Politics in America, Basic Version (Election Reprint) (4th Edition) - Softcover

Dye, Thomas R.; Dye, Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130420182 ISBN 13: 9780130420183

Publisher: Pearson College Div, 2001

Synopsis

Politics in America 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. Focusing on the millennial election year, Dye's lively and absorbing narrative examines the struggle for power—the participants, the stakes, the processes, and the institutional arena—and an abundance of feature boxes explore timely issues and opinions, draw cross-cultural comparisons, and introduce important people. One of the most well known political scientists, Tom Dye has written a balanced, and exceedingly readable book. The Basic Version provides complete coverage of all aspects of politics and political culture, the constitution, political participants and institutions and political outcomes with regard to personal liberty, civil rights, the economy and national security. For individuals interested in American politics.

About this title

About the Author:

Thomas R. Dye, formerly Professor of Government at Florida State University, is President of the Lincoln Center for Public Service. He 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 Polities 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.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Preface

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, Fourth Edition, strives to present a clear, concise, and stimulating introduction to the American political system. Without the conflicts that arise from disagreement over who should get what, when, and how, our government would not reflect the diverse concerns of the nation. 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 principle 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, Fourth Edition, introduces students to the politics that is the basis for our democracy.

WHY POLITICS IN AMERICA?

Recent market research indicates that 76 percent of instructors teaching the Introductory American Government course find engaging their students to be the most difficult task facing them. Politics in America, Fourth 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, Fourth 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, 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&3151;the result of the struggle over the allocation of values. It is especially concerned with the two fundamental values of American society—liberty and equality. Each is examined in separate chapters, as are economic policies, welfare policies, and national security policies.

INSTRUCTIONAL FEATURES

Interactive Chapter Opening Survey: Each chapter opens with a brief poll called "Ask Yourself 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. In the Fourth Edition, we are excited to offer this survey as an interactive exercise on the accompanying Web site (www.prenhall.com/dye). Now students can compare their answers with students from across the country.

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 Fourth 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 Influence in Washington?" "How Would You Rate the Presidents?" "Should We Judge Presidents on Private Character or Performance in Office?" "How Much Money Does the Government Waste?" "What Constitutes Sexual Harassment?"
• "A Conflicting View" — These features challenge students to rethink conventional notions about American politics. They are designed to be controversial and to start students thinking about the push and pull that is politics. "Politics as Violence," for example, briefly summarizes the view that much of American political development has been accompanied by violence. Other "Conflicting View" features include: "An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution," "Objections to the Constitution by an Anti-Federalist" "Let the People Vote on National Issues," "The War on Drugs Threatens Individual Liberty," "The Constitution Should Be Color-Blind."
• "Compared to What?" — These features provide students with global context by comparing the United States with other nations. Discussions include "Freedom and Democracy around the World," as well as such topics as the size of government, tax burdens, voter turnout, political parties, television culture, health care, and the earnings gap between men and women.
• "People in Politics" — These features are designed to personalize politics for students, to illustrate to them that the participants in the struggle for power are real people. They discuss where prominent people in politics went to school, how they got started in politics, how their careers developed, and how much power they came to possess. Both historical—John Locke and James Madison—and current figures, such as Jeb Bush, Ralph Nader, Colin Powell, Elizabeth Dole, Ted Kennedy, and Jesse "the body" Ventura.
• "Up Close" — These features illustrate the struggle over who gets what. They range over a wide variety of current political conflicts, such as "Sex, Lies, and Impeachment," "Abortion, the `Hot Button' Issue," "Dirty Politics," "AARP: The Nation's Most Powerful Interest Group," "The Christian Coalition: Organizing the Faithful," "Political Correctness vs. Free Speech on Campus," "The Cash Constituents of Congress," "Is Welfare Reform Working?" A special feature, "How to Run for Office," provides practical advice on how to get into electoral politics.
• "Across the USA" — These features provide maps that summarize important statistical and demographic information relevant to American politics.
• "What's Ahead? Twenty-First Century Directions" — Each chapter ends with provocative speculation about future American politics—what is likely to change for the better or for worse. The author presents his personal forecasts about upward and downward trends on such topics as trust in government; the influence of money in politics; the amount of sex, scandal, and violence in news coverage; the weakening of the presidency; the growth of bureaucratic regulation; racial and ethnic conflict; reliance on federal courts rather than the president or Congress to decide policy issues; global commitments and the capability of the U.S. military to meet them.

Currency: The Fourth Edition of Politics in America brings students up-to-date coverage of recent important political events and issues—from Bill Clinton's battles against impeachment, to an analysis of the results of the 2000 presidential election. It describes...

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson College Div
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0130420182
• ISBN 13: 9780130420183
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 624