Politics In America: Texas Edition - Softcover

Dye, Thomas R.; Gibson, L. Tucker; Robison, Clay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 013193001X ISBN 13: 9780131930018

Publisher: Pearson College Div, 2005

Synopsis

For courses in American Government and Texas Politics. This balanced and exceedingly readable text uses Harold Laswell's classic definition of politics--"Who gets what, when, and how"--as a framework for presenting a clear, concise, and stimulating introduction to the American political system. Updated with discussions of recent events in our country, well-known political scientist Tom Dye has written a lively and absorbing narrative examining the struggle for power: the participants, the stakes, the processes, and the institutional arenas. An abundance of feature boxes explore timely issues and opinions, draw cross-cultural comparisons, and introduce important people.

About this title

About the Author

THOMAS R. DYE, Emeritus McKenzie Professor of Government at Florida State University regularly taught large introductory classes in American politics and was University Teacher of the Year in 1987. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books and articles on American government and public policy, including. The Irony of Democracy, Politics in States and Communities, Understanding Public Policy, Who's Running America, American Politics in the Media Age, Power in Society, Politics, Economics, and the Public, and American Federalism: Competition Among Governments. His books have been translated into many languages, including Russian and Chinese, and published abroad. He has served as president of the Southern Political Science Association, president of the Policy Studies Organization, and secretary of the American Political Science Association. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Georgia, and served as a visiting scholar at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi, and is listed in most major biographical directories. Additional information is available at www.thomasr.dye.com.

L. TUCKER GIBSON, JR., is chair and professor of political science at Trinity University, where he teaches introductory courses in American national and state government as well as courses on U.S. legislatures, political parties, and interest groups. He has served on the Civil Service Commission of the city of San Antonio, assisted local governments across central and south Texas in redistricting their government bodies, and conducted public opinion research for political candidates, businesses, and corporations. Gibson is the coauthor of Government and Politics in the Lone Star State: Theory and Practice.

CLAY ROBISON has covered state government and politics in Texas for more than 30 years as a journalist, first for the San Antonio Light, and then, since 1982, for the Houston Chronicle. He is the Houston Chronicle's Austin bureau chief, and in addition to covering daily news events, he writes a weekly column that appears on the newspaper's Sunday editorial page. He has covered many of the personalities and events that are incorporated in the chapters on Texas government. Robison is the coauthor of Government and Politics in the Lone Star State Theory and Practice.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Politics is an activity by which people try to get more of whatever there is to get. It is not about the pursuit of liberty as much as it is about the struggle over the allocation of values in society. Simply put, it is about "who gets what, when, and how."

By using Lasswell's classic definition of politics as the unifying framework, Politics in America, Sixth Edition, strives to present a clear, concise, and stimulating introduction to the American political system. Politics consists of all of the activities—reasonable discussion, impassioned oratory, campaigning, balloting, fund raising, advertising, lobbying, demonstrating, rioting, street fighting, and waging war—by which conflict is carried on. Managing conflict is the principal function of the political system and power is the ultimate goal.

By examining the struggle for power—the participants, the stakes, the processes, and the institutional arenas—Politics in America, Sixth Edition, introduces students to the politics that is the basis for our democracy.

Why Politics in America?

Instructors teaching the Introductory American Government course find engaging their students to be the most difficult task facing them. Politics in America, Sixth Edition, is written to be lively and absorbing, reflecting the teaching philosophy that stimulating students' interest in politics and public affairs is the most important goal of an introductory course. Interesting examples and controversial debates spark students' interest and keep them connected to the material. The struggle for power in society is not a dull topic, and textbooks should not make it so.

Politics in America, Sixth Edition, strives for a balanced presentation, but "balanced" does not mean boring. It does not mean the avoidance of controversy. Liberal and conservative arguments are set forth clearly and forcefully. Race and gender are given particular attention, not because it is currently fashionable to do so, but because American politics has long been driven by these factors. As in previous editions, the trademark of this book continues to be its desire to pull students into the debate that is our political system.

Organization

Part I, "Politics," begins with Lasswell's classic definition of politics and proceeds to describe the nature and functions of government and the meaning of democracy. It poses the question. How democratic is the American political system? It describes the American political culture: its contradictions between liberty and conformity, political equality and economic inequality, equality of opportunity and inequality of results, the role of ideology—liberalism and conservatism, thus laying the groundwork for understanding the struggle over who gets what.

Part II, "Constitution," describes the politics of constitution making—deciding how to decide. It describes how the struggle over the U.S. Constitution reflected the distribution of power in the new nation. It focuses on the classic arguments of the Founders for limiting and dividing governmental power and the structural arrangements designed to accomplish this end.

Part III, "Participants," begins by examining individual participation in politics—the way people acquire and hold political opinions and act on them through voting and protest activity. It examines the influences of family, school, gender, race, and the role of media in shaping political opinion. It describes how organization concentrates power—to win public office in the case of party organizations, and to influence policy in the case of interest groups. It assesses the role of personal ambition in politics and the role of money.

Part IV, "Institutions," describes the various governmental arenas in which the struggle for power takes place—the Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, the courts. More important, it evaluates the power that comes with control of each of these institutions.

Part V, "Outcomes," deals with public policies-the result of the struggle over the allocation of values. It is especially concerned with the two fundamental values New Features of American society—liberty and equality. Each is examined to separate chapters, as are economic policies, welfare policies, and national security policies.

New to the Sixth Edition

Americans went to the polls in 2004 in numbers never seen before and percentages not seen in forty years. Perhaps it was a lesson learned in 2000 that a few hundred votes can change the Electoral College vote and determine the presidency. Perhaps it was the projected closeness of the race between Bush and Kerry, or concern over the continuing war in Iraq, or an increased turnout of religious people concerned with growing secularism in society. Perhaps all of these conditions combined to inspire Americans to renew their commitment to the political system.

The Sixth Edition of Politics in America describes the recent changes in the political landscape of the nation. It updates students on the war on terrorism and the restrictions on freedom that it has inspired. It describes and analyzes the presidential and congressional election of 2004: the campaign strategies of George W. Bush and John F. Kerry; the impact of the war in Iraq; campaign finance "reform" and how it was evaded during the campaign; popular images of Bush and Kerry and the issues considered most important by the voters; the Republican victory in the congressional elections and the growing polarization on Capitol Hill.

The Sixth Edition also assesses bias in the media and how it has been modified by newer cable network broadcasting and the Internet; it describes new leader ship in Congress, including Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi; it describes charges of partisan ship in the Supreme Court (especially in Bush vs. Gore) and controversial court decisions on cross burning, gay marriage, and the rights of enemy combatants captured on the battlefield.

As in previous editions, the Sixth Edition invites controversy and spirited discussion in the classroom. It raises "politically incorrect" issues—affirmative action and "diversity" in education; rising income inequality in America; how much campaign contributions affect congressional voting; amending the Constitution to ban gay marriages; when is the right to disobey the law; what is the appropriate justification for the use of military force; is the American government really "Of, by, and for the people."

New Features

• What Do You Think? "What Government Programs Do You Support?"
• What Do You Think? "Beliefs about Fairness"
• People in Politics: Bill O'Reilly, "The No Spin Zone?"
• Up Close: Why the Founders Created an Electoral College
• People in Politics: Arnold, from Bodybuilder to Superstar to Governor.
• What Do You Think? "Do Gender Stereotypes Affect Voting?"
• Up Close: "The Generation Gap in News"
• A Conflicting View: "Fox News, 'Fair and Balanced'?"
• Up Close: "The Brief History of Money in Politics"
• Up Close: "New Ways to Evade Campaign Reform Laws"
• A Conflicting View: "Payback, Money and Medicare"
• Up Close: "Polarization on Capitol Hill"
• People in Politics: "Bill First M.D., Leading the Senate"
• Up Close: "Tips on Lobbying Congress"
• Up Close: "Contrasting Presidential Styles"
• What Do You Think? "How Would You Rate Federal Agencies?"
• People in Politics: "George Bush and 'Operator Iraqi Freedom'"
• Up Close: "How to Use the Freedom of Information Act"
• Up Close: "Women and the Courts"
• What Do You Tbink? "Do You Have Confidence in the Supreme Court?"
• A Conflicting View: "Terrorism Requires Restrictions on Civil Liberties"
• Up Close: "Why We Can Burn the Flag but Not a Cross"

The Sixth Edition provides a variety of new instructional aids, including running marginal Web site addresses on the topics under discussion.

Instructional Features

Interactive Chapter Opening Survey. Each chapter opens with a brief poll called "Think about Politics" that alerts students to the crucial issues the chapter covers and the impact of those issues on their lives. This tool can be used to get students thinking about how and why politics is important to them as individuals and as members of a community.

Text and Features. The body of each chapter is divided into text and features. The text provides the framework of understanding American politics. Each chapter begins with a brief discussion of power in relation to the subject matter of the chapter: for example, limiting governmental power (Chapter 3, "The Constitution"), dividing governmental power (Chapter 4, "Federalism"), and the power of the media (Chapter 6, "Mass Media"). By focusing the beginning of each chapter on questions of power, students can more easily set the chapter content in the context of Lasswell's definition of politics.

The features in each chapter provide timeliness, relevance, stimulation, and perspective. Each boxed feature in the Sixth Edition of Politics in America is designed to encourage students to voice their opinions and explore those of others. If the key to learning is active involvement, students should be encouraged to read and respond whenever possible.

• "What Do You Think?": These features pose controversial questions to students and provide national opinion survey data. They cover a wide range of interests designed to stimulate classroom discussion. Examples include: "Can You Trust the Government?" "Is American Government 'Of, By and For the People'?" "Are You a Liberal or a Conservative?" "Does Money Buy In...

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson College Div
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 013193001X
• ISBN 13: 9780131930018
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 749