CHAPTER 1

American Political Culture

WHAT AMERICANS THINK ABOUT GOVERNMENT 1) Americans historically have been reluctant to grant government too much power and have often been suspicious of politicians, but they have also turned to government for assistance in times of need and have strongly supported the government in periods of war. 2) Political efficacy is the belief that citizens can affect what government does. In recent decades, the publics trust in government has declined. As public distrust of government has increased, so has public dissatisfaction with the governments performance. 3) Americans today are less likely to think that they can influence what the government does. This view has led to increased apathy and cynicism among the citizenry. CITIZENSHIP: KNOWLEDGE AND PARTICIPATION 1) Informed and active membership in a political community is the basis for citizenship. Citizens require political knowledge to be aware of their interests in a political dispute, to identify the best ways of acting on their interests, and to know what political action can and cannot achieve. However, today many Americans have significant gaps in their political knowledge. GOVERNMENT 1) Government is the term used to describe the formal institutions through which a land and its people are ruled. Governments vary in their structure, in their size, and in the way they operate. 2) Beginning in the seventeenth century, two important changes began to take place in the governance of some Western nations: governments began to acknowledge formal limits on their power, and governments began to give citizens a formal voice in politics through the vote. 3) As Harold Lasswell, a famous political scientist, put it, politics is the struggle over who gets what, when, how. The term politics refers to conflicts and struggles over the leadership, structure, and policies of governments. 4) Political participation can take many forms: the vote, group activities, and even direct action, such as violent opposition or civil disobedience.

WHO ARE AMERICANS? 1) As the American population has grown it has become more diverse. In the early years of the Republic, the majority of Americans were European settlers, mainly from northern Europe. One in five Americans was of African origin, the vast majority of whom had been brought to the United States against their will to work as slaves. There was also an unknown number of Indians, the original inhabitants of the land, who were not initially counted by the Census. 2) In the 1800s and early 1900s, a large wave of immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and later from Southern and Eastern Europe changed the demographic profile of the United States. As the population of foreign-born residents reached 14.7 percent in 1910, a movement to limit immigration gained ground. After World War I, Congress placed sharp limits on immigration. It also established the National Origins Quota System, designed to limit the numbers of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. 3) From the start, the American government used racial and ethnic criteria to draw boundaries around the American population. Until 1870, nonwhites could not become naturalized citizens. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 outlawed the entry of Chinese laborers to the United States, a restriction that was not reversed until 1943. 4) In 1965, Congress opened the doors to immigrants once again. At the same time, it greatly expanded the number of immigrants who could come from Asia and Latin America. The American population has become much more diverse as a result. European Americans accounted for only two-thirds of the population in 2008. The African American population stood at 12.2 percent, and, reflecting the new immigration, Hispanics accounted for close to 15 percent, with Asian Americans at 4 percent of the American population. In 2005, 12 percent of the population was foreign-born. A small percentage of the population now identifies itself as of two or more races. The biracial category points toward a future in which the traditional labels of racial identification may be blurring. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE 1) Three important political values in American politics are liberty, equality, and democracy. Liberty means personal and economic freedom, both of which are closely linked to the idea of limited government. Most Americans share the ideal of equality of opportunity, the notion that each person should be given a fair chance to use his or her talents to reach their fullest potential. In a democracy, power ultimately comes from the people, an idea known as popular sovereignty. 2) At times in American history there have been large gaps between the ideals embodied in Americans core values and the practice of American government. 3) Many of the important dilemmas of American politics revolve around conflicts over prioritizing and applying fundamental political values. One such conflict involves the ideals of liberty and equality. Over time, efforts to promote equality may threaten liberty.

CHAPTER 2

The Founding And The Constitution

THE FIRST FOUNDING: INTERESTS AND CONFLICTS 1) The American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution were outgrowths and expressions of a struggle among economic and political forces within the colonies. 2) In an effort to alleviate financial problems, including considerable debt, the British government sought to raise revenue by taxing its North American colonies. This energized New England merchants and southern planters, who then organized colonial resistance. 3) Colonial resistance set in motion a cycle of provocation and reaction that resulted in the First Continental Congress and eventually the Declaration of Independence. 4) The Declaration of Independence was an attempt to identify and articulate a history and set of principles that might help to forge national unity. 5) The colonies established the Articles of Confederation. The first goal of the Articles was to limit the powers of the central government. Under the Articles, the central government was based entirely in Congress, yet Congress had little power. The relationship between the national government and the states was called a confederation, a system of government in which states retain sovereign authority except for the powers expressly delegated to the national government. THE SECOND FOUNDING: FROM COMPROMISE TO CONSTITUTION 1) Concern over Americas precarious position in the international community coupled with domestic concern that radical forces had too much influence in Congress and in state governments led to the Annapolis Convention in 1786. Delegates from only five states attended, so nothing substantive could be accomplished. 2) Shayss Rebellion in Massachusetts provided critics of the Articles of Confederation with the evidence they needed to push for constitutional revision. 3) Recognizing fundamental flaws in the Articles, the delegates to the Philadelphia Convention abandoned the plan to revise the Articles and committed themselves to a second foundinga second, and ultimately successful, attempt to create a legitimate and effective national system of government. 4) Conflict between large and small states over the issue of representation in Congress led to the Great Compromise, which created a bicameral legislature based on two different principles of representation. 5) The Three-fifths Compromise addressed the question of slavery by apportioning the seats in the House of Representatives according to a population in which five slaves would count as three persons. THE CONSTITUTION 1) The new government was to be strong enough to defend the nations interests internationally, promote commerce and protect property, and prevent the threat posed by excessive democracy. 2) The House of Representatives was designed to be directly responsible to the people to encourage popular consent for the Constitution. The Senate was designed to guard against the potential for excessive democracy in the House.

3) The Constitution grants Congress important and influential powers, but any power not specifically enumerated in its text is reserved specifically to the states. 4) The framers hoped to create a presidency with energya president who would be capable of timely and decisive action to deal with public issues and problems. 5) The establishment of the Supreme Court reflected the framers preoccupations with nationalizing governmental power and checking radical democratic impulses while guarding against potential interference with liberty and property from the new national government itself. 6) Various provisions in the Constitution addressed the framers concern with national unity and power. Such provisions included clauses promoting reciprocity among states. 7) Procedures for amending the Constitution are provided in Article V. These procedures are so difficult that amendments are quite rare in American history. 8) To guard against possible misuse of power by the national government, the framers incorporated into the Constitution the principles of the separation of powers and federalism, as well as a Bill of Rights. 9) The separation of powers was based on Montesquieus theory that power must be used to balance power. 10) Although the framers move to federalism was a step toward greater centralization of national government power, they retained state power by devising a system of two sovereignsthe states and the central government. 11) The Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 as the first ten amendments to the Constitution. THE FIGHT FOR RATIFICATION 1) The struggle for ratification was carried out in thirteen separate campaignsone in each state. 2) The Federalists supported the Constitution and a stronger national government. The Antifederalists, on the other hand, preferred a more decentralized system of government and fought against ratification. 3) Federalists and Antifederalists had differing views regarding issues such as representation and the prevention of tyranny. 4) Antifederalist criticisms helped to shape the Constitution and the national government, but it was the Federalist vision of America that triumphed. THE CITIZENS ROLE AND THE CHANGING CONSTITUTION 1) Provisions for amending the Constitution, incorporated into Article V, have proved to be difficult criteria to meet. Relatively few amendments have been made to the Constitution. 2) Most of the amendments to the Constitution deal with the structure or composition of the government. 3) As the Supreme Court reviews cases, it interprets the meaning of the Constitution and its amendments. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT LIBERTY, EQUALITY, AND DEMOCRACY 1) The Constitutions framers placed individual liberty ahead of all other political values. But by emphasizing liberty, the framers virtually guaranteed that democracy and equality would evolve in the United States.

CHAPTER 3

Federalism
FEDERALISM IN THE CONSTITUTION 1) In a federal system, the central government shares power or functions with lower levels of government, such as regions or states. 2) The Constitution granted a few expressed powers to the national government and, through the Tenth Amendment, reserved all the rest to the states. 3) The Constitution also created obligations among the states in the full faith and credit clause and the privileges and immunities clause. 4) Federalism and a restrictive definition of interstate commerce limited the national governments control over the economy. 5) Federalism allows a great deal of variation between states. 6) Local government has no status in the U.S. Constitution. State legislatures created local governments, and state constitutions and laws permit local governments to take on some of the responsibilities of the state governments. Most states amended their own constitutions to give their larger cities home rulea guarantee of noninterference in various areas of local affairs. 7) The rise of national government activity after the New Deal did not necessarily mean that states lost power directly. Rather, the national government paid states through grants-in-aid to administer federal programs. THE CHANGING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE STATES 1) Under the traditional system of federalism, the national government was small and narrowly specialized in its functions compared with other Western nations. Most of its functions were aimed at promoting commerce. 2) Under the traditional system, states rather than the national government did most of the fundamental governing in the country. 3) The system of federalism limited the expansion of the national government despite economic forces and expansive interpretations of the Constitution in cases such as McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden. 4) For most of U.S. history, the concept of interstate commerce kept the national government from regulating the economy. But in 1937, the Supreme Court converted the commerce clause from a source of limitations to a source of power for the national government. 5) Recent years have seen a revival of interest in returning more power to the states through devolution. As states have become more capable of administering large-scale programs, the idea of devolution has become popular.

WHO DOES WHAT? PUBLIC SPENDING AND THE FEDERAL FRAMEWORK 1) Some federal programs bypass the states by sending money directly to local governments or local organizations. The states are most important, however; they are integral to federal programs such as Medicaid. 2) The national government also imposed regulations on states and localities in areas such as environmental policy to guarantee national standards. The growth of national standards has created some new problems, such as the increase in unfunded mandates. 3) Under President Richard Nixon, many categorical grants were combined into larger block grants that offered greater flexibility in the use of the money. The Nixon administration also developed revenue sharing that was not tied to any specific programs. 4) Politicians from both parties regularly turn to the federal government to override decisions made by states. Likewise, when the federal government proves unable or unwilling to act, advocates and politicians try to achieve their goals in states and localities. In many cases, it is up to the courts to decide which level of government should have the final say. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT THE FEDERAL SYSTEM 1) Some of the sharpest tensions among liberty, equality, and democracy are visible in debates over federalism. 2) The Constitution limited the power of the national government to safeguard liberty, but over the course of American history, a strong national government has been an important guarantor of liberty. 3) A key puzzle of federalism is deciding when differences across states represent the proper democratic decisions of the states and when such differences represent inequalities that should not be tolerated.

CHAPTER 4

Civil Liberties
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS 1) Civil liberties are protections from improper government action. Some of these restraints are substantive liberties, which put limits on what the government shall and shall not have power to do. Other restraints are procedural liberties, which deal with how the government is supposed to act. Civil liberties require a delicate balance between governmental power and governmental restraint. 2) Despite the insistence of Alexander Hamilton that a bill of rights was both unnecessary and dangerous, adding a list of explicit rights was the most important item of business for the 1st Congress in 1789. 3) The Bill of Rights, generally considered to be the first ten amendments to the Constitution, is made up of provisions that protect citizens from improper government action. 4) In 1833, the Supreme Court found that the Bill of Rights limited only the national government and not state governments. 5) Although the language of the Fourteenth Amendment seems to indicate that the protections of the Bill of Rights apply to state governments as well as to the national government, for the remainder of the nineteenth century the Supreme Court (with only one exception) made decisions as if the Fourteenth Amendment had never been adopted. 6) As of 1961, only the First Amendment and one clause of the Fifth Amendment had been selectively incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment. After 1961, however, most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights were gradually incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment and applied to the states. THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND FREEDOM OF RELIGION 1) The establishment clause of the First Amendment has been interpreted in several ways, one being the strict separation of church and state. But there is significant disagreement about how high that wall is and of what materials it is composed. 2) The Supreme Courts test from Lemon v. Kurtzmann determined that government aid to religious schools would be accepted as constitutional if (1) it had a secular purpose, (2) its effect was neither to advance nor to inhibit religion, and (3) it did not entangle government and religious institutions in each others affairs. 3) The free exercise clause protects the right to believe and to practice whatever religion one chooses; it also involves protection of the right to be a nonbeliever. The Supreme Court has taken pains to distinguish between religious beliefs and actions based on those beliefs.

THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE PRESS 1) Freedom of speech and the press have a special place in American political thought. Democracy depends on the ability of individuals to talk to each other and to disseminate information and ideas. 2) The extent and nature of certain types of expression are subject to constitutional debate. The Supreme Court must balance the protection of political speech with issues such as national security and fairness in campaign finance. 3) Among the forms of speech that are absolutely protected are the truth, political speech, symbolic speech, and speech plus, which is speech plus a physical activity such as picketing. The forms of speech that are currently only conditionally protected include libel and slander; obscenity and pornography; fighting words and hate speech; and commercial speech. 4) Freedom of speech generally implies freedom of the press. With the exception of the broadcast media, which are subject to federal regulation, the press is protected under the doctrine of prior restraint (efforts by a governmental agency to block the publication of material it deems libelous or harmful in some other way; in other words, censorship). THE SECOND AMENDMENT AND THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS 1) In constitutional terms, the Second Amendment may protect a citizens right to bear arms, but this right can be regulated by both state and federal law. 2) In 2008, the Supreme Court struck down a District of Columbia law that was designed to make it nearly impossible for private individuals to legally purchase firearms. The Court declared in the Heller case that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to possess a firearm for private use. 3) In June 2010, the Supreme Court incorporated the Second Amendment and applied it to the states when it announced its verdicts in the cases of McDonald v. Chicago. The Court declared that the right to keep and bear arms was protected from state as well as federal action. RIGHTS OF THE CRIMINALLY ACCU SED 1) The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth amendments, taken together, are the essence of the due process of law, the right of every citizen against arbitrary action by national or state governments. 2) The purpose of due process is to equalize the playing field between the accused individual and the all-powerful state. Due process helps define the limits of government action against the personal liberty of every citizen. 3) One of Americas traditional and most strongly held juridical values is that it is far worse to convict an innocent man than to let a guilty man go free. 4) The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. One of the most important procedures that has grown out of the Supreme Courts interpretation of the Fourth Amendment is the exclusionary rule, which prohibits evidence obtained during an illegal search from being introduced in a trial.

5) The Fifth Amendment requires a grand jury for most crimes, protects against double jeopardy, and provides that you cannot be forced to testify against yourself. 6) Miranda v. Arizona advanced the civil liberties of accused persons not only by expanding the scope of the Fifth Amendment clause covering coerced confessions and self-incrimination but also by confirming the right to counsel, a provision of the Sixth Amendment. 7) The other fundamental clause of the Fifth Amendment is the takings clause, which extends to each citizen a protection against the taking of private property without just compensation. The purpose of the takings clause is to put limits on the power of eminent domain through procedures that require a showing of a public purpose and the provision of fair payment for the taking of someones property. 8) The Sixth Amendment requires a speedy trial and the right to witnesses and counsel. 9) The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. One of the greatest challenges in interpreting this provision consistently is that what is considered cruel and unusual varies from culture to culture and from generation to generation. THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY 1) In the case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court found a right of privacy in a combination of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth amendments to the Constitution. This right was confirmed and extended in 1973 in the case of Roe v. Wade. 2) Cases concerning the scope of right to privacy have included debates over birth control, abortion, gay and lesbian rights, and withdrawal of life-sustaining medical support. THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT THE FUTURE OF CIVIL LIBERTIES 1) The tension between liberty and national security is evident in debates over government action
in the wake of 9/11.