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The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics

ISBN: 9780534618933 | 0534618936
Edition: 12th
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Thomson Learning
Pub. Date: 12/1/2002

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SummaryTable of Contents
After 30 years in print, THE IRONY OF DEMOCRACY still offers the freshest, most clear-sighted approach to American government available. In this Twelfth Edition, the authors again present an unrepentantly elitist approach to American democracy--contending that it is the elites and not the masses that govern our country. This edition uses elite theory to provide many new unique insights, including discussion of the 2000 elections and the events surrounding September 11.
To the Studentix
To the Instructorxi
The Irony of Democracy
1(26)
The Meaning of Elitism
... MORE(2)
The Meaning of Democracy
4(2)
Elitism in a Democracy
6(6)
Focus: Mass Distrust of America's Elite
7(5)
The Meaning of Pluralism
12(1)
How Elitism and Pluralism Differ
13(2)
Elite and Mass Threats to Democracy
15(7)
Focus: Terrorism's Threat to Democracy
19(3)
An Elitist Theory of Democracy
22(5)
Notes
23(1)
Selected Readings
24(3)
The Founding Fathers: The Nation's First Elite
27(32)
Elites and Masses in the New Nation
28(1)
Elite Preferences: Inspiration for a New Constitution
29(4)
Formation of a National Elite
33(4)
Elite Consensus in 1787
37(3)
An Elite in Operation: Conciliation and Compromise
40(3)
The Constitution as Elitist Document
43(5)
Elitism and the Structure of the National Government
48(5)
Focus: James Madison, Suppressing Majority ``Factions''
51(2)
Ratification: An Exercise in Political Skills
53(6)
Summary
56(1)
Notes
57(1)
Selected Readings
57(2)
The Evolution of American Elites
59(30)
Hamilton and the Nation's First Public Policies
60(2)
Rise of the Jeffersonians
62(1)
Republicans in Power: The Stability of Public Policy
63(2)
Rise of the Western Elites
65(1)
Elite Cleavage: The Civil War
66(4)
Rise of the New Industrial Elite
70(5)
Liberal Establishment: Reform as Elite Self-Interest
75(3)
Vietnam: Elite Failure to Lead
78(4)
The Gulf War: Elite Leadership Restored
82(7)
Summary
85(2)
Notes
87(1)
Selected Readings
87(2)
Elites in America
89(32)
The Concentration of Corporate Power
90(4)
The Global Elites
94(7)
Focus: Corporate Merger Mania
94(7)
Corporate Elites
101(3)
Focus: Greed in the Boardroom
103(1)
Government Elites
104(5)
Focus: The Bush Restoration
105(4)
Elite Recruitment: Getting to the Top
109(3)
The Liberal Establishment
112(2)
Focus: Elite Attitudes toward Mass Governance
113(1)
The Conservative Mood
114(7)
Focus: Where to Find the Establishment
115(2)
Summary
117(1)
Notes
118(1)
Selected Readings
119(2)
Masses in America
121(32)
Elite Gains, Mass Losses
122(6)
Inequality in America
128(2)
Mass Disaffection from Politics
130(2)
Antidemocratic Attitudes among the Masses
132(5)
Are the Masses Becoming More Democratic?
137(3)
Focus: Mass Confidence in American Institutions
139(1)
Mass Political Ignorance
140(3)
Mass Political Apathy
143(2)
Focus: What if the People Voted on National Issues?
143(2)
How Does Democracy Survive?
145(2)
The Dangers of Mass Activism
147(6)
Summary
150(1)
Notes
151(1)
Selected Readings
152(1)
Elite-Mass Communication
153(26)
The News Makers
153(2)
The Media's Political Functions
155(4)
Bashing America for Fun and Profit
159(4)
Liberal Bias in Television News
163(1)
Focus: The Hollywood Liberals
163(1)
Bias and Slander: Freedoms of the Press
164(2)
Media Campaigns
166(3)
Media Coverage of Presidential Elections
169(2)
Assessing Media Impact
171(8)
Focus: Feeding Frenzy in Florida
172(4)
Summary
176(1)
Notes
177(1)
Selected Readings
177(2)
American Political Parties: A System in Decay
179(26)
The Responsible Party Model in Disarray
180(1)
Democratic and Republican Parties: Consensus or Competition?
181(3)
Declining Mass Attachments to Parties
184(1)
Are Democrats Liberal and Republicans Conservative?
185(4)
Focus: Mass Perceptions of the Parties
188(1)
Political Parties as Oligarchies
189(3)
Presidential Primaries and the Deterioration of Parties
192(4)
Focus: Where the Parties Get Their Money
192(3)
Focus: Presidential Primaries 2000
195(1)
Realignment or Dealignment?
196(3)
Independent and Third-Party Politics
199(6)
Summary
202(1)
Notes
203(1)
Selected Readings
203(2)
Elections, Money, and the Myths of Democracy
205(28)
The Myth of the Policy Mandate
206(1)
The Myth of the Policy-Oriented Voter
207(1)
The Group Basis of Voting
208(2)
The Economic Basis of Voting
210(1)
Candidate Image Voting
211(1)
Money Drives Elections
212(8)
Focus: Images of Bush and Gore, 2000
212(8)
Democracy versus the Electoral College
220(5)
Focus: Bush v. Gore in the U.S. Supreme Court
224(1)
Staying Home on Election Day
225(1)
Elections as Symbolic Reassurance
226(7)
Summary
230(2)
Notes
232(1)
Selected Readings
232(1)
Organized Interests: Defenders of the Status Quo
233(22)
Interest Groups: Democratic or Elitist?
233(2)
The Business, Professional, and Class Bias of Interest Groups
235(4)
How Well Do Groups Represent Members?
239(4)
Focus: Leaders and Followers---The American Association of Retired Persons
242(1)
Lobbying: How Organized Interests Influence Government
243(5)
PAC Power
248(1)
Conservative Influence of Organizations
249(6)
Focus: The Business of the Business Roundtable
251(1)
Summary
252(1)
Notes
253(1)
Selected Readings
254(1)
The Presidency
255(30)
The President as Symbolic Leader
255(3)
The Presidency and the Masses
258(3)
The President's Formal Powers
261(1)
Presidential Powers of Persuasion
262(3)
Focus: Sex, Lies, and Impeachment
263(2)
George H. W. Bush: The Dual Presidency
265(2)
The Clinton Legacy
267(5)
Focus: Presidential Sex
271(1)
George W., In His Father's Footsteps
272(4)
Issues in Presidential Power: The War-Making Controversy
276(4)
Watergate and the Limits of Presidential Power
280(5)
Summary
282(1)
Notes
283(1)
Selected Readings
284(1)
The Bureaucratic Elite
285(32)
Sources of Bureaucratic Power
286(2)
Organization of the Washington Bureaucracy
288(3)
Focus: Mass Attitudes toward Washington Bureaucracies
288(3)
Presidential Control of the Bureaucracy
291(4)
Focus: Bureaucratic Maneuvers
294(1)
The Budget Maze
295(4)
Elite Fiscal Responsibility?
299(4)
Bureaucratic Power, Iron Triangles, and Revolving Doors
303(3)
The Bureaucratic Elite
306(1)
The Regulatory Quagmire
307(5)
Focus: The Fed: Money Is Too Important to Be Left to Elected Officials
307(5)
Controlling the Bureaucracy: Congress and Courts
312(5)
Summary
314(1)
Notes
315(1)
Selected Readings
315(2)
Congress: The Legislative Elite
317(34)
The Elite Bias of Congressional Recruitment
318(4)
Whom Does Congress Really Represent?
322(3)
Congress in Disrepute
325(3)
The Elaborate Procedures of Legislative Elites
328(7)
Elites within Elites: The Congressional Establishment
335(5)
Focus: Challenging Midterm Traditions, 2002
338(2)
Conflict and Consensus: Voting in Congress
340(5)
Focus: Is ``Congressional Ethics'' an Oxymoron?
344(1)
Congress and the President: An Unstable Balance of Power
345(6)
Summary
349(1)
Notes
349(1)
Selected Readings
350(1)
Courts: Elites in Black Robes
351(24)
Judicial Review as an Elitist Principle
352(1)
The Making of a Supreme Court Justice
353(3)
The Special Style of Judicial Policy Making
356(4)
Focus: Senate Confirmation as Sleazy Spectacle
358(2)
The Structure of the Federal Court System
360(2)
The Jurisdiction of the Federal Court System
362(2)
Judicial Power: Activism versus Self-restraint
364(3)
Supreme Court Politics
367(3)
Focus: The Supreme Court and Abortion
369(1)
Do the Courts Rule the Nation?
370(5)
Summary
372(1)
Notes
373(1)
Selected Readings
374(1)
American Federalism: Elites in States and Communities
375(22)
Federalism: The Original Division of Power Between Nation and States
376(3)
Power Flows to the National Elite
379(2)
Money and Power
381(1)
The Evolution of American Federalism
381(4)
Devolution: Federalism Revived?
385(2)
Elite Structures in the States
387(3)
Focus: Corporate Elite Structures in the States
389(1)
The Old-Community Economic Elites
390(1)
The New-Community Political Elites
391(6)
Summary
393(2)
Notes
395(1)
Selected Readings
395(2)
Elite Response to Mass Protest
397(28)
The History of Black Subjugation
398(2)
Twentieth-Century Elite Attitude Change
400(2)
Creative Disorder
402(3)
Racial Inequity and Affirmative Action
405(6)
Elite versus Mass Response to Civil Rights
411(1)
Feminism in America
412(3)
Women and Work
415(3)
Feminism and Elitism
418(7)
Focus: Elites, Masses, and Sexual Harassment
420(1)
Summary
421(1)
Notes
422(1)
Selected Readings
423(2)
Public Policy: How Elites Make Decisions
425(12)
Public Policy and Elite Preference
425(7)
Focus: The Elite Think Tanks
430(2)
Agenda Setting and ``Nondecisions''
432(5)
Summary
434(1)
Selected Readings
435(2)
Epilogue: What Can Students Do?437(4)
Appendix The Constitution of the United States of America441(21)
Index462

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