Gateways to Democracy Preface for Review 9 December 2009 PREFACE Our book begins with a simple question: how does anyone exert political influence in a country of more than 300 million people? We know that students in American Government classrooms across the country are grappling with this question, as they develop an appreciation of their role in American public life. In our own classrooms, students ask us: What is my responsibility? Can I make a difference? Does my participation matter? How can I get my opinions represented? These are gateway questions that probe the opportunities and limits on citizen involvement in a democracy. Although the size and complexity of the American constitutional system is daunting, it is imperative we prepare our students for the demands of democratic citizenship. As teachers and scholars of American government, we have come together to write a textbook that explains the theoretical and structural foundations of American democracy and the resulting political process that demands an active and informed citizenry. To help students understand American democracy and see how they can be involved in their government, we peel back the layers of our political system to expose its inner workings and examine how competing interests can both facilitate and block the people’s will. In doing so, we use the conceptual framework of gateways. We contend that there are gates—formal and informal-- that present obstacles to participation and empowerment. But there are also gateways that give students a chance to influence the process and to overcome these obstacles. We develop and describe these gates and gateways. Our gateways framework helps students conceptualize participation and civic engagement—even democracy itself—with reference to access. Our book is both realistic and optimistic, contending that the American system can be open to the influence of students and responsive to their hopes and dreams—if they have information about how this system works. But we avoid cheerleading, but pointing out the many gates that undermine the workings of government. We use the gateways theme to encourage critical thinking by the students. We employ concrete examples of political activism and engagement, from a teenager to the president of the United States, inviting students to enter a conversation about the workings of American democracy. This textbook digs below the surface of standard descriptions of democracy by asking students to consider how democratic we are as a nation. We pose questions--Does equality require an equal process, or equal outcomes? How responsive and accountable is American government? And we challenge students to figure out their own standards for the society in which they want to live in the twentyfirst century. Questions like these encourage students to think about the meaning of selfgovernment and by so doing, they constitute a sustained analytical component of this textbook. Organization of the Textbook We begin and end with student engagement. Chapter 1 describes the demands of democratic citizenship, and Chapter 17 asks students to judge American democracy. In between, the foundations of the American constitutional system, the means of citizen access and influence in a democratic society, and the institutions of American government are examined in three parts. Chapter 1, Gateways to American Democracy, provides the rationale and roadmap for citizen engagement in self-government. The Constitution is described as a gatekeeper, protecting liberty and order but also facilitating representation. The dimensions of representation are set forth as ideological, economic, and partisan. A special section that describes the policy-making process is included here as a foundation for policy coverage throughout the book. We view policy as central to understanding American democracy. As a result, we have decided not to isolate the discussion of policy in chapters at the end of the book, as nearly an afterthought. Instead, we integrate policy into each of the substantive chapters, situating policy as a central part of understanding American politics. By so doing, we underscore the importance of the topic and give students a better understanding of American government. The chapter’s overall aim is to establish the nature of democracy, the need for an informed citizenry, and the framework we plan to employ on this intellectual journey. Part I, Building a System of Government, includes chapters on the Constitution, federalism, civil liberties, and civil rights that frame the major issues the Framers confronted when they created a representative government. This section examines why the Framers made particular choices and what the intended and unintended consequences of their decisions have been over time. Students will understand that the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence have only slowly been realized and are still evolving. This section of the textbook provides basic information about the operation of American government—the separation of powers, unitary president, life- time appointments for judges, staggered elections, divided legislature, state and local government, and geographic apportionment—and helps students assess whether the foundations of American government ensure responsiveness and equality. Part II, Citizen Gateways in a Democracy, includes chapters on public opinion, the mass media, interest groups, political parties, campaigns and elections, and voting and participation. Together these chapters address the question of how a single individual’s opinions are formed, expressed, and included in the policy-making process at all levels of government. These matters are essential to our approach. If students are to be part of the political process, they need to understand the demands facing them and the capacities of their fellow citizens. We begin with basic data about how much people know about American government, where they get their information from, who they listen to, and to what extent peoples’ opinions change over time. By starting with individual opinion, we help students assess their own opinions about politics and analyze the sources of those opinions. We continue with the nature of communication among citizens by addressing the impact of the news media on American politics. The news media are an important source of information for the public, politicians, and policy elites. But the news media do more than just report the news; they frequently construct the news. We talk about the role of the news media not only historically but also in the context of the rise of cable news network, the growth of the internet, and the decline of newspapers. Does the immediacy of the modern media environment have an empowering or a detrimental effect on our democratic system? Does the intense and sometimes intrusive media scrutiny enhance or restrict government’s responsiveness to the needs of its citizenry? These are the kinds of questions we address to get students thinking about the political environment in which twenty-first-century government has to function. We then turn to interest groups as a means by which individual opinions are aggregated together and given voice in a democracy, but in markedly different ways and to varying degrees of success. Community or grassroots efforts, from environmental movements to religious organizations to public interest groups, are often a satisfying and empowering form of civic participation. The conventional wisdom is that powerful “special interests” can trounce small citizens’ groups when competing for government benefits, but we counter that the increasing numbers of interest groups means that more people are represented in the formulation of public policy and that improved communication among ordinary citizens has given citizen groups a new “gateway” for influence. We next examine how political parties evolved and their crucial and controversial roles in the functioning of government. We also examine parties’ potential as an instrument for engaging and channeling citizens’ efforts to elicit responsiveness from government. The last two chapters in this section look directly at the most basic form of participation in a democracy—elections, campaigns, and voting. When politicians seek elective office, they strive to appear as responsive as possible. Can voters make informed decisions and hold their elected officials accountable? We grapple with the difficult question of whether or how much campaigns as political institutions shape our government. Campaigns tend to be associated with “dirty politics” and candidates who are willing to say anything to get elected. But such perceptions miss the fact that campaigns are also gateways connecting the public and politicians. We argue that political campaigns provide voters with the information they need to make good choices and to hold public officials accountable. We also provide comprehensive analyses of the accuracy and type of information presented in campaigns, the financing of campaigns, strategic framing of campaign issues, and the factors that ultimately determine the outcomes of elections. Voting is, of course, the most straightforward and least costly form of participation in American democracy. It is also simplest way for an individual to influence his or her elected officials. But students are often skeptical about the power of the vote. Given the size of the country, do all votes even count? If they do, are they counted equally? The election of 2000 serves as a sharp illustration of why and how individual votes can matter, and we look, too, at the 2008 election that sparked great interest and attention. We also describe other types of civic participation such as membership in religious and community organizations, not-for-profit community organizations, and Internet blogging. We use this chapter in part to illustrate how the gateways to involvement in twenty-first century American life are wider and more direct than they have been in the past. Part III, The Institutions of American Government, provides an in-depth description and explanation of Congress, the Presidency, the Bureaucracy, and the Judiciary. For the branches of government chapters--Congress, the Presidency, and the Judiciary--we describe the fundamental components of each as well as the ways each interacts with the other two. We ask students to examine the behavior and outputs of government by responsiveness and equality. For example, does a term-limited president weaken him relative to Congress, which does not have term limits? We ask a similar question about the bicameral structure of Congress and whether it gives the legislative branch an advantage when dealing with the executive branch. We also focus the students’ attention on how party politics creates a governing dynamic that changes depending on the balance of control of these branches. For the judicial branch, we contend that the courts provide an important gateway to influencing the process and also for advancing the cause of equality. Yet courts are not electorally accountable to citizens and federal judges hold life tenure. Do the courts mete out equal justice to all citizens, regardless of race and income? This question becomes especially important to ask as the nation continues to have increasing numbers of poor people and very wealthy people. In the chapter on the bureaucracy our aim is to show students how policy-making and the bureaucracy affect day-to-day life. We examine the layers of bureaucratic decision-making to demonstrate that the decisions made at each level of an agency or cabinet department can have a profound impact on how laws affect individual life. We discuss decision making in the areas of economic policy, budget policy, entitlement spending for the elderly and the disadvantaged, health care policy, education policy, and environmental policy, all in the context of the dynamics of policy implementation within agencies and departments that oversee them. In these discussions, we highlight the areas of public policy that students may experience firsthand. We have two concluding chapters. The first—Chapter 16, The United States as a Global Partner--examines how the United States will navigate the changing global economic and political environment of the twenty-first century. In it we will look at how compatible American democratic ideals, values, and institutions are with other forms of government and ask whether the United States can forge working relationships with governments that are different from its own. This chapter looks at the global footprint of the United States in the areas of trade and economic development; arms control and human rights; and health, energy consumption, and climate change. The final chapter--Judging the Democratic Experiment--encourages students to synthesize the book’s content and assess how they might navigate the gateways we have examined to become an effective citizen. In doing so, we want to provide students with the tools and incentives to assess the quality of their current political institutions. We point out that how one assesses the American political system depends very much on where one sits. Further, the standards one brings to bear shapes the answers one develops. This conversation about whether America is democratic is important, because it provides the chance to reform the rules of government. Those reforms bring the nation closer to our ideals. But there will always be a gap between the realities of government and the ideals of government. But that gap is a good thing, since it provides the reason to seek improvement in government. In short, this textbook offers students the information they need to answer such questions thoughtfully, and that their participation in your classroom will be an important step toward engaging the demands of twenty-first-century public life. Special Instructional Features Our textbook’s pedagogy is designed to support a comprehensive introduction to American government that also takes the demands of citizenship seriously. Participation. A goal of the book is encourage student participation in public life by helping them to recognize their own self-interest and a broader civic interest. The book makes the case that democracies demand citizen participation and that citizenship is a serious responsibility. Critical thinking. We also want to facilitate critical thinking by asking students to evaluate American democracy by responsiveness and equality. This emphasis sharpens students’ analytical skills and gives them greater competence and additional confidence to get involved in public life. We devote special sections in each chapter to fundamental types of information that we believe students need to navigate the political process. We also add pedagogical tools to help both the instructor and student identify key concepts and terms. Constitutional and legal setting. For instructors, the book provides strong support for the institutional foundations of American government. The first section of every chapter is an overview of the constitutional and legal setting of the chapter’s subject. This essential, basic information helps make sure that students are equipped with what they need to know to understand the process, limits, and safeguards of democracy. Public policy. We believe public policy is much too important to be relegated to separate chapters at the back of the book, to be covered only if there is time. Students cannot take their place as active citizens in American democracy unless they understand how the policy process works. We bring policy applications into our consideration of every aspect of American government by incorporating the policy process, and specific policy examples, in a dedicated section in every chapter. Attention to a series of specific issues in a variety of contexts helps students understand the political process. And, indeed, specific policies are often the best incentives for getting them engaged. Student engagement. Young people who have been active in politics and government are featured in the opening of every chapter to encourage students and show them a reason and a way to become involved. Comparative feature. A box examines a particular topic with reference to political practice in other countries, with special attention to five other democracies: Britain, India, Israel, Mexico, and South Africa. Supreme Court feature. To buttress the book’s attention to the legal and constitutional context in which American government operates, each chapter features a relevant Supreme Court case, stating the facts and the decision, with an analysis of its impact. Pedagogical Tools for Conceptual Reinforcement Focus questions. Focus questions at the beginning of each chapter encourage students to think about the chapter topic in terms of government’s responsiveness, the people’s equality, and the gates and gateways to access. These questions are revisited in the chapter’s final section, in which the authors offer an interpretive response. Margin questions and cues. Brief questions in the margins provoke students to think about the big issues even as they are reading about the details of American government. These questions keep students thinking critically about the information they are absorbing, serve as prompts for class discussions, and aid in chapter review. Margin key terms. Terms important to know for an understanding of American government are boldfaced in the text and defined on the page for ease of understanding and review. “Gateways to Learning”. A special “Gateways to Learning” section at the end of the each chapter includes a ten-point list of main ideas for review and learning. Lists of key terms, timelines, exercises, review questions, and resources are also included in this section and on the book’s website. Supplements for Instructor and Students This text will have a full suite of instructor and student supplements, including online resources, PowerPoint slides, and a test bank. We will review these at a later date. Acknowledgments