American Government or Debate on the Constitution

American Government: Readings and Cases

Author: Peter Woll

American Government:Readings and Cases
Seventeenth Edition
Peter Woll

For nearly 50 years, American Government: Readings and Cases has been the best-selling reader in American government. The author provides students with a strong, balanced blend of classic readings and cases that illustrate and amplify key concepts, as well as offering extremely current selections drawn from today's most important literature. Now with an even stronger focus on the U.S. Constitution in the post 9/11 world, the Seventeenth Edition puts students directly in touch with great scholars and political leaders who have shaped–and are shaping–American government.

Highlights of the Seventeenth Edition

• Contrasting views of Supreme Court Justices in the California medical marijuana case, Gonzales v. Raich (2005), illustrating the political and constitutional debates that continue over the boundaries of national and state powers.
• New selections examining the origins of the right to privacy, including the historic 1890 article by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis from the Harvard Law Review, and Justice William O. Douglas’s Supreme Court opinion in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965).
• New readings that examine the party model of government, analyzing the Republican and Democratic Parties in the twenty-first century and the constitutional and political requirements for a responsible two-party system.
• New readings on the presidency, including important pieces by Stephen Skowronek, Sidney Milkis, and John Dean.

For more information on the Seventeenth Edition, including a full table of contents, pleasevisit our website at ablongman.com/polisci

Table of Contents:

Ch. 1	Constitutional government	3
	Constitutional democracy : the rule of law	3
	Framing the Constitution : elitist or democratic process?	10
	Limitation of governmental power and of majority rule	41
	Interpreting the Constitution	45
Ch. 2	Federalism	50
	Constitutional background : national versus state power	51
	Implied powers and the supremacy of national law	74
	A perspective on federalism : present and future	83
	State politics and constitutional government	88
	National power over the states : a recurring constitutional debate	95
Ch. 3	Civil liberties and civil rights	105
	Constitutional background	105
	The nationalization of the Bill of Rights	112
	The Fourteenth Amendment	116
	Freedom of speech and press	124
	Expanding the boundaries of permissible criticism of government and public officials	130
	Equal protection of the laws : school desegregation	136
	The judicial sources of major political controversies over civil liberties and rights	145
	The establishment clause and the issue of school prayer	146
	School vouchers and the establishment clause	154
	The right to abortion	156
	Affirmative action	167
Ch. 4	Political parties and the electorate	175
	Constitutional background	175
	Constitutional protection of parties	183
	The party model of government	185
	Political parties in divided government	193
	Functions and types of elections	201
	Party decline and electoral decay	212
	Voting behavior : rational or irrational?	218
	Political campaigns and the electorate	226
	Political parties and campaign finance : constitutional issues regulating political campaigns	230
	The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002	236
	A perspective on the act	247
Ch. 5	Interest groups	253
	Constitutional background	253
	The nature and functions of interest groups	259
	How American government and politics enhance interest group power	273
	Money, PACs, and elections	277
Ch. 6	The presidency	287
	Constitutional background : single versus plural executive	287
	The nature of the presidency : power, persuasion, and paradoxes	290
	Presidential politics	302
	Presidential character and style	303
	Presidential leadership and political parties	313
	Presidential elections	327
	The constitutional presidency and emergency powers	331
	Ex Parte Quirin (1942) as a precedent for military tribunals to try suspected terrorists	338
Ch. 7	The bureaucracy	350
	Constitutional background	350
	The political roots and consequences of bureaucracy	355
Ch. 8	Congress	364
	Constitutional background : representation of popular, group, and national interests	364
	Congress and the Washington political establishment : Congress emerges as a professional body shaped by reelection and internal power incentives	372
	Committee chairmen as political entrepreneurs	385
	Congress and the electoral connection	397
Ch. 9	The judiciary	426
	Constitutional background : judicial independence and judicial review	426
	Powers and limitations of the Supreme Court	435
	A case study of judicial self-restraint : the Pledge of Allegiance case and the First Amendment's establishment clause	442
	The use of the standing doctrine as procedural self-restraint : a case study	442
	Judicial decision making	447
	Interpreting the Constitution	455
	The contemporary debate over constitutional interpretation	456
App. 1	The Declaration of Independence	466
App. 2	The Constitution of the United States	470

Read also Something Warm from the Oven or Mary Engelbreits Sweet Treats Dessert Cookbook

Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters During the Struggle over Ratification, January to August 1788 (Library of America), Vol. 2

Author: Bernard Bailyn

The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone.