American Politics and Society, 7th Edition

List of Figures.

List of Tables.

Preface to the Seventh Edition.

1 Government and the People in a Polarized Society.

The Chapters to Come.

2 Beliefs, Values and American Society.

The Nature of American Beliefs and Values.

Values and American Society.

Social Structure.

3 Constitutional Government.

Origins.

The American Constitution.

Ratification.

The Adaptive Constitution.

Assessing the Constitution.

4 Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations.

Federalism in Theory and Practice.

The Evolution of American Federalism.

The Changing Federal Role.

A Changing Court Role?

The Future of American Federalism.

5 American Political Parties in Transition.

The Functions of Parties.

Crisis and Change in the American Party System.

The Decline and Rise of Political Parties.

Changing Party Ideology: 1970–2010.

Explaining Party Change.

Political Parties Redux.

6 Elections and Political Participation.

Patterns of American Electoral Behaviour.

The ‘American Voter’ Model and the New Deal Coalition.

The Decline of the New Deal Coalition and the Rise of a Divided Electorate.

Non-Electoral Political Participation.

7 The Media and American Politics.

Media Structure and Organization.

Organization and Ownership.

How Biased? The Media and the Political Agenda.

Controlling the Media.

The Media and American Democracy.

8 Congress I: The People’s Branch?

Representation and Congress.

Congressional Elections.

Legislators as Rational Actors.

The Work of Member of Congress.

Conclusions.

9 Congress II: Functions and Powers – The Broken Branch?

The Functions of Congress.

The Structure of Power in Congress.

Congress Under Fire.

Reform and Change in Congress.

Is Congress the Broken ‘Branch’?

10 The Presidency I: Powers and Selection.

Formal Sources of Power.

Informal Powers.

Presidential Selection.

Presidential Selection: Faults and Foibles.

11 The Presidency II: The President as Chief Executive.

The Presidency in a Changing America.

Presidential Abuse of Power and the Congressional Response.

Presidential Resources.

Assessing the Presidency: Presidential Power at Home and Abroad.

12 Bureaucratic Power: Federal Departments and Agencies.

The Federal Bureaucracy: Organization and Function.

The Bureaucracy: How Uncontrollable?

The Inherent Power of Bureaucracy.

The Bureaucratic Hydra: A Uniquely American Phenomenon?

Reform Attempts.

Concluding Remarks.

13 The Security State.

The Rise of the Security State.

9/11, the Patriot Act, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Threats to Civil Liberties.

The Security State and American Values.

14 Organized Interests: The Real Power?

Interests, Groups and Lobbyists.

Economic Groups.

Professional Groups.

Promotional Groups.

Political Action Committees.

The Washington Lobby.

Interest Groups: For and Against.

15 The Supreme Court and Judicial Politics.

The American Legal System.

The Supreme Court: Decision-Making.

The Supreme Court and Political Power.

The Polarized and Activist Rehnquist and Roberts Courts.

Conclusions: The Court and American Democracy.

16 Regulating Morality: Civil Rights, Liberties and the Conscience Issues.

Introduction.

Regulating Public Morality.

Civil Liberties.

Equality and Civil Rights.

Conclusions.

17 Social Policy in America: Self-Reliance and State Dependence.

The Federal Government and Social Welfare in America: The Reluctant Provider.

Federalism.

Social Security, Medicare and the Electoral Connection.

The Continuing Importance of Self-Reliance.

Health-Care Reforms.

The Federal Government and Education.

Conclusions.

18 Managing Economic Change.

State and Economy in the United States.

Ideology and Economic Policy.

Institutions and Economic Policy.

Conclusions: Economic Policy in an Age of Uncertainty.

19 Environmental Politics.

Background.

The Emerging Environmental Agenda.

Policy Actors and Institutions.

Chronology.

Political Parties and the Environment.

Conclusions: The Future of Environmental Politics.

20 The American World Role.

The Institutional Context.

American Foreign Policy in the Post-9/11 World.

Conclusions: Bound to Lead or Bound to Fail?

21 The American Political System in an Uncertain World.

Assessing the American Polity.

Reform and Renewal.

Websites.

Glossary.

Appendix: The Constitution of the United States.

Index.