Barbour/Wright, Keeping the Republic 6 th Brief Edition Transition Guide Overall UPDATED throughout to account for developments in since the last edition s publication, including: o Integrated coverage of the politics of, legal battles over, and challenges in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act can be found throughout the book. o Current debates on immigration reform, gun ownership, same-sex marriage, and the legalization of marijuana are addressed as chapters explore court cases, public opinion, and the federal-state relationship. o The continued politics of polarization is discussed throughout, from congressional showdowns over raising the debt ceiling and the resultant government shutdown to heightened interest group spending on campaigns and the Speaker of the House suing the President of the United States. o Contemporary issues of civil rights and liberties are highlighted with the Supreme Court s ruling on contraception in the Hobby Lobby case and its decision to throw out the 1965 Voting Rights Act s preclearance requirement, the controversy of Edward Snowden s release of documents revealing NSA surveillance, and the continuing debate of stop and frisk NEW In Your Own Words goals at the start of each chapter provide students with learning objectives to help them organize the material they read. These goals are reinforced at the end of every major chapter section so that, in the end, students can relay what they've learned in their own words. Creating a more visual text for today s students. The authors intent with this edition is to get students thinking more about information and visualizing it in a way that allows them to feel an immediate sense of understanding. Toward that end, the authors have reassessed every graphic and table in the book for ways to improve them. KTR s themes of power and citizenship are often expressed in its graphics, and the Brief 6 th edition uses a format and language that appeals to today s students to encourage them to think about the information required to engage in government. o NEW The Big Picture infographics, designed by the award-winning information designer Mike Wirth Art in collaboration with the authors, present rich, poster-worthy displays that focus on a key element in each chapter, complementing the text with a visual that grabs students attention and engages them in understanding big processes, big concepts, and big data. o NEW Snapshot of America data graphics. KTR s focus on data and demographics continues with this reimagined feature (formerly Who Are We? ). Designed by the award-winning Mike Wirth Art in collaboration with the authors, these graphic displays invite students to explore the connections between data and politics, and help them to understand the meaning behind the numbers. NEW What s at Stakes on the challenges of passing immigration reform, the legalization of marijuana in some states, the regulation of gun ownership, as well as
what s at stake in the 2014 midterm elections, and how far is too far in the president s reach of executive power. New Profiles in Citizenship on New Mexico governor Susana Martinez, political consultant and former presidential advisor David Axelrod, and Jaime Schmidt of the National Park Service also new to this edition, every chapter contains a brief Profile that captures the essence of these engaging interviews, allowing students to put more faces to the men and women engaged in public service and give them more insights into the importance of keeping the republic. Chapter by Chapter Chapter 1 : Power and Citizenship in Americaa Politics New The Big Picture infographic feature How to Think Critically maps the CLUES process and walks students through the CLUES process, showing them how to identify potential roadblocks and pitfalls as they engage with political arguments. Under the section Who Fits Where, the authors further explore the nuances of different ideological beliefs and identifications. Chapter 2: The Politics of the American Founding The What s at State in Challenging the Legitimacy of the Government? is significantly revised to include discussion of more recent occurrences of revolutionary patriotism, such as that exercised by the Tea Party who in 2014 launched Operation American Spring, and the government s response to militia movements. New Snapshot of America Demographics of the Founders illustrates the demographic profile of each delegate to the Constitutional Convention, from age and occupation to education level and religion. New The Big Picture infographic feature How We Get to the Constitution from the Articles of Confederation illustrates the evolution in thinking as the U.S. government moved from the Articles to the Constitution. Chapter 3: Federalism New What s at Stake When a State takes Marijuana Laws into its Own Hands? details how state law and federal law diverge and intersect on the use and legalization of marijuana. Under the subsection What Difference Does Federalism Make? additional coverage and examples are given of the flexibility federalism provides to the national government and state governments, particularly when polarization in Congress paralyzes the legislative process and presents a vacuum that states can fill. New The Big Picture infographic feature A Comparison of the 50 States New brief Profiles in Citizenship quotes Chicago mayor and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel on his views about keeping the republic. New Let s Revisit: What s at Stake further explains that states and the national government both have a stake in protecting their turf against the other when it comes to marijuana laws.
Chapter 4: Fundamental American Liberties New What s at Stake in Regulating Gun Ownership in America examines the current debate over gun ownership and the Second Amendment. New Snapshot of America What Do We Believe? maps the religious profile of America, from the beliefs we hold to our tolerance of other religions to the geographic distribution of religious majorities and minorities. The subsection The Free Exercise Clause contains a new paragraph on the Supreme Court ruling that allowed Hobby Lobby to deny contraceptive coverage to its employees, despite an apparent mandate in the Affordable Care Act. Under the subsection Why Is Freedom of Expression Valuable? is a new discussion on how conflicting ideas about what constitutes the public interest can lead reasonable people to disagree about whether speech ought to be protected or restricted, using the controversial case of Edward Snowden as an example. New The Big Picture infographic How Do Our Civil Liberties Compare to Those Around the World? gives a global perspective on the number of civil liberties enjoyed by Americans In the section Protection against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures, the discussion of what s reasonable contains a new paragraph on the conundrum presented by cell phones in cases of physical searches without warrants. Chapter 5: The Struggle for Equal Rights The What s at Stake in the Adoption of Marriage Equality? is revised and updated to reflect changes in same-sex marriage, including the Supreme Court s striking down of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013 and states growing legalization of same-sex marriage. New The Big Picture infographic feature When Can the Law Treat People Differently? provides an easy-to-compare visual of the Supreme Court s legal classifications by which laws treat people differently. In the subsection Blacks in Contemporary American Politics, there is a new paragraph on minority voting behavior and voter restriction in relation to the 2012 election, and updates throughout the subsection on African Americans demographics and representation after the 2014 midterm elections. New brief Profiles in Citizenship quotes New Mexico governor Susana Martinez on her views about keeping the republic. The Sexual Orientation subsection is updated to reflect changes in and continuing challenges to laws concerning LGBT persons. Chapter 6: Congress New What s at Stake in the 2014 Midterm Elections? explores the issues that drove the election and the implications of its results. The Partisanship subsection contains a new paragraph on the role opposing effort has played in the government shutdown in October 2013 because of partisan views on the funding of Obamacare. The Congressional Checks and Balances section includes a new paragraph on the lawsuit Speaker John Boehner launched against the president in the summer of 2014 on the on the grounds that the president had exceeded his legal authority when he allowed employers to hold off on providing health care as required by the Affordable
Care Act for one to two years as kinks in administering the law were worked out. It also discusses the Senate s ability to block presidential appointments and he president s ability to use recess appointments to fill vacancies; the recess appointment that the Supreme Court voided in 2014 is used as a point of example. New The 114 th Congress subsection provides an overview of the 2014 election results as they affect the makeup of Congress, from its demographics to its prospects for polarization or bipartisanship. New Snapshot of America Who Are Our Representatives in Congress? provides a visual picture of the demographics and occupations of those in Congress. New The Big Picture infographic feature How a Bill Becomes a Law visually traces the route of legislation from inception to authorization. New Let s Revisit: What s at Stake returns to the prospects of the 114 th Congress in the wake of the 2014 midterm elections. New key terms: nuclear option; partisan gerrymandering. Chapter 7: The Presidency The What s at Stake in a President s Use of Executive Orders? updates its discussion on the use of executive power and raises the question of when a president may have reached too far. The Qualifications and Conditions of the Office subsection is updated to discuss how the power of impeachment is meant to be a check on the president, but it is most often threatened for partisan purposes, such as Republican calls to impeach President Obama over the legitimacy of his birth certificate or President George W. Bush over inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina. New The Big Picture infographic feature The State of the Union presents a visual illustration of wordle images of key State of the Union addresses from various presidents. The Legislative Powers subsection is updated with a discussion of how executive agreements, and even signing statements, significantly increase the president s role as a policy maker independent of Congress, and President Obama s We Can t Wait campaign to generate public support for his expansion of this executive power. The Presidency Today subsection contains four new paragraphs on President George W. Bush s expansion of the practice of using signing statements and how that expansion has been used by President Obama. The Working with Congress subsection elaborates on how national needs are not always met by Congress. Congress s inability to agree on policies to deal with revenue shortfalls and the budget, or even the previously routine extension of the national debt limit to enable it to pay its bills in 2011 and 2012 are used as examples. An updated Let s Revisit: What s at Stake reflects on the use of executive power in the modern presidency. Chapter 8: The Bureaucracy New The Big Picture infographic feature How the Federal Bureaucracy Evolved shows how and when the government s fifteen departments were created. New brief Profiles in Citizenship features Jaime Schmidt of the National Park Service as she talks about public service and what keeps her engaged.
The subsection The Bureaucracy and the President is updated with a new paragraph on President Obama s appointees and his use of recess appointments that allows him to skirt Senate approval when Congress is not in session. Chapter 9: The American Legal System and the Courts The subsection Federal Courts contains a new summary on the demographics of President Obama s appointees as of August 2014. New brief Profiles in Citizenship quotes former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O Connor on her views about keeping the republic. New The Big Picture infographic feature Pathway to and through the Supreme Court provides a visual display of how cases make their way to, and are processed through, the Supreme Court. Chapter 10: Public Opinion The What s at Stake When We Move to a More Direct Democracy? is updated with current examples of actions taken by the states for more direct democracy, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage or marijuana, and asks what s at stake in the matter of more direct democracy at the national level. The subsection Partisanship and Ideology contains a new paragraph on the process of partisan sorting and its impact on politics. New Snapshot of America What We Think, by Gender and Marriage provides a visual display of gender similarities and difference on specific policy issues. New Snapshot of America What We Think, by Race, Ethnicity, and Religion provides a visual display of divergent political and policy attitudes between different racial, ethnic, and religious groups. New The Big Picture infographic feature How the Science of Polling Has Evolved illustrates opinion polls developed from the straw polls of the nineteenth century to the scientific poll as we know it today. New brief Profiles in Citizenship quotes statistician and blogger Nate Silver on his views about keeping the republic. Chapter 11: Parties and Interest Groups New The Big Picture infographic feature How the American Parties Evolved provides a visual summary of party eras and the realigning elections associated with the transitions between them New brief Profiles in Citizenship quotes Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle on his views about keeping the republic. Chapter 12: Voting, Campaigns, and Elections The subsection Legal Obstacles: Regulating the Electorate contains two new paragraphs on the growing demographic differences in the supporters of the parties and increasing partisanship around voting; and the Supreme Court s recent overturning of the preclearance provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. The subsection Primaries and Caucuses contains a new paragraph on the increasingly important role of debates in selecting a party s nomination, with examples of how the debates impacted Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and Rick Perry.
New The Big Picture infographic feature visually deconstructs How the Electoral College Works to make the process accessible and understandable. New Snapshot of America Red and Blue America looks a close-up look at how Americans voted in the last presidential election in 2012 and how to interpret the data. New brief Profiles in Citizenship quotes political consultant and former presidential advisor David Axelrod on his views about keeping the republic. Chapter 13: The Media The What s at Stake in the Demise of Print Media? is updated to discuss the continued fall of newspaper readership and closing of newspapers, although the pace of decline has moderated somewhat as the economy picked up, mostly due to new, unearned revenue, such as venture capital investments and philanthropy. The concept of media convergence is introduced in the chapter opening discussion. The section on Where Do We Get Our Information? is updated with new data and discussion on the public s changing preferences for obtaining news and other information. New The Big Picture infographic feature presents a visual display of Who Owns (and Controls) Today s Information Networks? The subsection Implications of Corporate Ownership for the News We Get adds a fifth consequence to what concentrated corporate ownership of the media mean to us as consumers of the news: the demands of the 24-hour news cycle prompting some reporters and editors to jump the gun on releasing a story to avoid getting scooped by the competition, only to find out too late that not all of their information was accurate. Table 13.1 Political Party Identification of U.S. Journalists Compared with U.S. Adult Population has been removed. New key term: media convergence. Chapter 14: Domestic and Foreign Policy The What s at Stake in Moving to Renewable Energy? has been revised with new data and discussion pertinent to the priorities and struggles of the Obama administration in enacting regulations in support of renewable resources. New The Big Picture infographic feature on How We Create a Budget and What We Spend It On delves into how money is managed in America. The subsection Welfare Policy in the United States is updated to discuss the resurgence of controversy over welfare reform, and includes revised data illustrating the decline in welfare enrollment. In the Medicaid subsection introduces the Affordable Care Act and its problematic implementation, as well as a new Table 14.2 Highlights of Health Care Provisions, by Year of Implementation, which replaces a former boxed feature. The Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy subsection includes three new paragraphs examining the minimum wage controversy, including President Obama s executive order raising the wage for federal workers and public approval for the measure despite skepticism from economists and conservatives.