Site MapHelpFeedbackChapter Outline
Chapter Outline
(See related pages)


Chapter Introduction
  1. Events of September 11, 2001
    1. America's founding ideals link its present to its past
      1. How George W. Bush used the linkage of past and present value in his speeches following events of September 11.
  2. The Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville was among the first to see the connections between America's core cultural principles and it's political tendencies
  3. The chapter's main points:
    1. Political culture is centered on core ideals liberty, equality, self-government,
    2. individualism, diversity, unity
    3. Politics determines how a society is governed
    4. Politics in the United States has a numbers of major patterns:
      1. A highly fragmented governing system
      2. A high degree of pluralism
      3. An extraordinary emphasis on individual rights
      4. A pronounced separation of the political and economic spheres
Political Culture: The Core Principles of American Government
  1. Section Introduction
    1. America is made up of a multitude of peoples linked by a political tradition
    2. Americans are also one people, brought together through their allegiance to a set of commonly held ideals such as liberty and equality
    3. American colonial life enlarged the colonists' vision, which then found expression in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
  2. America's Core Values:  Liberty, Equality, and Related Ideals
    1. An understanding of America's ideals begins with the recognition that the individual is paramount
    2. Liberty is widely regarded as the most basic of American ideals
    3. Equality is America's towering ideal
    4. Although liberty and equality are the preeminent American political ideals, other principles flow from them
      1. Popular consent
      2. Individualism
      3. Unity
      4. Diversity
    5. America's ideals have had a strong impact on its politics
  3. The Limits of Ideals
    1. People do not always live up to high ideals (slavery, segregation, discrimination against Chinese)
    2. Ideals do not always match reality because ideals have inexact meanings and often are interpreted differently
    3. The claim that America is a gigantic melting pot has always been as much fable as fact
      1. There has been a history of particular ethnic groups being singled out for disfavor in accepting at America's borders
    4. Despite their inexact meaning, conflicting implications, and unfulfilled promise, the ideals of Americans have had a strong impact on the nation's politics
Politics: The Process of Deciding upon Society's Goals
  1. Introduction
    1. Cultural ideals help shape what people expect from politics and how they conduct their politics
    2. Political conflict is rooted in two general conditions of society.
      1. Scarcity
      2. Differences in values
    3. Conflict and Consensus
      1. Conflict is rooted in scarcity of resources and differences in values
      2. Politics is a means of both settling disputes and promoting collective interests
      3. Politics is the process through which a society makes its governing decisions
  2. Government, Power, Authority, and Policy
    1. Government can be defined as the institutions, processes, and rules that are designed to facilitate control of a particular geographic area and its inhabitants.'
    2. Power is the ability of persons or institutions to control policy
    3. Authority is the recognized right to making binding decisions
    4. Governments must have power to ensure its laws are obeyed, but this power can be abused
    5. The U.S. government includes an elaborate system of checks and balances to protect against the abuse of power
    6. A public policy is a decision of government to pursue a course of action designed to produce an intended outcome
    7. A policy can also be a decision not to take action, in which case the decision is meant to uphold the status quo
  3. The Rules of the Game of Politics
    1. Democracy the people govern, either directly or through elected officials
      1. In the 2000 presidential election, voters discovered that even the one person, one vote principle is not inviolate
        1. Bush's peaceful accession to the presidency is an indication of how deeply Americans are committed to a system that operates by a set of rules rather than by force or dictate
    2. Constitutionalism"a set of rules that restricts the lawful uses of power"
    3. Capitalism holds that the government should interfere with the economy as little as possible
  4. Theories of Power
    1. Government By The People: Majoritarianism
    2. Government by Groups:  Pluralism
    3. Government by a Few:  Elitism
    4. Government by Administrators:  Bureaucratic Rule
  5. Who Does Govern?
    1. Rule by the People the majority prevails in determining public policy
    2. Rule by Groups pluralism holds that power is wielded by diverse interests
    3. Rule by a Few power is held by a small number of influential people or "elites"
    4. Who Governs America? each of the above theories must be considered
The Concept of a Political System and the Book's Organization
  1. The American Political System
    1. Parts of system are interrelated
  2. Five Encompassing Tendencies of American Politics
    1. Enduring cultural ideals that bond people and set political goals
    2. Extreme fragmentation of governing authority (checks and balances
    3. A great many competing interests (nation's size and complexity)
    4. A strong emphasis on individual rights
    5. A sharp separation of the political and economic spheres
  3. Basic question: What is the relationship of the people to their government?





To learn more about the book this website supports, please visit its Information Center.
(c)2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Any use is subject to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education is one of the many fine businesses of The McGraw-Hill Companies.


The American DemocracyOnline Learning Center

Home > Chapter 1 > Chapter Outline