Intro -- Series page -- Title page -- Copyright page -- LIST OF PLATES -- LIST OF FIGURES -- LIST OF TABLES -- PREFACE TO THE EIGHTH EDITION -- CHAPTER 1: GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE IN A POLARIZED SOCIETY -- The Chapters to Come -- Glossary -- Note -- CHAPTER 2: BELIEFS, VALUES AND AMERICAN SOCIETY -- The Nature of American Beliefs and Values -- Values and American Society -- Controversy 1 Immigration: The Changing Nature of the Debate -- Controversy 2 How Classless Is American Society? -- Controversy 3 Americans' Ambivalent View of Government and Taxes -- Social Structure -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 3: CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT -- Origins -- The American Constitution -- Biographies Hamilton and Madison -- Ratification -- The Adaptive Constitution -- Assessing the Constitution -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 4: FEDERALISM AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS -- Federalism in Theory and Practice -- The Evolution of American Federalism -- The Changing Federal Role -- Controversy 3 Federal versus State Power -- Briefing US Federalism in ­Comparative Perspective -- A Changing Court Role? -- The Future of American Federalism -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 5: AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND THE POLITICS OF POLARIZATION -- The Functions of Parties -- Briefing Why Only Two Parties in the US? -- Crisis and Change in the American Party System -- The Decline and Rise of Political Parties -- Biographies Lee Atwater and Karl Rove - Republican Party 'Heavies' -- Changing Party Ideology: 1970-2013 -- Explaining Party Change -- Stronger but more Polarized Parties -- Briefing The Rise of the Tea Party Movement -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading.

CHAPTER 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 -- Controversy 4 Non-Voting: Does it Matter? -- Controversy 5 Are American Elections Corrupt? -- Controversy 6 Does the Decline in Social Capital Matter? -- Non-Electoral Political Participation -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 7: THE MEDIA AND AMERICAN POLITICS -- Media Structure and Organization -- Organization and Ownership -- How Biased? The Media and the Political Agenda -- Controversy 7 How Biased Are Television and Radio? -- Controlling the Media -- The Media and American Democracy -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 8: CONGRESS I -- Representation and Congress -- Briefing Forms of Representation -- Congressional Elections -- Biography Michele Bachmann, Tea Party Firebrand -- Legislators as Rational Actors -- The Work of Members of Congress -- Conclusions -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 9: CONGRESS II -- The Functions of Congress -- The Structure of Power in Congress -- Congress Under Fire -- Biography Jack Abramoff: Master Lobbyist and Convicted Felon -- Controversy 8 Divided Government: For and Against -- Biography John Murtha, King of Pork -- Reform and Change in Congress -- Is Congress the 'Broken Branch'? -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 10: THE PRESIDENCY I -- Formal Sources of Power -- Informal Powers -- Presidential Selection -- Controversy 9 Primaries: For and Against -- Briefing The Role of Money -- Presidential Selection: Faults and Foibles -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion.

Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 11: THE PRESIDENCY II -- The Presidency in a Changing America -- Presidential Abuse of Power and the Congressional Response -- Presidential Resources -- Briefing Organizing the White House -- Assessing the Presidency: Presidential Power at Home and Abroad -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 12: BUREAUCRATIC POWER -- The Federal Bureaucracy: ­Organization and Function -- Controversy 10 Privatization: For and Against -- The Bureaucracy: How ­Uncontrollable? -- The Inherent Power of Bureaucracy -- The Bureaucratic Hydra: A Uniquely American Phenomenon? -- Reform Attempts -- Concluding Remarks -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 13: THE SECURITY STATE -- The Rise of the Security State -- 9/11, the Patriot Act and the Department of Homeland Security -- Briefing The Department of Homeland Security and the Culture of Threat -- Threats to Civil Liberties -- The Security State and American Values -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 14: ORGANIZED INTERESTS -- Interests, Groups and Lobbyists -- Economic Groups -- Briefing The Enron Collapse and Crony Capitalism -- Controversy 11 Do the Bankruptcy Laws Damage Workers' Rights? -- Professional Groups -- Promotional Groups -- Political Action Committees -- The Washington Lobby -- Interest Groups: For and Against -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 15: THE SUPREME COURT AND JUDICIAL POLITICS -- The American Legal System -- The Supreme Court: Decision-Making -- The Supreme Court and Political Power -- Controversy 12 The Supreme Court: An Active or a Passive Role? -- Briefing The Supreme Court and the Guant�anamo Bay Detainees.

The Polarized Rehnquist and Roberts Courts -- Conclusions: The Court and American Democracy -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 16: REGULATING MORALITY -- Introduction -- Regulating Public Morality -- Civil Liberties -- Controversy 13 What's So Wrong with Gun Control? -- Briefing Abortion and American Politics -- Equality and Civil Rights -- Briefing Federalism and Same-Sex Marriage -- Conclusions -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Note -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 17: SOCIAL POLICY IN AMERICA -- 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 -- Briefing Why Was Health Care So Hard to Reform? -- Health-Care Reforms -- The Federal Government and Education -- Conclusions -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 18: MANAGING ECONOMIC CHANGE -- State and Economy in the United States -- Ideology and Economic Policy -- Controversy 14 Foreign Economic Policy: Is Free Trade Always Beneficial for US Industry? -- Institutions and Economic Policy -- Briefing Institutional Sclerosis and the Budget, 2011-2013 -- Briefing The Great Housing Crash, 2007-2012 -- Conclusions: Economic Policy in an Age of Uncertainty -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 19: ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS -- Background -- The Emerging Environmental Agenda -- Controversy 15 Clinton, Bush and Obama: the Kyoto Convention and Economic Growth -- Policy Actors and Institutions -- Chronology -- Political Parties and the ­Environment -- Conclusions: The Future of ­Environmental Politics -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 20: THE AMERICAN WORLD ROLE.

The Institutional Context -- American Foreign Policy in the Post-9/11 World -- Briefing The Rise and Fall of Neoconservatism -- Conclusions: Bound to Lead or Bound to Fail? -- Summary -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- CHAPTER 21: THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM IN AN UNCERTAIN WORLD -- Assessing the American Polity -- Reform and Renewal -- Questions for Discussion -- Glossary -- Notes -- Further Reading -- WEBSITES -- GLOSSARY -- APPENDIX: THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES -- INDEX.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2022. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.