American Politics Today Essential

Description

Published in USA The Great Divide: Campaign Media in the American Mind Samuel A. Stouffer Professor of Political Science and Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is also Director of the Institute for the Study of Citizens and Politics in the Annenberg Public Policy Center. His publications include Population-based Survey Experiments (2011), Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy (2006), Impersonal Influence: How Perceptions of Mass Collectives Affect Political Attitudes (1998), as well as many journal articles on the impact of media on American politics. As a scholar of media and politics, I am frequently asked to participate in media commentary during election years. Although I wholeheartedly believe in the importance of academic outreach to the larger world, I suspect that this is my least favorite part of my job. Media and politics about which I am writing are both wide and deep. They converge around my relative naiveté in understanding the sheer power of the monster. When I take part in a radio call-in program or appear on an election-night television broadcast, then I, too, become part of the monster, wielding its incredible power while simultaneously denying its very existence. While both the public and academics agree that media have influence in elections, the scales on which these two entities believe media matter suggest an enormous chasm. Public perceptions of the power of media in elections, and the academic evidence of its influence, could not be further apart. Cover The Presidential Election of 2012 Title Page Copyright About the Authors Contents in Brief Contents Preface Features of the Text Acknowledgments 1: Understanding American Politics Making Sense of American Government and Politics Why Do We Have A Government? What is Politics? Sources of Conflict in American Politics Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 2: The Constitution and the Founding The Historical Context of the Constitution The Politics of Compromise at the Constitutional Convention Ratification The Constitution: A Framework for Government Is the Constitution a "Living" Document? Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 3: Federalism What is Federalism and Why Does it Matter? Balancing National and State Power in the Constitution The Evolving Concept of Federalism Federalism Today Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 4: Civil Liberties Defining Civil Liberties Freedom of Speech, Assembly, and the Press Freedom of Religion The Right to Bear Arms Law, Order, and the Rights of Criminal Defendants Privacy Rights Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 5: Public Opinion and the Media What is Public Opinion? Sources of Opinions Measuring Public Opinion Characteristics of American Public Opinion The News Media Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 6: Political Parties Parties and Party Systems Modern American Political Parties The Role of Political Parties in American Politics Minor Parties Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 7: Elections How Do American Elections Work? Electoral Campaigns How Do Voters Decide? Understanding the 2012 Elections Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 8: Interest Groups The Interest Group Universe Interest Group Strategies How Much Power Do Interest Groups Have? Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 9: Congress Congress's Place in Our Constitutional System Congress and the People The Structure of Congress How a Bill becomes a Law Oversight Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 10: The Presidency America's Presidents The President's Job Description The Executive Branch The American Public and the President Assessing Presidential Power Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 11: The Bureaucracy What is the Federal Bureaucracy History of the American Bureaucracy The Modern Federal Bureaucracy The Human Face of the Bureaucracy Controlling the Bureaucracy Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 12: The Courts The Development of an Independent and Powerful Federal Judiciary The American Legal and Judicial System Access to the Supreme Court Hearing Cases before the Supreme Court Supreme Court Decision Making Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 13: Civil Rights The Context of Civil Rights The Racial Divide Today The Policy-Making Process and Civil Rights Continuing and Future Civil Rights Issues Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 14: Economic and Social Policy Making Public Policy Economic Policy Social Policy Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading 15: Foreign Policy What is Foreign Policy? Foreign Policy Makers The Tools of Foreign Policy The Politics of Foreign Policy Conclusion Study Guide Suggested Reading Appendix The Declaration of Independence The Articles of Confederation The Constitution of the United States of America Amendments to the Constitution The Federalist Papers Glossary Endotes Answer Key Credits Index Presidents & Vice Presidents of the United States