The Irony of Democracy An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics,9780155058002

The Irony of Democracy An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics

by
ISBN13: 9780155058002
ISBN10: 0155058002
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 1999-06-21
Publisher(s): Wadsworth Publishing
  • Free Shipping Icon

    This Item Qualifies for Free Shipping!*

    *Excludes marketplace orders.

List Price: $157.50

Buy New

Arriving Soon. Will ship when available.
$150.00
Add to Cart

Rent Textbook

Select for Price
Add to Cart
There was a problem. Please try again later.

Used Textbook

We're Sorry
Sold Out

eTextbook

We're Sorry
Not Available

Buy from our Marketplace starting at $1.06

How Marketplace Works:

  • This item is offered by an independent seller and not shipped from our warehouse
  • Item details like edition and cover design may differ from our description; see seller's comments before ordering.
  • Sellers much confirm and ship within two business days; otherwise, the order will be cancelled and refunded.
  • Marketplace purchases cannot be returned to eCampus.com. Contact the seller directly for inquiries; if no response within two days, contact customer service.
  • Additional shipping costs apply to Marketplace purchases. Review shipping costs at checkout.

Summary

The elites and not the masses govern our country is the theme of this affordable THOMSON ADVANTAGE BOOKS version ofTHE IRONY OF DEMOCRACY. Known for its "elitist approach" to American Government, this text presents its argument in a new context--the politics of the 21st century--including the Clinton and Bush Administrations effects on government and politics the U.S.

Table of Contents

To the Student xi
To the Instructor xiii
The Irony of Democracy
1(24)
The Meaning of Elitism
2(3)
The Meaning of Democracy
5(2)
Elitism in a Democracy
7(5)
Mass Distrust of America's Elite
8(4)
The Meaning of Pluralism
12(2)
How Elitism and Pluralism Differ
14(2)
Elite and Mass Threats to Democracy
16(5)
The Unpolitics of College Students
19(2)
An Elitist Theory of Democracy
21(4)
Notes
23(1)
Selected Readings
23(2)
The Founding Fathers: The Nation's First Elite
25(34)
Elites and Masses in the New Nation
26(1)
Elite Preferences: Inspiration for a New Constitution
27(4)
Formation of a National Elite
31(5)
Elite Consensus in 1787
36(2)
An Elite in Operation: Conciliation and Compromise
38(4)
The Constitution as an Elitist Document
42(5)
Elitism and the Structure of the National Government
47(6)
Suppressing Majority ``Factions''
50(3)
James Madison
Ratification: An Exercise in Elite Political Skills
53(6)
Summary
56(1)
Notes
57(1)
Selected Readings
57(2)
The Evolution of American Elites
59(34)
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(5)
Rise of the New Industrial Elite
71(4)
Liberal Establishment: Reform as Elite Self-Interest
75(4)
Elites in American History
77(2)
Vietnam: Elite Failure to Lead
79(6)
The Gulf War: Elite Leadership Restored
85(8)
Summary
89(2)
Notes
91(1)
Selected Readings
91(2)
Elites In America
93(36)
The Concentration of Corporate Power
94(4)
Corporate Merger Mania
97(1)
Corporate Elites
98(4)
The Global Elites
102(5)
Greed in the Boardroom
104(3)
Governing Elites
107(1)
Elite Recruitment: Getting to the Top
108(11)
The Friends of Bill and Hillary
112(7)
The Liberal Establishment
119(3)
Elite Attitudes toward Mass Governance
121(1)
The Conservative Mood
122(7)
Where to Find the Establishment
122(2)
Summary
124(2)
Notes
126(1)
Selected Readings
127(2)
Masses In America
129(34)
Elite Gains, Mass Losses
130(6)
Inequality in America
136(3)
Mass Disaffection from Politics
139(2)
Antidemocratic Attitudes among the Masses
141(4)
Are the Masses Becoming More Democratic?
145(4)
Mass Political Ignorance
149(5)
What If the People Voted on National Issues?
152(2)
Mass Political Apathy
154(1)
How Does Democracy Survive?
154(2)
The Dangers of Mass Activism
156(7)
Summary
160(1)
Notes
161(1)
Selected Readings
161(2)
Elite-Mass Communication
163(24)
The Newsmakers
163(2)
The Media's Political Funtions
165(3)
Bashing America for Fun and Profit
168(4)
Liberal Bias in Television News
172(2)
The Hollywood Liberals
173(1)
Bias and Slander: Freedoms of the Press
174(2)
Media Campaigns
176(4)
Media Coverage of Presidential Elections
177(3)
Assessing Media Impact
180(7)
Summary
184(1)
Notes
185(1)
Selected Readings
185(2)
American Political Parties: A System In Decay
187(24)
The Responsible Party Model in Disarray
187(2)
Democratic and Republican Parties: Consensus or Competition?
189(4)
Declining Mass Attachments to Parties
193(2)
Are Democrats Liberal and Republicans Conservative?
195(4)
Mass Perceptions of the Parties
196(3)
Political Parties as Oligarchies
199(2)
Presidential Primaries and the Deterioration of Parties
201(3)
Realignment or Dealignment?
204(2)
Independent and Third-Party Politics
206(5)
Summary
209(1)
Notes
210(1)
Selected Readings
210(1)
Elections, Money, And The Myths of Democracy
211(34)
The Myth of the Policy Mandate
212(1)
The Myth of the Policy-Oriented Voter
213(2)
The Group Basis of Voting
215(3)
The Economic Basis of Voting
218(1)
Candidate Image Voting
218(4)
Creating a Winning Image
220(2)
Bill Clinton
Money Drives Elections
222(10)
The Clinton Money Chase
230(2)
The Unlikely Prospects for Reform
232(2)
Staying Home on Election Day
234(3)
Elections as Symbolic Reassurance
237(8)
Summary
241(1)
Notes
242(1)
Selected Readings
242(3)
Organized Interests: Defenders of The Status Quo
245(24)
Interest Groups: Democratic or Elitist?
245(2)
The Business, Professional, and Class Bias of Interest Groups
247(4)
How Well Do Groups Represent Members?
251(4)
Leaders and Followers---The American Association of Retired Persons
254(1)
Lobbying: How Organized Interests Influence Government
255(5)
PAC Power
260(1)
Conservative Influence of Organizations
261(8)
The Business of the Business Roundtable
265(1)
Summary
266(1)
Notes
267(1)
Selected Readings
268(1)
The Presidency
269(34)
The President as Symbolic Leader
269(3)
The Presidency and the Masses
272(5)
The President's Formal Powers
277(1)
Presidential Powers of Persuasion
278(5)
Up Close---Sex, Lies and Impeachment
278(5)
Issues in Presidential Power: The War-Making Controversy
283(4)
Watergate and the Limits of Presidential Power
287(2)
The Dual Presidency
289(1)
George Bush
Ambition and Ambivalence
290(7)
Bill Clinton
Presidential Sex
295(1)
Hillary ``Stand by Your Man''
296(1)
Other Executive Elites
297(6)
Summary
300(1)
Notes
301(1)
Selected Readings
302(1)
The Bureaucratic Elite
303(32)
Sources of Bureaucratic Power
304(3)
Mass Attitudes toward Washington Bureaucracies
306(1)
Organization of the Washington Bureaucracy
307(2)
Presidential Control of the Bureaucracy
309(4)
Bureaucratic Maneuvers
312(1)
The Budget Maze
313(4)
Elite Fiscal Responsibility?
317(4)
Bureaucratic Power, Iron Triangles, and Revolving Doors
321(4)
The Bureaucratic Elite
325(1)
The Regulatory Quagmire
326(5)
Regulation---Hiding the Costs of Government
330(1)
Controlling the Bureaucracy: Congress and Courts
331(4)
Summary
332(1)
Notes
333(1)
Selected Readings
334(1)
Congress: The Legislative Elite
335(36)
The Elite Bias of Congressional Recruitment
336(4)
Whom Does Congress Really Represent?
340(2)
Congress in Disrepute
342(4)
The Elaborate Procedures of Legislative Elites
346(8)
Elites Within Elites: The Congressional Establishment
354(5)
The Troubled Speakership
356(3)
Conflict and Consensus: Voting in Congress
359(5)
Is ``Congressional Ethics'' an Oxymoron?
362(2)
Congress and the President: An Unstable Balance of Power
364(7)
Summary
367(1)
Notes
368(1)
Selected Readings
368(3)
Courts: Elites in Black Robes
371(24)
Judicial Review as an Elitist Principle
372(1)
The Making of a Supreme Court Justice
373(3)
The Special Style of Judicial Policy Making
376(5)
Senate Confirmation as Sleazy Spectacle
378(3)
The Structure of the Federal Court System
381(2)
The Jurisdiction of the Federal Court System
383(1)
Judicial Power: Activism versus Self-Restraint
384(6)
The Supreme Court and Abortion
388(2)
Do the Courts Rule the Nation?
390(5)
Summary
391(1)
Notes
392(1)
Selected Readings
393(2)
American Federalism: Elites In States And Communities
395(20)
Federalism: The Original Division of Power Between Nation and States
396(3)
Power Flows to the National Elite
399(2)
Money and Power
401(1)
The Evolution of American Federalism
402(3)
Elite Structures in the States
405(3)
Corporate Elite Structures in the States
407(1)
The Old Community Economic Elites
408(2)
The New Community Political Elites
410(5)
Summary
412(1)
Notes
413(1)
Selected Readings
413(2)
Elite Response to Mass Protest
415(32)
The History of Black Subjugation
416(2)
Twentieth-Century Black Responses
418(4)
Continuing Inequalities Between Blacks and Whites
422(3)
Battles over Affirmative Action
425(4)
Elite Versus Mass Response to Civil Rights
429(2)
Feminism in America
431(3)
Women and Work
434(4)
Feminism and Elitism
438(9)
Elites, Masses, and Sexual Harassment
440(2)
Summary
442(1)
Notes
443(1)
Selected Readings
444(3)
Public Policy: How and What Elites Decide
447(28)
Public Policy as Elite Preference
447(3)
Agenda Setting and ``Nondecisions''
450(2)
Economic Policy
452(10)
The Elite Think Tanks
454(6)
Sneaking Preferential Treatment into the Tax Laws
460(2)
Social-Welfare Policy
462(7)
Health-Care Policy
469(6)
Summary
473(1)
Notes
474(1)
Selected Readings
474(1)
Epilogue: What Can Students Do? 475(4)
Appendix The Constitution of The United States of America 479(22)
Index 501

An electronic version of this book is available through VitalSource.

This book is viewable on PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and most smartphones.

By purchasing, you will be able to view this book online, as well as download it, for the chosen number of days.

Digital License

You are licensing a digital product for a set duration. Durations are set forth in the product description, with "Lifetime" typically meaning five (5) years of online access and permanent download to a supported device. All licenses are non-transferable.

More details can be found here.

A downloadable version of this book is available through the eCampus Reader or compatible Adobe readers.

Applications are available on iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Windows Mobile platforms.

Please view the compatibility matrix prior to purchase.