2 The Constitution 42

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "2 The Constitution 42"

Wilfrid Bruce
5 years ago
Views:

1 C ontent s About the Authors xv Preface xvi PART I IDEAS AND RIGHTS 1 Ideas That Shape American Politics 2 The Spirit of American Politics 4 Who Governs? 4 How Does American Politics Work? 5 Ideas 5 Institutions 5 Interests 6 Individuals 7 What Does Government Do? 7 Who Are We? 8 A Nation of Ideas 10 Liberty 10 The Land of the Free 11 The Two Sides of Liberty 11 The Idea of Freedom Is Always Changing 13 WHAT DO YOU THINK? NEGATIVE VERSUS POSITIVE LIBERTY 13 Self-Rule 14 One Side of Self-Rule: Democracy 14 Another Side of Self-Rule: A Republic 15 A Mixed System 16 Limited Government 16 The Origins of Limited Government 17 And Yet... The United States Has a Big Government 17 Limits on Government Action 18 When Ideas Clash: Self-Rule and Limited Government 19 WHAT DO YOU THINK? SELF-RULE VERSUS LIMITED GOVERNMENT 19 Individualism 20 Community versus Individualism 21 The Roots of American Individualism: Opportunity and Discord 22 Golden Opportunity 22 Social Conflict 23 Who We Are: Individualism and Solidarity? 23 WHAT DO YOU THINK? INDIVIDUALISM VERSUS SOLIDARITY 24 The American Dream 25 Spreading the Dream 25 Challenging the Dream 26 Is the System Tilted Toward the Wealthy? 26 Does the American Dream Promote the Wrong Values? 27 Equality 27 Three Kinds of Equality 29 How Much Economic Inequality Is Too Much? 29 Opportunity or Outcome? 30 Religion 32 Still a Religious Country 32 So Many Religions 33 The Politics of Religion 34 How Do Ideas Affect Politics? 36 Ideas in American Culture 36 The Ideas in Political Institutions 37 Culture or Institutions? 38 Conclusion: Culture and Institutions, Together 39 2 The Constitution 42 The Colonial Roots of the Constitution 45 Why the Colonists Revolted 47 The Colonial Complaint: Representation 47 The Conflict Begins with Blood on the Frontier 48 The Stamp Tax and the First Hints of Independence 49 The Townshend Acts Worsen the Conflict 49 The Boston Tea Party 50 vi

2 Revolution! 50 A Long Legacy 51 The Declaration of Independence 52 The Principle: We Hold These Truths Grievances 52 The First American Government: The Articles of Confederation 53 The National Government 53 Some Success And Some Problems 54 WHAT DO YOU THINK? YOUR ADVICE IS NEEDED 55 The First Step: Annapolis Convention 55 Secrecy 56 The Constitutional Convention 57 How Much Power to the People? 57 National Government versus State Government 58 Big States versus Small States 59 The Virginia Plan 59 The New Jersey Plan 60 The Connecticut Compromise 61 The President 62 Committee or Individual? 62 The Electoral College 62 Separation of Powers 63 A Principle of Which We Were Ashamed 64 The Three-Fifths Compromise 65 The Slave Trade 66 Fugitive Slaves 66 The National Calamity 66 An Overview of the Constitution 68 Preamble 68 Article 1: Congress 68 Article 2: The President 69 WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE WE ACHIEVED THE CONSTITUTION S GOALS TODAY? 69 Article 3: The Courts 70 Article 4: Relations Between the States 70 Article 5: Amendments 70 Article 6: The Law of the Land 71 Article 7: Ratification 71 The Missing Articles 71 Ratification 71 The Anti-Federalists 72 The Federalists 72 Two Strong Arguments 74 A Very Close Vote 74 Changing the Constitution 77 The Bill of Rights 77 The Seventeen Amendments 78 The Constitution Today 78 Conclusion: Does the Constitution Still Work? 81 WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW STRICTLY SHOULD WE INTERPRET THE CONSTITUTION? 81 3 Federalism and Nationalism 84 Forging Federalism 88 Who Holds Government Authority? 90 Advantages of State-Level Policy 91 The Advantages of National Policy 92 WHAT DO YOU THINK? PRESERVING LOCAL VALUES OR CONTINUING A TERRIBLE INJUSTICE? 93 How Federalism Works 94 The Constitution Sets the Ground Rules 94 The Constitution Empowers National Authority 94 The Constitution Protects State Authority 95 The Constitution Authorizes Shared Power 95 Dual Federalism ( ) 96 Cooperative Federalism ( ) 98 New Federalism 99 Battles Over Federalism Today 100 Drowned in the Bathtub? 100 Unfunded Mandates 101 Federalism and the Parties 101 WHAT DO YOU THINK? INTERGOVERNMENTAL LOBBYING, AMERICAN STYLE 102 Federalism in the Courts 103 Nationalism, American Style 105 The Imagined Community 105 The Rise of American Nationalism 106 Size 106 Authority 107 Independence 107 Conclusion: Who Are We? Civil Liberties 112 The Rise of Civil Liberties 115 Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 115 The Slow Rise of Rights 116 Privacy 118 Penumbras and Emanations 118 vii

3 WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS THERE A RIGHT TO PRIVACY? 119 Roe v. Wade 119 Sexuality Between Consenting Adults 120 Freedom of Religion 121 The Establishment Clause 122 Free Exercise of Religion 123 WHAT DO YOU THINK? MAY THE CHRISTIAN YOUTH CLUB MEET IN SCHOOL? 124 Freedom of Speech 126 A Preferred Position 126 WHAT DO YOU THINK? DAVID S LAW 126 Political Speech 127 Symbolic Speech 128 Limits to Free Speech: Fighting Words 129 Limited Protections: Student Speech 130 Freedom of the Press 131 Prior Restraint 131 Obscenity 133 Libel 133 The Right to Bear Arms 134 A Relic of the Revolution? 134 The Palladium of All Liberties? 134 The Rights of the Accused 135 Americans Behind Bars 135 WHAT DO YOU THINK? END THE DEATH PENALTY? 136 The Fourth Amendment: Search and Seizure 137 The Fifth Amendment: Rights at Trials 138 The Sixth Amendment: The Right to Counsel 139 The Eighth Amendment: The Death Penalty 140 Fighting Terrorism and Protecting Liberty 142 Surveillance 142 Conclusion: The Dilemma of Civil Liberties The Struggle for Civil Rights 146 Winning Rights: The Political Process 149 Seven Steps to Political Equality 149 How the Courts Review Cases 150 Suspect Categories 150 Quasi-suspect Categories 150 Nonsuspect Categories 151 Race and Civil Rights: Revolt Against Slavery 152 The Clash Over Slavery 152 Abolition 152 Economics 152 Politics 153 Dred Scott v. Sandford 153 The Second American Founding: A New Birth of Freedom? 154 Freedom Fails 155 The Fight for Racial Equality 157 Two Kinds of Discrimination 157 The Civil Rights Campaign Begins 158 The Courts 158 The Civil Rights Movement 160 WHAT DO YOU THINK? WOULD YOU HAVE PROTESTED? 161 Congress and the Civil Rights Act 161 The Achievements of the Civil Rights Era 163 Affirmative Action in the Workplace 163 Affirmative Action in Education 164 WHAT DO YOU THINK? HIGHER EDUCATION AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION 165 Voting Rights Today 165 Where Are We Now? 166 Gender 168 Suffrage 168 The Civil Rights Act of The Courts 170 Progress But How Much? 171 Reproductive Politics 171 Hispanics 172 Challenging Discrimination 172 The Politics of Immigration 173 The Controversy Over Language 174 Political Mobilization 175 Asian Americans 177 Asian Stereotypes 178 Native Americans 179 The Lost Way of Life 179 Indians and the Federal Government 180 Social Problems and Politics 180 Groups without Special Protection 182 People with Disabilities 182 Sexual Orientation 183 Conclusion: By the People 184 viii

4 PART II POLITICAL BEHAVIOR 6 Public Opinion and Political Participation 188 Sources of Public Opinion 191 Self-Interest: Voting Our Pocketbooks 191 Demography Race, Gender, Age, and More 193 Party 194 Elite Influence 195 Wars and Other Focusing Events 195 Measuring Public Opinion 197 Early Polling Bloopers 197 Polling Do Opinion Surveys Influence Us? 199 Public Opinion in a Democracy 201 Ignorant Masses 201 The Rational Public 202 WHAT DO YOU THINK? CAN WE TRUST THE PUBLIC? 202 Do the People Know What They Want? 203 How Do the People Communicate Their Desires? 203 Do Leaders Respond to Public Opinion? 203 Getting Involved: Electoral, Voluntary, and Political Voice 205 Electoral Activities 205 WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD EVERYONE PARTICIPATE IN POLITICS? 206 Civic Voluntarism 208 Political Voice 209 What Inspires Political Participation? 210 Spurs to Individual Participation 211 Background: Age, Wealth, and Education 211 Friends, Family, and Social Capital 213 Political Mobilization 214 Government Beneficiaries 214 Context 215 What Discourages Political Participation? 215 Alienation 215 Institutional Barriers 216 Complacency 217 Shifting Mobilization Patterns 218 The Internet, Social Media, and Gen Y Participation 219 Scenario 1: Rebooting Democracy 220 Scenario 2: More Hype and Danger Than Democratic Renaissance 221 Conclusion: Government by the People The Media 226 American Media Today: Traditional Formats Are Declining 229 Where People Go for News 229 Newspaper Decline 230 The First Mass Media 230 Should We Worry? 231 Radio Holds Steady 232 Television: From News to Infotainment 232 The Rise of Cable 233 Infotainment 233 The Rise of the New Media 234 Is the Media Biased? 237 Reporters Are Democrats 237 Profits Drive the News Industry 238 Drama Delivers Audiences 238 Sex and Scandal 239 The Skeptical Media 239 How Governments Shape the Media 240 The First Amendment Protects Print Media From Regulation 240 Regulating Broadcasters 241 Protecting Competition 242 How the Media Shapes Politics 243 News Stories Reinforce Existing Beliefs 243 The Political Agenda 243 Priming the Public 244 Framing the Issue 244 The Media s Electoral Connection 245 The Campaign as Drama 245 Candidate Profiles 246 Conclusion: At the Crossroads of the Media World 247 WHAT DO YOU THINK? DOES THE MEDIA ENHANCE DEMOCRACY? Campaigns and Elections 250 How Democratic Are American Elections? 253 Frequent and Fixed Elections 253 ix

5 x 520,000 Elected Officials 254 Financing Campaigns: The New Inequality? 255 WHAT DO YOU THINK? TOO MANY ELECTED POSITIONS? 256 Too Much Money? 256 Election Spending in Context 256 Major Donors: Easier to Give 257 Presidential Campaigns and Elections 260 Who Runs for President? 260 Presidential Campaigns Have Three Phases 262 Winning the Nomination 262 WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHY IOWA AND NEW HAMPSHIRE? 263 Organizing the Convention 264 The General Election 264 Winning Presidential Elections 264 Economic Outlook 265 Demographics 265 War and Foreign Policy 266 Domestic Issues 266 The Campaign Organization 266 Congressional Campaigns and Elections 267 Candidates: Who Runs for Congress? 267 The Power of Incumbency 270 Congressional Election Results 271 Redrawing the Lines: The Art of the Gerrymander 271 Nonpartisan Districting and Minority Representation 272 How to Run for Congress 275 Key 1: Money 275 Key 2: Organization 276 Key 3: Strategy 276 Key 4: Message 277 Conclusion: Reforming American Elections Interest Groups and Political Parties 282 Interest Groups and Lobbying 285 What Private Interest Groups Do 287 What Public Interest Groups Do 289 What Do Interest Groups Do for Democracy? 290 Lobbying the Federal Branches of Government 291 Rise of the Issue Network 293 Intergovernmental and Reverse Lobbying 293 Lobbying the Courts 294 Lobbying on Judicial Confirmations 294 Filing Amicus Curiae ( Friend of Court ) Briefs 295 Sponsoring Litigation 295 Interest Groups and Power 295 Lobbyist Spending 296 Political Parties and U.S. Government 299 What the Parties Do 299 Parties Champion Ideas 299 Parties Select Candidates 299 Parties Mobilize the Voters 299 Parties Organize Governing Activity After the Election 300 Parties Help Integrate New Groups Into the Political Process 300 Two-Party America 300 Third Parties in American Politics 302 America s Party Systems: Origins and Change 303 Beginnings: First Party System ( ) 303 Rise: Second Party System (ca ) 304 War and Reconstruction: Third Party System ( ) 304 Business and Reform: Fourth Party System ( ) 306 Depression and New Deal: Fifth Party System ( ) 307 The Sixth Party System: The Parties at Equal Strength (1972 Present) 307 Party Identification... and Ideas 308 Building Party Identification 309 The Power of Party Attachment 311 WHAT DO YOU THINK? PERSONALITY AND PARTY 312 Voting/Participation 312 Filtering 312 Ideology 312 Organizing the Parties 313 The Party Bureaucracy 313 Party in Government 313 Party in the Electorate 314 The Big Tent 314 Party Competition... and Partisanship 316 Parties Rise Again 316 Competition and Partisanship Intensifies 316 WHAT DO YOU THINK? PARTISANSHIP 318 Conclusion: A Political System Ripe for Reform? Regulating Lobbyists 319

6 WHAT DO YOU THINK? ASSESSING THE INFLUENCE OF LOBBYISTS Reduce Partisanship in Government 320 PART III POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS 10 Congress 324 Introducing Congress 327 Two Houses, Different Styles 328 The House and Senate Have Some Unique Roles 329 WHAT DO YOU THINK? SENATE FILIBUSTERS 329 Congressional Representation 330 Trustees and Delegates 330 Do the Right Thing 331 Do What the People Want 331 WHAT DO YOU THINK? TWO VIEWS OF REPRESENTATION 332 Elections: Getting to Congress And Staying There 332 Congressional Elections 333 Home Styles: Back in the District 334 Congress at Work 335 The City on the Hill 335 Minnows and Whales: Congressional Leadership 337 House Leadership 337 Senate Leadership 339 Committees: Workhorses of Congress 340 The Enduring Power of Committees 340 Leadership and Assignments 342 Legislative Policy Making 343 Drafting a Bill 344 Submitting the Bill 345 Committee Action Committees Hold Hearings on Policy Topics Committees Prepare Legislation for Consideration on the House or Senate Floor Committees Also Kill Legislation, Deleting Items That Are Judged Less Important or Not Particularly Urgent Or Not Politically Viable Committees Work Extends beyond Legislation to Oversight 348 Floor Action 348 Conference Committee 350 Presidential Action: Separated Powers, Once More 351 Why Is Congress So Unpopular? 352 Partisan Polarization in Congress 352 Divided Government 354 WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS A PARTISAN CONGRESS A GOOD THING? 355 Conclusion: Congress and the Challenge of Governing The Presidency 358 Defining the Presidency 362 Defining by Controversy 362 The President s Powers 362 Is the President Too Powerful? 364 An Imperial Presidency? 364 A Weak Office? 365 What Presidents Do 366 Commander in Chief 366 Top Diplomat 368 The First Legislator 369 Recommending Measures 369 State of the Union 370 Presidential Batting Average 371 Veto 371 Signing Statements 373 Chief Bureaucrat 374 Economist in Chief 375 The Head of State 375 Party Leader 376 The Bully Pulpit: Introducing Ideas 377 The Impossible Job 378 Presidential Leadership: Success and Failure in the Oval Office 378 Managing the Public 378 Approval Ratings 379 WHAT DO YOU THINK? RANKING THE PRESIDENT 380 Presidential Greatness 382 Greatness in Context: The Rise and Fall of Political Orders 384 Step 1: A New Order Rises 385 Step 2: The Order Refreshed 385 Step 3: The Old Order Crumbles 385 The President s Team: A Tour of the White House 386 The Political Solar System: Presidential Appointments 386 The Vice President 386 xi

7 The Cabinet 388 The Executive Office of the President 389 The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 389 The Council of Economic Advisers 390 The National Security Council (NSC) 390 The Offices in the Executive Office of the President 390 The Heart of Power: The White House Office 391 WHAT DO YOU THINK: TOO MANY PRESIDENTIAL AIDES? 393 The First Spouse 393 Conclusion: The Most Powerful Office on Earth? Bureaucracy 398 How the Bureaucracy Grew 402 Before the Bureaucracy 402 War 403 Morality 403 Economics 404 Geography 404 Race 404 The Bureaucratic Model 404 Hierarchy 404 Division of Labor 405 Fixed Routines 405 Equal Rules for All 406 Technical Qualifications 406 Bureaucratic Pathologies 406 The Democratic Dilemma 408 What Bureaucracies Do 409 Rule Making 409 Implementation 411 How the Bureaucracy Is Organized 412 The Cabinet Departments 412 The Rotating Bureaucracy 414 Other Agencies 416 Executive Agencies 416 Independent Regulatory Commissions 416 An Army of Their Own 418 Private Contractors 419 Who Controls the Federal Bureaucracy? 420 The People 421 The President 421 Congress 421 Interest Groups 423 Bureaucratic Autonomy 423 Democracy Revisited 424 Reforming the Bureaucracy 425 Open Up the System 425 Reinventing Government 425 WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD WE PRIVATIZE MORE GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS? 426 Privatization 426 Conclusion: The Real Solution Lies with You The Judicial Branch 430 Who Are We? A Nation of Laws... and Lawyers 434 Embracing the Law And Lawsuits 434 Declining Trust 434 Courts in American Culture 434 Organizing the Judicial Branch 436 Divided We Rule 436 State and Local Courts 436 Judicial Selection 437 WHAT DO YOU THINK? HOW SHOULD STATES SELECT THEIR JUDGES? 438 Federal Courts 438 Specialized Courts 440 Diversity in the Federal Judiciary 441 WHAT DO YOU THINK? IDENTITY ON THE BENCH 442 The Court s Role 443 Judicial Review 443 Activism versus Restraint 444 The Judicial Process 446 Too Much Power? 446 Or Still the Least Dangerous Branch? 447 The Supreme Court and How It Operates 448 Hearing Cases 449 Selecting Cases: Formal Requirements 449 Selecting Cases: Informal Factors 450 Conference Sessions and Written Decisions 451 Supreme Court Clerks 451 Confirmation Battles 452 Judicial Decision Making and Reform 454 The Role of Law 454 Ideology and Partisanship 455 Collegiality and Peer Pressure 456 Institutional Concerns 456 xii

8 Nineteen Cases You Should Know Marbury v. Madison (1803) McCullough v. Maryland (1819) Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) Santa Clara Co. v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Lochner v. New York (1905) Muller v. Oregon (1908) Schenck v. United States (1919) National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation (1937) Korematsu v. United States (1944) Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Mapp v. Ohio (1961) Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) Roe v. Wade (1973) United States v. Nixon (1974) Bush v. Gore (2000) National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012) 464 WHAT DO YOU THINK? NAME ANOTHER LANDMARK CASE 465 The Nineteen Cases And the Power of the Court 465 Conclusion: Democracy and the Courts 465 PART IV POLICY MAKING 14 Domestic and Foreign Policy 468 Public Policy Making in Five (Not-So-Easy) Stages Agenda Setting Framing Policy Formation 473 Analyzing Policy, ex Ante 474 From Cost Benefit Analysis to Politics Policy Implementation 476 Top-Down Delivery 476 Bottom-Up Delivery Policy Evaluation and Feedback 477 Policy Feedback 477 U.S. Social Policy 478 Old-Age Insurance: Social Security 479 Unemployment Benefits 480 Health and Disability: Medicare/Medicaid 481 WHAT DO YOU THINK: SHOULD WE REFORM SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE? 482 Economic Policy Making, I: Fiscal and Monetary Policy 483 Fiscal Policy 484 Monetary Policy 485 Economic Policy Making, II: The Federal Budget Process 486 American Foreign Policy Goals 489 American Foreign Policy Goal No. 1: Security 490 The Military 490 Soft Power 490 WHAT DO YOU THINK? DOWNSIZING THE MILITARY 492 Foreign Aid and National Security 492 American Foreign Policy Goal No. 2: Prosperity 492 Free Trade 494 Energy 495 Economic Weapons 495 Foreign Policy Goal No. 3: Spreading American Ideals 496 Who Makes Foreign Policy? 497 Congress 497 The President 498 The State Department 498 The Department of Defense 499 Intelligence 500 The National Security Council 500 Success or Fragmentation? 500 Grand Strategies Over Time 501 World War I and Isolationism ( ) 501 World War II, the Cold War, and Multilateralism ( ) 503 The New World Order ( ) 504 The War on Terror (Began 2001) 505 War in Afghanistan 506 War in Iraq 506 Terrorist Threats Today 506 WHAT DO YOU THINK? TERRORISTS AND THE RULE OF LAW 507 Conclusion: Policy Matters 508 xiii

9 APPENDIX I The Declaration of Independence A-1 APPENDIX II The Constitution of the United States of America A-4 APPENDIX III The Federalist Papers 1, 10, and 51 A-25 APPENDIX IV Presidential Elections, Congressional Control, A-35 Glossary G-1 Notes N-1 Credits 00 I nde x 0 0 xiv

Contents PART I IDEAS AND RIGHTS. 1 The Spirit of American Politics 2. 2 The Ideas That Shape America 26

Contents PART I IDEAS AND RIGHTS. 1 The Spirit of American Politics 2. 2 The Ideas That Shape America 26 Contents vi About the Authors xv Preface xvi Acknowledgments xxii PART I IDEAS AND RIGHTS 1 The Spirit of American Politics 2 Who Governs? 5 WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHO GOVERNS? 8 How Does American Politics