Chapter 1: Understanding American PoliticsWhy Do We Have a Government?What Is Politics?Sources of Conflict in American PoliticsConflict and Compromise in American PoliticsThe Politics of Compromise at the Constitutional ConventionRatificationThe Constitution: A Framework for GovernmentThe Question of Relevance: Is the Constitution a “Living Document”?The Evolving Concept of FederalismFederalism TodayFighting for States’ Rights: The Role of the Modern Supreme CourtAssessing FederalismChapter 4: Civil LibertiesConflict and Compromise in American PoliticsThe Origins of Civil LibertiesFreedom of Speech, Assembly and the PressFreedom of ReligionThe Right to Bear ArmsLaw, Order, and the Rights of Criminal DefendantsPrivacy RightsChapter 5: Public OpinionWhat Is Public Opinion?Where Do Opinions Come From?Measuring Public OpinionDoes Public Opinion Matter?The News Media in AmericaWhat Difference Does the Internet Make?How Political Reporters Work: Sources, Leaks and Shield LawsHow Do Americans Use the Media to Learn about Politics?Studying the Impact of Media Coverage on American CitizensWhat Are Political Parties?History of American Political PartiesModern American Political PartiesThe Role of Political Parties in a DemocracyMinor PartiesWhat Kind of Democracy Do American Political Parties Create?American Elections: Basic Facts, Fundamental QuestionsHow Do American Elections Work?Electoral CampaignsHow Do Voters Decide?Elections MatterThe Interest Group UniverseGetting OrganizedHow Much Power Do Interest Groups Have?What Determines When Groups Succeed?Congress’s Place in Our Constitutional SystemCongress and the PeopleThe Incumbency Advantage and Its SourcesThe Structure of CongressHow a Bill Becomes a LawOversightCongressional ReformWhile presidents are powerful, they are not dictators; in virtually all cases, their actions either require congressional consent to take effect or can be undone by subsequent congressional action. Presidents must also cultivate public opinion in order to get reelected or to elect members of Congress from their party, and must monitor the bureaucracy to make sure that their decisions are faithfully implemented. And sometimes, such as in the case of health care reform for Obama or Social Security reform for Bush, presidents are forced to scale back their proposals in an effort to get them enacted. Fundamental questions about the office center on limits to and sources of presidential power.America’s PresidentsThe President’s Job DescriptionThe American Public and the PresidentThe Executive BranchAssessing Presidential PowerWhat Is the Federal Bureaucracy?History of the American BureaucracyThe Human Face of DemocracyHow Americans See BureaucracyControlling the BureaucracyExplaining the AnomaliesThe Development of an Independent and Powerful Federal JudiciaryAmerican Legal and Judicial SystemAccess to the Supreme CourtHearing Cases before the Supreme CourtSupreme Court Decision MakingThe Court as a Policy MakerThe Context of Civil RightsA Color-Blind Society?The Racial Divide TodayThe Policy-Making Process and Civil RightsContinuing and Future Civil Rights IssuesChapter 1: Understanding American PoliticsAt first glance, American politics is complicated and complex. Upon further examination, however, everything that happens in the American political process has a logical and often simple explanation. The premise of this book is: American politics makes sense. The content of this book will demonstrate this affirmation through the application of three key ideas of politics: politics is everywhere, the political process matters, and politics is conflictual.Why Do We Have a Government?- To Provide Order Government is the system for implementing decisions made through the political process. The Founders ofthe United States believed the absence of government would result in chaos since no laws and no system of enforcement would exist, even if informal rules were established. The preamble of the Constitution defines two central roles of government: to “provide for the common defense,” and to “insure domestic tranquility.”The Founders assumed people to be self-interested. In order to satisfy their interests, people tend to form factions, or groups of like-minded people trying to get something from the government. In order to prevent any one faction from unjustly prevailing over another, America’s government incorporates three mechanisms to control their effects:o Separation of powers divides government power across the judicial, executive, and legislative branches.o Checks and balances gives each branch of government some power over the others.o Federalism divides power across the local, state, and national levels of government.- To Provide for the General Welfare The self-interested nature of people often prevents the high level of organization necessary to deal with major global events and to efficiently take care of the poor, the sick, or the aged. Government programs designed to address these issues are known as public goods, which upon being provided to one person, become available to everyone. Government is typically needed to provide public goods because they will be under-produced by the free market. The underproduction of public goods by the free market can be explained by three phenomena:o Collective action problem refers to a situation in which the members of a group would benefit byworking together to produce some outcome, but each individual is better off refusing to cooperate and reaping the benefits from those who do the work.o Free rider problem is the incentive to benefit from others’ work without contributing, which leads individuals in a collective action situation to refuse to work together.o Positive externalities are benefits created by a public good that are shared by the primary consumer of the good and by society more generally.What Is Politics?Politics is the process that determines what government does.- Key Idea 1: Politics Is Conflictual Conflict reflects intense differences of opinion rooted in self-interest, ideology, and personal beliefs. Conflict is inevitable in American politics; compromise and bargaining are therefore essential to getting things done, especially in instances where there is no obvious policy to satisfy a majority of citizens orelected officials. In most instances, however, conflict is required to arrive at policies that are in the nation’s best interest. Indeed, the political process is the