American Government and Public Policy Today: Origins, Institution, and Modern Democracies: Texas Edition
Edition: 7
Copyright: 2022
Edition: 7
Copyright: 2022
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American Government and Public Policy Today is a turn-key online course package that introduce students to American national government, providing a broad-based introduction to the concepts and institutions that shape politics in the United States. It focuses on four major areas: the Constitution and the debates of the founding era, political institutions of modern American government, public policy issues of modern American government, and the political behavior of the American mass public.
Student will study the ideas, roles, and limitations of both governmental officials and ordinary citizens, and how they interact while trying to achieve public goods. The authors provide documents from America’s formative period and modern political phenomena from a variety of sources. It helps each student in the class arrive at a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the forces that shape American government and politics. Ultimately, the goal is that each person may be both a more discerning student and critic of the system and a more informed and fact based participant in the society. While most of the decision-making takes place at the national level, state and local government are primarily responsible for public safety and education. In addition, state and local governments are responsible for economic development, welfare policy, environmental policy and healthcare.
American Government and Public Policy Today:
- continues a tradition of scholarly and factual coverage of both American and Texas government.
- features a basic structure, which makes it an easy read and remains informative and current.
- makes government come alive.
- features current graphs and charts.
- includes access to test bank, quizzes, and assignments.
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Part 1: American Government and Public Policy
Chapter 1 Democracy in America
Evolution of American Democracy
Politics in America
A Land of Law, Not of People
A Foreign Eye on Democracy
Direct and Representative Democracy
The Majority or Power Elite
Chapter 2 The U.S. Constitution
The Constitution: Defined
Constitutional Beginnings
Five Precedents to the Constitution
Problems Facing the New Nation
The Constitutional Convention
The Second Constitution: 1787
Chapter 3 Federalism
Why Federalism?
The Recipe for Federalism
The Tenth Amendment and the States
The Federal System Evolves
Federalism and the Federal Courts
Tomorrow’s Federalism
Chapter 4 Legislative Branch
Legislative Branch Constitutional Roots
The Powers of Congress
Congressional Duties
Incumbency Advantages
Membership in Congress
Organization of Congress
Committee System
A Bill Becomes a Law
Chapter 5 Executive Branch
The President
Qualifications
Term of Office
Removal
Benefits
Duties and Power of the President
Chief Executive
Appointments
Removing Officials
Line-Item Veto
Budget Making
Pardoning Power
Office of the Vice President
Chapter 6 The Federal Bureaucracy
The Federal Bureaucracy
The Evolution of the Federal Bureaucracy
The Merit System
Policy Implementation
Red Tape and Complexity
Chapter 7 The Judicial Branch
Judicial Power
Structure of the Courts
Supreme Court Justice Selection Criteria
Supreme Court Process
Supreme Court Checks and Balances
Checks on Inferior Courts
Chapter 8 Political Culture and Participation
Political Culture
Eighteenth-Century Classical Liberalism
Individual Liberty
Political Liberty
Economic Freedom
The Plight of Equality
Political Equality
Equality of Opportunity
Equality of Results
Fairness
Political Influence
New Inequality
What Does Social Mobility Mean?
Public Opinion
What Is Public Opinion?
How Do People Feel?
Measuring Public Opinion
What Happened?
Polling Perfected
Agents of Political Socialization
Social Variables and Opinion Influence
Chapter 9 Campaigns and Voting
The Art of Campaigning
Campaign Structure
Campaign Incumbents
Sources of Funding
Voter Decisions
Political Parties
Political Party Structure
Role of Political Parties
Political Parties After the Election
Third-Party Role
Chapter 10 The News Media
Forms of News Media
The News Media’s Sources of Power
Media and Elections
Government Regulation
Libel and Slander
The Black Press
Chapter 11 Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Civil Liberties
The Bill of Rights
The First Amendment
The Second Amendment
Due Process Rights
Public Privacy Rights
Slavery
Civil War
Equal Protection Fight
Civil Rights
Gender Equality
Affirmative Action
Immigration Policy
Chapter 12 Social Welfare
The Evolution of Social Welfare Policy
The Great Society
Social Welfare Policies Evolve
Health Care Reform
Economic Policy
Fiscal Policy
Federal Spending
The Budget Process
Monetary Policy
Deficit
Debt
Trade Policy
Government Regulations
Chapter 13 Foreign and Military Policy
The Evolution of the United Nations
Will the UN Survive?
The Evolution of the Cold War
Containment
Marshall Plan
North Korea
The Vietnam War
Nuclear Freeze
Reducing Nuclear Weapons
Osama Bin Laden
Part 2: A View of Texas Politics
Chapter 14 The Texas Constitution Yesterday and Today
The Purpose of the Texas Constitution
Legitimacy
Establishment
Power to Operate
Limitations
Texas Constitution Yesteryear and Beyond
Chapter 15 Why Texas Politics?
Understanding Government and Politics in Texas
Texas Politics and Government
Ideas in America and Texas
Three Ideas Relevant to Political Analysis
Conditions of Democracy
Forms of Democracy: Classical, Majoritarianism, and Pluralist
Elitist Challenge
Chapter 16 Local Government: Texas Cities, Counties, and Special Districts
Local Governments in Texas
Types of Cities
Forms of City Governments in Texas
County Government in Texas
The Metropolitan Challenge
Chapter 17 Texas Political Culture
The Texas Terrain
Demographics of Texas
Political Culture
Chapter 18 Texas Political Participation
African American Right to Vote in Texas
Hispanic Right to Vote
Women’s Right to Vote
Participation in the Texas Voting Process
Chapter 19 Texas Elections and Voting
Types of Elections
Texas Electorate
Chapter 20 Political Parties
Republican Party
Democratic Party
Texas Party Platforms
The Political Party Organization
Chapter 21 Interest Groups: Attaining Their Share and More
A Nation of Joiners
Why Develop Interest Groups?
The Purpose of Joining
Who Joins?
Types of Groups
Economic Interest Groups
Function of Interest Groups
Interest Group Success
Chapter 22 The Texas Legislature
Texas Legislative Structure
Personal Characteristics
Legislative Process
Chapter 23 The Texas Executive Branch
Texas Executive Structure 295
The Governor
Lieutenant Governor
Attorney General
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Commissioner of the General Land Office
Commissioner of Agriculture
Secretary of State
Chapter 24 The Texas Judiciary
Structure of the Judicial Branch
How to Become a Judge
Is the Judiciary for Sale?
Appendix A The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
Appendix B How to Write a Critical Analysis
Study Guide
Public Policy,Ph.D.,
Research area: U.S. Public Policy and Leadership