Independent agencies and regulatory commissions, 555
Government corporations, 557
Challenges of Bureaucracy, 558
Bureaucrats have their own interests, 558
Bureaucrats sometimes serve the interests of unelected groups, 560
Bureaucrats can be inefficient, 561
How Do We Know?: Did the Federal Bureaucracy Fail to Protect the City of New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina?, 564
Controlling and Reforming the Bureaucracy, 566
Presidents and Congress exercise control through appointments, 567
Presidents and Congress use money, rules, and structure to control bureaucracies, 569
Budgets, 569
Oversight, 569
Centralization, 571
Agency eliminations, 572
CaseStudy: Tying the Hands of the Environmental Protection Agency, 572
Reformers seek to introduce market forces, 574
Deregulation, 574
Privatization, 575
Summary, 575
Key Terms, 576
Suggested Readings, 576
Suggested Websites, 576
Chapter 17. Economic and Social Policy, 577
Rising Gas Prices, 578
When Economic and Social Policies Are Made, 579
Identifying a problem is the first step in developing a policy, 580
The American creed, 580
National security, 581
Identifying a government solution is the next step in developing policy, 581
Focusing events spark government action, 582
Economic Policy, 582
Economists monitor different aspects of the domestic economy, 583
Economists have different ideas about how to improve the economy, 583
Social Security, 584
Social Security benefits have steadily expanded, 586
The future of Social Security is uncertain, 586
Welfare, 588
Who are the poor?, 588
The federal government supports a variety of welfare programs, 589
CaseStudy: Welfare Reform in 1996, 591
U.S. welfare programs are small by international standards, 592
Education, 593
The federal government seeks to equalize education funding, 593
The federal government attempts to impose standards, 595
Reformers challenge the “public school monopoly.”, 596
How Do We Know?: Are Private Schools Better Than Public Schools?, 599
Healthcare, 601
Medicare and Medicaid provide coverage to the elderly, poor, and disabled, 601
U.S. healthcare and health are poor by international standards, 602
Comprehensive healthcare reform is extraordinarily difficult, 604
Summary, 606
Key Terms, 606
Suggested Readings, 607
Suggested Websites, 607
Chapter 18. Foreign Policy, 609
The Balkans, 610
A Brief History of U.S. Foreign Policy, 612
In the early twentieth century, U.S. Involvement in world politics was sporadic, 612
The United States enters the world stage for the long term, 614
The Cold War ends, but new conflicts surface, 616
The Role of the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy, 618
The National Security Council advises the president, 619
The State Department oversees U.S. diplomacy, 619
How Do We Know?: Do Economic Sanctions Work?, 622
The Defense Department focuses on the military, 624
Numerous executive agencies provide intelligence services, 625
The Role of Congress, 627
Congress enacts foreign policy statutes, 628
Congress retains the power to declare war, 629
Congress confirms nominees for foreign policy positions, 630
Congress provides “advice and consent” on international treaties, 631
Congress oversees foreign policy bureaucracies, 631
The Role of Interest Groups, 632
Ethnic lobbies advocate foreign policies that concern a specific country, 633
Business groups increasingly attempt to influence foreign policy, 633
Think tanks offer foreign policy advice, 634
CaseStudy: Interest Groups Call for Funds to Combat AIDS in Africa, 635
Contemporary Foreign Policy Challenges, 636
Diplomatic efforts to halt North Korea’s nuclear program have not proceeded smoothly, 637
Domestic lobbying groups push for protective tariffs, 638
The president, Congress, and the courts argue about the legal status of “enemy combatants.”, 641
Summary, 644
Key Terms, 644
Suggested Readings, 644
Suggested Websites, 645
Chapter 19. State and Local Governments, 647
State Tuition Policies for Children of Illegal Immigrants, 648
The Making of State and Local Governments, 650
State constitutions primarily limit the power of government, 651
Evolution of the state constitutions, 651
Other attributes of state constitutions, 652
Charters authorize local governments to make and enforce laws, 653
Executives and Legislatures, 655
Governors are the chief elected executive in state governments, 655
Budget authority, 656
Appointment powers, 657
Role in the judicial system, 658
State legislatures pass laws and monitor the activities of state agencies, 658
Representation, 659
The legislators, 660
Terms of office, 661
Partisan control, 662
Local government executives and legislatures enact and implement public policies for communities, 663
Elected executives, 663
Elected councils, 664
Appointed managers, 665
CaseStudy: Shootings on Campus, 665
Forms of municipal government, 667
Informal power, 668
State Courts, 669
State and federal courts are separate but sometimes overlap, 669
Court structures in states provide routes for appeals, 670
Selection of judges and justices, 670
How Do We Know?: Do Campaign Supporters Influence Decisions by Judges?, 673
Direct Democracy, 675
Referenda are another form of direct democracy that allow voters to veto state legislation and authorize borrowing money, 677
Recall allows voters in some states to remove elected officials from their positions before their terms expire, 678
Summary, 680
Key Terms, 680
Suggested Readings, 681
Suggested Websites, 681
Appendix 1. The Declaration of Independence, 683
Appendix 2. The Federalist No. 10, 685
Appendix 3. The Federalist No. 51, 689
Appendix 4. The Constitution of the United States of America*, 691
Appendix 5. Presidents of the United States, 705
Appendix 6. Party Control of the Presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives, 709
Appendix 7. Supreme Court Justices, 711
Glossary, 713
Notes, 723
Credits, 769
Index, 773

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