The Basics of American Government Third Edition
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University of North Georgia Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository UNG Press Books University of North Georgia Press 2013 The aB sics of American Government Carl D. Cavalli University of North Georgia Maria J. Albo Ross C. Alexander Barry D. Friedman Craig B. Greathouse See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/books Part of the American Politics Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Cavalli, Carl D.; Albo, Maria J.; Alexander, Ross C.; Friedman, Barry D.; Greathouse, Craig B.; Miner, Jonathan S.; Murphy, Brian M.; Reese, K. Michael; and Wilson, Charles H. "Trey", "The asicB s of American Government" (2013). UNG Press Books. 3. http://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/books/3 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the University of North Georgia Press at Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNG Press Books by an authorized administrator of Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository. Authors Carl D. Cavalli, Maria J. Albo, Ross C. Alexander, Barry D. Friedman, Craig B. Greathouse, Jonathan S. Miner, Brian M. Murphy, K. Michael Reese, and Charles H. "Trey" Wilson This book is available at Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository: http://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/books/3 The BASICS of AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Third Edition Carl D. Cavalli Editor Contributors Maria J. Albo Ross C. Alexander Carl D. Cavalli Barry D. Friedman Craig B. Greathouse Jonathan S. Miner Brian M. Murphy K. Michael Reese Charles H. “Trey” Wilson III Student Contributor: Mary Catherine Olive Blue Ridge | Cumming | Dahlonega | Gainesville | Oconee Copyright 2011, 2013, 2017 University of North Georgia Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connections with a review in newspaper, magazine, or electronic publications; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without the written permission from the publisher. Published by: University of North Georgia Press Dahlonega, Georgia Printing Support by: Lightning Source Inc. La Vergne, Tennessee Book and cover design by Corey Parson. ISBN: 978-1-940771-41-0 Printed in the United States of America, 2017 For more information, please visit: http://ung.edu/university-press or e-mail: [email protected] If you need this document in an alternate format for accessibility purposes (e.g. Braille, large print, audio, etc.), please contact Corey Parson at [email protected] or 706-864-1556. Table of Contents Preface v Acknowledgements viii Chapter 1: Theories of Democracy and Types of Government 1 Ross C. Alexander Chapter 2: The U.S. Constitution 13 Ross C. Alexander Chapter 3: Federalism 33 Charles H. “Trey” Wilson III Chapter 4: Political Socialization and the Communications Media 61 Maria J. Albo and Barry D. Friedman Chapter 5: Interest Groups 99 Carl D. Cavalli and Barry D. Friedman Chapter 6: Political Parties, Voting, and Elections 135 Carl D. Cavalli Chapter 7: Congress 179 Carl D. Cavalli Chapter 8: The Presidency 217 Carl D. Cavalli Chapter 9: Executive Agencies 245 Barry D. Friedman Chapter 10: The Federal Judiciary 269 Brian M. Murphy Chapter 11: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights 301 K. Michael Reese Chapter 12: Public Policy 329 Barry D. Friedman Chapter 13: State and Local Government 351 Ross C. Alexander Supplement: Georgia Public Policy 379 Maria J. Albo and Mary Catherine Olive Chapter 14: U.S. Foreign Policy 395 Jonathan S. Miner and Craig B. Greathouse Chapter 15: Civic Engagement 429 Maria J. Albo About the Authors 457 Online Companion Additional learning materials are available online thanks to the dedicated staff at eCore. To access the Online Companion for The Basics of American Government, please visit: http://www.upng.org/amergovt/ Preface to the Third Edition This third edition of our textbook contains significant updates designed to keep pace with the ever-changing political scene. Much of the book includes examples and coverage of events in American politics occurring over the last couple of years. We devote more attention to the rise in partisan polarization around the nation as well as the growth of social media and its effects on politics and on governing. The most notable of recent events of course, has been the 2016 elections and their aftermath. The elections, a new presidential administration, and a new Congress, are factored in to many areas throughout the book. In addition, many of our case studies have been updated with newer examples. We also say farewell to our previous student contributor, and welcome a new one, Mary Catherine Olive. She has updated our public policy supplement with examples from the 2017 Georgia state legislative session, including the controversial campus carry bill. She offers particularly valuable insights stemming from her time as an intern in the governor’s office. Of course, we also continue to correct and clarify material from the previous edition. While we bring you many changes and updates, we have not lost sight of our original mission to provide direct, no-frills information on the basics of American government. Carl D. Cavalli, editor July 2017 Preface to the Revised Edition The dynamic and cyclical world of politics demands constant attention. There are predictable electoral, policy, and international cycles; and there are unpredictable events. Even the predictable things often produce unpredictable and unanticipated consequences. With this in mind, we offer a revised edition of our book (and hope to offer future editions as well). We endeavor to bring you the latest developments in foreign and domestic events relevant to American politics. We also add a new supplemental section on Georgia public policies that we hope serves to complement both our Public Policy and State and Local Government chapters. With it, we welcome a new contributor, Courtney Mitchell, who recently earned her bachelor’s degree in political science. While we offer no guarantees that college graduates can immediately become published authors, we hope she serves as a role model and inspiration that, yes, you do learn something in college, and there is something you can do with that degree! Lastly, we attempted to correct and clarify what we wrote in the rst edition. There are second chances in life! The book is still the concise, no-nonsense text we originally envisioned. No change there. Enjoy and learn. Carl D. Cavalli, editor May 2013 Preface to the First Edition This book is a collaborative effort among eight current and one retired University of North Georgia faculty members in the Political Science and Criminal Justice departments, all of whom have extensive experience teaching and conducting academic research in the eld of American politics. All of these professors were concerned with both the rising cost and lack of academic rigor among American government texts on the market. So, they decided to write their own. The purpose of this book is twofold. First, it provides a thorough, no- frills overview and analysis of the American political system. Second, most chapters include a work of original academic scholarship that demonstrates or highlights the chapter content. In addition, all chapters provide questions for discussion and several feature a “civic engagement exercise” designed to spur students to become more involved in the political system. Ultimately, this book combines the best aspects of both a traditional textbook and a reader, presented in a concise, low-cost format. The reader will see that the “basics” of the American political system are all addressed. However, in addition, this text devotes entire chapters to topics not found in most texts on the market, i.e. state and local government and civic engagement. Unlike other textbooks, but consistent with political science research, this book is presented utilizing the APA format, with in-text citations. A secondary goal of the authors is to familiarize the reader with scholarship in the eld, making it easier to locate the sources used to craft the chapters. The authors hope you enjoy the book and are inspired to learn more about the American political system. Ross C. Alexander and Carl D. Cavalli, editors June 2011 Acknowledgements We would like to thank all of the peer reviewers who diligently reviewed each chapter in the both the initial and latest edition of this text. We are also grateful for the feedback from our discussion panel at the 2010 Georgia Political Science Association annual meeting. Lastly, we are grateful to the people at the University of North Georgia Press—including the director, Bonnie Robinson, and editors, both past and present, Corey Parson, April Loebick, and Matt Pardue—for taking a chance on an unusual idea, turning it into a reality, and maintaining that reality for the better part of a decade. The corrections, edits, and suggestions of all of the aforementioned made The Basics of American Government a better finished product. Thanks also to Maria Albo’s summer 2011 American government class for their feedback on a draft copy of this book. Any errors are, of course, our own. Ross C. Alexander and Carl D. Cavalli June 2011 (updated by Carl D. Cavalli, July 2017) Theories of Democracy and Types of Government Ross C. Alexander Learning Objectives 1 After covering the topic of theories of democracy, students should understand: 1. How democracy has evolved in the historical and contempo- rary sense. 2. How democracy in America functions, comparing and con- trasting it with other systems around the world. 3. How foundational pieces in political philosophy influenced the establishment of our republic, most notably the contributions of John Locke. Abstract What is democracy? How does it differ from other political structures and systems that existed over the past two millennia? In this chapter, we address these foundational questions, in addition to others, to provide a solid framework for the remainder of the book.