Chapter 1 Introduction
        This first week we followed the text closely.
        We started with the issue that opens each Chapter. This week ask the question,
        Do Americans Care about Politics and Government?
        The text seem to suggest that it is an issue that can be answered either way.
        Alarmist say political indifference will destroy democracy while other say that a
        lack of participation means most people are politically satisfied.

        When the day class took up this question they responded with several answers
        as to why people don't vote. Their answers fell in three categories: 1) personal
        reasons--people are not interested, can't find the time, don't want to stand in line
        to vote and the like. 2) psychological reasons--cynicism, apathy and distrust of
        politics and the political system. This was reflected in a number of responses
        such as political candidates don't seem different from one another and they don't
        reflect our interests or concerns. 3) political system problems--the registration
        system, time the polls are open, and when elections are held.

        The text deals with a number of important definitions about politics that you need
        to consider. These include:
        1. politics
        2. government
        3. power
        4. authority
        5. natural rights
        6. social contract
        7. democracy
        8. representative democracy
        9. direct democracy
        10. digital democracy

        The text also deals with a number of important concepts you should know. These
        include the proposes of government: 1) resolve conflicts, 2) provides public
        services, 3) sets goals for public policies and 4) preserves American culture.

        A primary function of government is to settle disputes or resolve conflict. Try to
        think of all government output--laws and regulations as helping some people and
        hurting others. Public policy as it is called is never neutral. So a major concern of
        the government is to resolve issues of domestic and foreign policy that confront
        the country.

        At the same time the job of the government is to provide public service such as
        social security and postal service. It is a constant debate as to how well the
        government is providing services and if the private sector could do it better. Try
        to think of all the things the government does in the form of services from
        defense of the country to social security. How well are they doing?

        Setting the agenda is another purpose of the national government. If we decide
        we need a "war on drugs" or to reshape the tax code is the national government,
        particularly the president that sets this agenda. Part of the agenda setting
        process is suppose to be done during a presidential campaign. How well are
        they performing that function?

        The 4th purpose is preserving the culture. American government is suppose to
        preserve the values we all hold in common. We have to first ask what do we hold
        in common and is the government preserving these beliefs, attitudes and values.
        If you ask me, I would say that most of us don't agree on much of anything, so
        how can the government preserve that diversity?

        Another major concept in the chapter involve the principles of American
        Democracy identified on page 10. Ask yourself if these are the values that
        America is trying to preserve. 1) Equality in voting, 2) Individual freedom,3) equal
        protection of the law, 4)majority rule and minority rights, 5) consent to be
        governed. Are there others that are left out.

        In my view the major values left out are protection of private property and a
        belief in capitalism. To Americans these are just as important or more important
        than majority rule.
 

    Chapter 2 The Constitution
        The Constitution contains a number of basic principles that reflect how it
        operates in both theory and practice. In class the following principles were
        discussed:
        1. separation of powers
        2. federalism
        3. checks and balances
        4. limited government
        5. constitutional government
        6. belief in free market capitalism
        7. individual self reliance
        8. privacy and personal freedom from government intervention
        9. need to protect the private sector
        10. representative government
        11. separation of church and state
        12. democracy

        Students should go through the text and examine these ideas. In your own words
        be able to explain what each means and give examples of each found in the
        Constitution. I am not going to do that for you here as I did in class.

        We examined some aspects of the historical background at the time the
        Constitution was written.
        1. The Colonial Experience--Fresh in the minds of the people who wrote the
        Constitution was the war for independence. They had painful experiences of an
        executive centered government led by a king and his executive representatives
        in the colonies. So, they wanted to avoid the possible repeat of centralized
        power in the hands of government officials especially the executive. They were
        determined to learn from history.

        2. Articles of Confederation--The first constitution of the country was the Articles.
        This system had no national power. States could do whatever they wanted. The
        writers of the Constitution wanted to fix this problem with a national government
        that had the power to make the necessary national laws that would provide the
        needed uniformity required at the time. So, the Constitution can be seen as an
        effort to fix the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.

        3. Philosophers of the time--Although the authors of the Constitution had their
        own ideas of how to write a constitution it is easy to see the ideas of prominent
        political thinkers of the time in the document. Chief among them is John Locke.

        4. Compromises--The founders were politicians who knew the art of
        compromise. There were many varying viewpoints at the Convention so to get
        consensus there was a need to compromise. The Constitution can be viewed as
        a series of compromises. The main one being the compromise between
        democratic and undemocratic forces.

        5. Written and Unwritten Constitution--The people of America have always had a
        lawyer mentality. That is, we want to see our rights and obligations written down
        in clear language for all to view and understand. But, for a constitution to survive
        more than 200 years there is a need to adopt to the problems of modern times.
        To achieve this we have developed an unwritten constitution. It results from
        actions taken by the president, congress and the supreme court. Whenever the
        president, congress or the supreme court does things that no president,
        congress, or supreme court did before them and they get away with it; then that
        becomes part of the unwritten constitution. This happens just about every day.
        An example from our early history is the first supreme court declaring that the
        supreme court has the power to declare laws passed by congress as
        unconstitutional.

Weaknesses

1.       Ambiguous, vague wording --it's ability to be interpreted pretty much how the current society wants to interpret it.

2.       Too much power to small states

3.       Not democratic  enough

4.       constitution was poorly written because of compromises.

5.       balance of powers is unstable

6.       courts not given enough power

7.       failed to live up to most of its ideals

Strengths

1.       Has been successful

2.       Can be changed to fit the times

3.       Has a symbolic role

4.       Gives Supreme Court a sense of authority

5.       Bill of Rights

6.       Served as a basic document identifying structure more than functions


 

Chapter 3 Federalism

Federalism is a form of government that was adopted by the framers of the Constitution for a variety of reasons including the need to compromise differing views about the role of the national government versus the states.

The system is very different in theory and in practice.  The theory of federalism is found in the Constitution and is known as dual federalism.  Under this system the national and state governments are expected to be separated and acting in different areas of the law.  The national government was expected to be confined to a limited area of regulations particularly in foreign policy, uniform laws, and settling disputes among the states.
State governments were expected to have control over most of the day-to-day activities of government, such as, police, education and welfare.

Of course, it never worked out that way.  If we look at the practice of federalism in 2000 the practice is not anything like the theory.  The states and national government are involved in the same areas of concern.  The national government has a presence in just about every area of  state government concerns including police and education.  On the other hand the states are involved in foreign policy, mostly in terms of making their own economic agreements with foreign governments.

Added to the complexity of the modern system is local government.  The Constitution didn’t recognize local governments, but today they are just as important players in the federal system as the states.

This complex mix of national, state and local governments is known as cooperative federalism.  But don’t be deceived by the term.  There is as much conflict among the three as there is cooperation.  What this amounts to is that if there is a consensus on what should be done then they work together.  If there is no agreement they tend to ignore each other and work at cross-purposes.  The end result is that few national laws are actually in operation and the decentralized system with different laws in each state and local government is more often the rule.

When you read the text you should get a good indication of how we arrived at this form of government even though the Constitution called for something totally different.  It was largely a combination of public demand, available money, governmental growth, and the strong desire on the part of the national government to deal with domestic issues.

This system of federalism in America has a number of advantages and disadvantages.  Chief among them is that it was suited to a large diversified country like ours.  On the negative side it has several problems including the difficulty of having uniform laws that apply to the whole country.  Go thought the text and identify the other advantages and disadvantages.

There are many term associated with federalism.  But I will spare you the task of trying to work with all of them and limit our discussion to one more, new federalism.  This is a term that is associated with efforts by modern presidents to reshape the federalism by dealing with it in some new way.  Back in the 1960’s President Johnson’s new federalism meant that he was bypassing the states and dealing directly with the local governments giving them increased prestige and power in the system.  Today, the term is used to describe the effort of presidents since Reagan to shift power and responsibility to the states and reduce the role of the national government in the federal system.
 

Chapter 6 Public Opinion and Voting

Public Opinion—expression of beliefs, attitudes and values of the adult population.

It is a fundamental characteristic of the American democracy that people hold and express opinions.  It seems to be a lack of knowledge or citizenship to say, "no opinion" so polls register anything.  People love to opine about subjects that are shared by everyone. 

Involves:

1.       Issues

2.       Personalities

3.       Events

4.       Ideology

Examples of opinions

Here are some examples:

 

Rooted in major agents of socialization

1.       Family

2.       Peers

3.       Schools

4.       Media

5.       Social class

6.       Religion

7.       Geography

8.       Group influence

9.       Political parties

 

Qualities

1.       Direction

2.       Intensity

3.       stability

 Public Opinion involved the opinion of average citizens.  It can be defined as the individual attitudes and beliefs about politics.  This includes three components, political personalities, issues and events.

Most people acquire their political opinions through the socialization process.  That is they learn or acquire opinions from the major sources of opinion formation.  These include the following:
1) the family, considered the most important agent of socialization
2) the schools, a place that generally reinforces opinions of the family until people get to college where real change can take place
3) the media, begins at an early age as a major influence, especially television.  It remains the most important source of  information for most people throughout their lives.
4) Opinion leaders, we all have people we rely on to tell us their opinions.  We trust and respect these people enough to be influenced by them
5) Peer groups, from the time we develop are first friendships we are influenced by what are closest friends think and say.

Public perceptions from polling

1.       Not interested

2.       Informed

3.       Actively engaged

4.       Say they believe in principles but not in practice

5.       Since the Cold War the public perceived new dangers, including terrorism. Americans were also concerned about weapons of mass destruction (WMD), unfriendly countries becoming nuclear powers, the spread of infectious diseases, and international drug cartels, to name only a few problems pollsters inquired about. Interestingly, concerns about problems

6.       Americans are internationalists, albeit reluctant ones. They have long believed that the country has to play a major global role. They prefer to act with allies--when that is possible. They know that it is not always possible.

7.       Americans are generally inattentive to foreign affairs

8.       Americans believe that U.S. military strength should be second to none.

9.       People seem to be willing to let authorities cast a wide net in dealing with potential terrorists.

10.   Large majorities of Americans supported the decision to go to war in Iraq.

 

Voting
Voting is influenced by a number of political forces that people look to when deciding who to vote for:
1) Party identification, if the candidate is a Democrat or Republican
2) Candidate image—two components are seem by most voters:  personality, and capacity to do the job
3) Campaign issues—what particular issues are of importance to the voter
4) Ideology—whether the voter considers him or herself a liberal, conservative or moderate and how the candidate is perceived on an ideological scale.

Today the most important factor is candidate image.  Due largely to the influence of television voters pay less attention to issues, party and ideology and focus their attention on whether or not the candidates are friendly, good people and which candidate the voters consider will be best at handling the most important issues.
 

Chapter 10 Interest Groups

        Interest groups are voluntary collections of people who share a common interest and who get together in an attempt to influence the direction of public policy. They are voluntary meaning they are private sector entities that  have no official government status. They share a common interest means they all join the organization because they have some common characteristic, such as, they are all opposed to abortion. And, they do what interest  groups do, that is, attempt to get public officials to pass legislation that benefits the group.  One way of looking at interest groups is to view them is the primary agents on the input side of the political system. They make demands and give supports to public officials in an effort to be successful at influencing public policy  output.

        The text identifies a number of positive effects on the political system as a result of interest group activities. Among these are providing a way for citizens to participate in the political system and a way to keep public officials informed on the issues. You can read the book to see the rest of them. However, not enough emphasis is placed on the negative impact of interest groups. These include: 1) They tend to monopolize access to public officials making it difficult for ordinary citizens to gain access. 2) They provide bias information that is often not countered by the other side, for example, the oil companies inform Congress about the supply of oil. No one else has this  information. 3) They monopolize the important resources to influence public policy, such as, access to the mass media. 4) They have a corrupting influence because they contribution to campaigns and engage in social lobbying,  a form of "legal bribery ". 5) They are part of what is know as the "revolving door" corruption of the political system.

      Members of influential interest groups often shift from jobs with significant businesses represented by powerful interest groups to jobs in the government. 6) Interest groups represent only a small percentage of the people they say they represent. For example the AMA represents only a fraction of the doctors practicing medicine in the  United States.   7) There is an economic and upper class bias to the system. People represented are the rich and the powerful, not the average people. A political scientist many years ago described this phenomenon as a middle class bias but I have updated it for you to an upper class bias.

        There are two types of interest groups in the system the economic and non-economic groups. The book emphasizes the economic groups. Among the economic groups the leading groups are business, labor, professional, and farm. Non-economic groups have a wide variety including: religious groups, veterans, elderly, environmental, single issue groups, emerging or new groups, such as American Indians, and ideological groups.

        Religious groups are represented by all the churches in the U.S. traditional and non-traditional. Veterans are the groups that represent all the former military personnel. The elderly and environmental groups are self explanatory.  Single-issue groups are those like MADD and the National Rifle Association that are concerned with only one issue. Emerging groups are those that are relatively new to the system. They include such groups such as
        American Indians, the disabled, and women.

        There are two types of tactics used by interest groups, elite and non-elite tactics. Elite tactics are those discussed in the book. They are: lobbying, electioneering, public relations, and litigation. Elites also engage in what is called "grass roots" lobbying. Look for their definitions in the book. Non-elite tactics include efforts to perform the tactics described above without using much money. For example, a group may hire a bus and go for one day to lobby the legislature or they may hold a new conference to get mass media coverage for free. In addition to "scaled down" elite tactics they engage in demonstrations, grassroots lobbying and violence.

        Interest groups are the most important input source of the political system. They are more significant than public opinion or political parties. This form of political participation is probably the most effective way of engaging in the political system for citizens. It is even more important than voting.
 

Chapter 7 The Media and Politics

     The mass media plays an important role in any democracy.  It is the source of information for most people about politics.  Few Americans have every traveled abroad or have first hand knowledge about problems facing this country.  Therefore, it is the responsibility of the media to educate the public about what is happening in the world and what the government is doing about the problems facing the U.S.  If the media fails to perform its many roles or functions in the society the democracy suffers.  A good example is the War in Iraq.  Instead of providing a watchdog function (questioning the government about weapons of mass destruction) it was cheerleading for the War.  That helped to get us into a protracted conflict that promises to go on for many years into the future.  Also, its failure to engage in a debate about the differences between the Afghan and Iraq Wars, has lead a majority of the public to conclude that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.  While I am not saying that the media is completely to blame for the War in Iraq or the ignorance of the American public, I am saying that if it does not do its job, then it is responsible for a major part of the blame.
      As Doris Graber has pointed out the mass media has a powerful influence in the political area.  It helps shape the perceptions of the political world for the average people and the political leaders.  The media is especially influential in times of rapid change, during elections, and in times of war.

 Political functions of the mass media:
1. information distribution-- educating the public and public officials.
2. agenda-setting--deciding what are the important issues, people and events (deciding what you need to know)
3. watchdog function--protecting the public from the government and special interest groups
4. motivating the public to do the right thing--obey the law

Criticisms of media
1. Bias--liberal bias among reporters and conservative bias among owners.
2. Coverage of Campaigns--to interested in the horse race not enough in issues and candidates
3.  Increasingly more negative over time
4. Ownership concentrated in few corporations
5. Too much emphasis on entertainment and non-political news
6. Failure to debate the issues and give alternative points of view
 

Chapter 8 Political Parties
        Political parties are organizations that are broadly based. They try to include as many different people politically as possible in order to achieve their main goal, which is to win elections. In America this means that they avoid ideology and try to be as pragmatic as possible, at least for the majority of people needed to formulate a winning coalition.
        There are three components of a party: party organization, party-in-the-electorate, and party-in-office. These three  components together perform the functions of parties, which include: nominate candidates, conduct election campaigns, formulate issue positions, and organize the government.

        The parties are much weaker today then they were in the past. By the past I mean the days before television. What has weakened the parties in addition to television has been the system of primaries that enables the candidates to nominate themselves and then conduct their own campaigns with little or no assistance from the parties. Added to these two changes has been the increased role of interest groups in the financing of campaigns. That leaves little for the parties to do in the campaign and elections resulting in the loss of most of their power and responsibility.

        In addition to what I described in the previous paragraph, parties have also lost much of their hold on the public in terms of their ability to convince average people to become Democrats and Republicans. Today, there are as many Independents, those with no party identification, as Democrats or Republicans. As a result, candidates much direct their campaign appeal to Independents often making it look as if they are ignoring their party affiliations.

        All of these factors have resulted in very week parties in the United States, making some people believe that 3rd parties may soon emerge as important players in the system. So far in our history we have had a two party system and 3rd parties have only been a source of new ideas. But, all of that may change as the 2 parties shrink in importance and leave the door open for new possibilities.

 Chapter 11 Congress

        Article I of the Constitution is devoted to Congress. It was seen by the founding fathers as the one branch they
        trusted the most and were willing to give the most power to. They identified this branch as given the power to make
        the law and raise and spend the money. It was clearly intended to be the dominant branch of government.

        Functions of Congress include: 1) Make the law-there are no limits on what types of laws that can be passed. The
        only limitation is that the law can not violate the Constitution. 2) Oversight-the Congress has the power to oversee
        the executive branch responsible for carrying out the law. 3) Investigate-- any wrongdoings in the government by
        any branch including Congress. If it involves the executive or judicial branch impeachment can be implemented. If it
        is one of their own members then that person can be censured in a number of ways including losing his or her seat.
        3) Represent Constituents-Congress spends a great deal of time doing favors and responding to members of their
        constituencies, especially powerful interest group constituents. 4) Educate the public-by holding public hearing and
        debating the issues in Congress they can help the public understand more about particular legislation and the
        legislative process. 5) Judicial function-they can act as a court of law in the impeachment and sanctioning process.

        6) Leadership selection-the Congress can pick a president and House and Senate members if no one wins in the
        election process.

        Congress is a place with a lot of rules; the House more than the Senate. There are strict rules on how a bill
        becomes a law. The process involves an elaborate process that is designed mainly to stop or kill legislation rather
        than pass it. Only laws that have achieved a high level of consensus ever get passed.

        The two political parties dominate Congress. The majority party holds all the leadership positions and the majority
        position in every condition in which a vote can be taken. If the majority party can hold its members together it can
        pass any legislation it wants. That is easier said then done in modern times when parties are less cohesive then in
        the past. The minority party is like a party in waiting. It has minority leadership but does not have the necessary
        votes to get anything passed. It can only be effective if the majority is unable to hold its members together.
        Otherwise it is relegated to playing the loyal opposition role.

Chapter 12 The Presidency
        Article II of the Constitution describes the power and responsibility of the president. From these powers we derive
        the major roles of the president. These include: chief of state, chief executive, commander-in-chief, chief diplomat,
        and chief legislator. Over the years there have been a number of informal roles that have developed by the
        president even though they are not in the Constitution. These include roles of party leader, leader of public opinion,
        manager of the economy, and leader of the free world.

        The roles of the president help to explain why the presidency is the center of the government. In fact, I would argue
        that we have abandoned the idea in the Constitution that calls for three co-equal branches in favor of a system that
        can be called a " president centered government". In this model of American government the president is the prime
        mover. He is responsible for setting the agenda of politics, determining the basic direction the country takes in
        terms of laws passed and law enforcements and even leads public opinion in terms of expectations about what the
        government should or should not do.

        This president centered government started in the 1930's with the active presidency of Franklin Roosevelt. All the
        presidents who followed him have sought, in their own way, to help further the development of the domination of
        president over Congress and the Supreme Court.

        Especially in the area of foreign policy the president has been able to completely bypass the Constitution For
        example, he has repeatedly started wars without Congressional approval, sent bombers to assassinate foreign
        leaders, and even sent American troops to kidnap the leader of Panama and bring him back to America for trial.

        The following has further advanced the president-centered government:
        1. Media attention-the media gives most of its attention to the president over Congress or the Courts
        2. Public expectations-the public looks to the president to solve problems, ignoring the delegation of powers in the
        Constitution.
        3. Congress is willing to give its powers to the president-particularly in times of crisis the Constitutional powers of
        Congress have been delegated to the president.
        4. The Cold War-during this time in our history there was a felt need to have a capability of the country to respond
        to the nuclear threat of the Soviet Union and this meant turning power over to the president.
        5. Rally round the flag-whenever the country faces an international crisis a sense of patriotism enables the public
        and the government to ignore the Constitution and allow the president to do what is considered necessary to
        handle the crisis.
        6. Presidential candidates encourage the public to accept a president-centered government-when the candidates
        campaign they talk as if they are the government. They make promises that they will give tax cuts, change the
        social security system and even reform the educational system in the country; none of which are part of the
        Constitutional responsibility given to the president.

  Chapter 14 The Bureaucracy
    A bureaucracy is a large organization composed of appointed officials in which authority is divided among several managers. Bureaucracy is an obvious feature of all modern societies, but American governmental bureaucracy is distinctive in three ways. First, political authority over the bureaucracy is shared among several institutions. Second, most federal agencies share their functions with agencies of state and local government. Finally, America's adversary culture means that the actions of bureaucrats are often fought in court.
 

A bureaucratic organization is governed by the following seven principles:
1. official business is conducted on a continuous basis
2. official business is conducted with strict accordance to the following rules:
1. the duty of each official to do certain types of work is delimited in terms of impersonal criteria
2. the official is given the authority necessary to carry out his assigned functions
3. the means of coercion at his disposal are strictly limited and conditions of their use strictly defined
3. every official's responsibilities and authority are part of a vertical hierarchy of authority, with respective rights of supervision and appeal
4. officials do not own the resources necessary for the performance of their assigned functions but are accountable for their use of these resources
5. official and private business and income are strictly separated
6. offices cannot be appropriated by their incumbents (inherited, sold, etc.)
7. official business is conducted on the basis of written documents

A bureaucratic official:
1 is personally free and appointed to his position on the basis of conduct
2 exercises the authority delegated to him in accordance with impersonal rules, and his loyalty is enlisted on behalf of the faithful execution of his official duties
3appointment and job placement are dependent upon his technical qualifications
4 administrative work is a full-time occupation
5 work is rewarded by a regular salary and prospects of advancement in a lifetime career

There are five major problems with bureaucracies: red tape, conflict, duplication, imperialism, and waste.

1. Red tape is the existence of complex rules and procedures that must be followed to get something done. Any large organization must have some way of ensuring that one part of the organization does not operate out of step with another.

2. Conflict exists when some agencies work at cross-purposes with other agencies. The Agricultural Research Service tells farmers how to grow crops more efficiently, while the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service pays farmers to grow fewer crops. Because Congress has 535 members and little strong leadership, it is not surprising that it passes laws that promote inconsistent or even contradictory goals.

3. Duplication occurs when two government agencies seem to be doing the same thing, such as when the Customs Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration both attempt to intercept illegally smuggled drugs.

4. Imperialism refers to the tendency of agencies to grow without regard to the benefits their programs confer or the costs they entail. Because government agencies seek vague goals and have vague mandates from Congress, it is not surprising that they often take the broadest possible view of their powers. If they do not, interest groups and judges may prod them into doing so.

5. Waste occurs when an agency spends more than is necessary to buy some product or service. An example would be the much-publicized purchase of $300 hammers by the military.
 
Chapter 15 The Judiciary
       Law in America generally originates from three sources: the
       Constitution, the laws passed by the legislatures and case law
       or the consistent rules that come out of court decisions. Law
       can also be divided into two categories: civil law spells out the
       duties that individuals in society owe to other persons and
       criminal law which has to do with wrongs committed against the
       public as a whole.

       There are three levels of federal courts: district court, appeals
       court and the Supreme Court. The district court is the place
       where almost all federal cases originate. This is the trial court
       where the judge and possibly a jury decide cases. The
       structure is similar to what we are all familiar with. The
       attorneys for both sides are present and the defendant and the
       government or the plaintiff and defendant are present. The trial
       involves: calling people to testify, questioning and cross
       examination, attempts to establish facts and credibility and
       argument by attorneys for both sides and then deliberation by a
       judge or jury and finally a decision.

       U.S. Courts of Appeal are the first level of appeals courts
       available to those who are not satisfied with the decision of the
       district court. At this level the court consist of a three judge
       panel that reviews the case as it was heard in the district court.
       Here, the court operates much differently than in district court.
       Most of the time the appeals judges spend on the case is
       reviewing the written record of the lower court and the written
       briefs filed by the lawyers in the case. Appeals courts also
       have some public court sessions but in this setting only the
       lawyers are present. They are allowed to make their case in
       person and then they are questioned by the judges. These can
       be free flowing sessions in which questions, comments and
       exchanges are made among the judges and the lawyer who is
       giving oral argument. Keep in mind that the appeals court is
       largely concerned with the procedures used in the district court.
       It is the judge that is in question here. Not the final decision. In
       other words, did the judge act properly in allowing evidence to
       be admitted in the case, etc. The law is also important. What
       does it mean and is it constitutional?

       The final court of appeals is the Supreme Court. Here nine
       judges sit in similar fashion to the lower appeals courts. The
       difference is that there are nine judges instead of three and
       they have broad discretion about what cases they hear. Since
       the modern history of the Supreme Court has involved wide
       latitude in interpreting the meaning of the law and the
       Constitution, the Supreme Court has become an important law
       maker in the American political system.
 

       As a result of the importance of the Supreme Court in the policy
       making process, presidents are careful about who they appoint
       to the Court. They have some specific criteria they apply.
       These include: 1 )party affiliation-the person usually is in the
       same party as the president. 2) judicial philosophy-the
       president expects the nominee to have similar positions to him
       on important issues or at least have a similar ideology on how
       the cases should be interpreted. 3) legal background-it is
       expected that the candidate will have distinguished him or
       herself as a judge or lawyer in private practice. 4) law school
       background-it is expected that in some similar fashion the
       candidate will have a distinguished legal education, preferably
       at a prestigious law school. 5) background in the party,
       supported by important elites in the party, or be a personal
       friend of the president. 6) support from prestige organization
       such as the American Bar Association. These same criteria are
       applied to all judges appointed to the district and appeals
       courts but usually in a less stringent way.

Chapter 18 American Foreign Policy
 read the following on Foreign Policy

       Chapter 16 Government and the Economy

      The third issue discussed in the chapter is the question of
       money and the economy. There are two concepts to help
       explain how the system works, monetary policy and fiscal
       policy. The idea behind these concepts is that there are two
       ways for the government to regulate the economy. One is the
       use of action by the Federal Reserve Board. It attempts to
       regulate the amount of money in circulation by raising or
       lowering interest rates. Two, is the effort of the government to
       impact the economy by regulating spending and taxing. It is
       hoped that by actions in these areas the government can offset
       the cycles of good and bad times that seems to plague the
       economy.
 
       Economic policy in the United States is influenced by what
       President Reagan began in the 1980's.  It is called Reagonomics.
       It includes 1) deregulatin, 2)privatization, 3) tax cuts--supply side economics,
       4) downsizing or shift of power to the states, 5) build up the military.

       Chapter 16 Promoting the General Welfare

We live under an economic system that calls itself capitalism but the truth is the system is hardly a free market system that allows businesses to freely compete with one another.  Instead, the system is a government supported and regulated economy that does a great deal to make sure the economy runs according to plan.

The government has a long history of intervention which started in the late 1880's and early 1900's under Teddy Roosevelt.  Before that is was strictly laissez-faire, a doctrine of no intervention by the government in the economy.  This resulted in a system that saw large businesses dominating the economic system.  Many including small business owners, farmers and an emerging labor movement wanted government intervention.  During this progressive era the independent regulatory agencies were created and the mechanism was in place to regulate business.

In our time promotion of business has won out over regulation.  The politics of regulation has meant that business has lobbied the government to emphasize promotion.  Especially since the 1980's there has been a movement toward more and more deregulation.  The result is a government promoting the interest of big business and looking the other way when it comes to regulation.  Many like me are hoping that the economic collapse of recent years will result in a return to regulation but that isn't likely because business interest have followed an effective strategy of giving money to presidential and Congressional candidates of both parties and making sure that appointments to key regulator positions are people sympathetic to the interest of big business.  The result is policy that has the government giving billions to banks and the auto companies because they are too big to fail instead of enforcing antitrust laws.

Farming is another case where economic policy looks more like socialism than capitalism.  Ever since the New Deal and the government has been heavily subsidizing farm activity.  The farm bill, passed every year is loaded with protectionism for farmers with the government assuring the farmer that profits with be guaranteed regardless of the economic conditions.  Since farming has become big business, the family farm is mostly a thing of the past, this looks like a system of socialism for the rich and capitalism for the rest of us.

The government does a number of things to promote business.  Government policy started with tarrifts and a call for consumer support for home-grown products.  It developed into fiscal policy which includes low interest loans and grants of money, free advertising, promotion of U.S. products in foreign markets, and research and development.

Regulation has diminished since the 1980's resulting in what I would call a breakdown in the social contract.  It is not uncommon to see regular recalls of products especially in the food industry because the government no longer does a proper inspection of the food supply.  That is now left up to the industry to self regulate.  The economic collapse of recent years is the direct result of deregulation of the banking industry.  We need our own version of the Progress Era under Teddy Roosevelt.

 

 

       In 1996 the welfare system was dramatically altered. The idea
       of supporting the poor on a permanent basis was ended. No
       one can stay on welfare. After five years a person is required
       to get off welfare. The system also gives major responsibility
       for determining eligibility to the state governments. Cost for the
       program is also turned over to the states. The national
       government will no longer pay for the program. The idea is to
       move people off welfare into permanent jobs. The new welfare
       reform is the result of many decades of politicians at the
       national level attacking welfare, especially the AFDC program
       that paid single mothers for the support of their children. It was
       often argued that under the welfare system there was no
       incentive to work or for families to stay together. It was argued
       that a woman was better off if she lived alone and stayed on
       welfare.

       Those who argue against the 1996 Act say the following: 1)
       Many of the people who are on welfare are not skilled enough
       to get jobs. 2) We are abandoning people who cannot make it
       on their own. We just end welfare benefits and don't care what
       happens to people. 3) Studies show that the lives of the people
       who were on welfare only gets worse when they are out of the
       system and on their own. 4) Many people have been able to
       get off welfare because of the good economic times. When the
       economy slows down the people who were on welfare will lose
       their jobs and then they will be homeless with no help from the
       government.

       Those who favor the reform of 1996 state: 1) The program was
       a complete failure dating back to the 1960's. 2) It created a
       dependent class of people who were always dependent on the
       government. 3) People will find work if they are required to do
       so. 4) We will save the government billions of dollars by ending
       the welfare system. 5) In the long run everyone will be better
       off, the people who receive welfare and the taxpayers who pay
       the bill.

       As evidenced by Campaign 2000, the biggest problem the
       national government faces is dealing with welfare for the
       elderly. The programs are Social Security and Medicare. The
       problems are threefold. The number of elderly is increasing
       because people are living longer. The cost of medical care is
       increasing at a rapid rate. The number of people in the
       workforce that is needed to support the Social Security System
       is way to low to keep the system solvent. The solution: either
       raise the social security tax or reduce the benefits paid the
       elderly. Neither Bush nor Gore would touch that one. Unless
       something is done in the next ten years the system will collapse

Chapter 17 Health Care in the U.S.

In the United States healthcare is essentially privatized.  That is, most people pay their medical bills themselves.  They do this by having private insurance which covers doctors, hospitals, and drugs.  The cost for insurance is shared by the employer and the employees, at least for full-time workers.  People who work part-time or are unemployed have a difficult time coming up with the money and until Obamacare were essentially uninsured.  In most of the rest of the world such as Western Europe they have what we call socialized medicine.  In that system the government pays everyone’s medical bills through taxes.  That system seems to have an appeal because the cost of medical care is much cheaper in countries with a socialized system.

There are many problems with the healthcare system including rising cost, few doctors serving rural and small-town America, and a decline in the health of the public.  The problems seem only to be getting worse especially for those who are not covered by insurance. 

Some portions of the population are paid (in part) by the government.  These include:  older people (65 and mostly retired), disabled and veterans, and government workers including elected officials.  These groups can be said to be under a socialized system. 

The biggest problem is that citizens are paying more every year for medical care and not receiving much for their money.  Doctors seem to spend very little time with each patient, hospital stays and operations can drain a person of all his or her savings, and the cost of prescription drugs are often too expensive for the average person.  As a result, many people go without medical care until they are forced to seek medical help.

The system needs to be reformed but the politicians seem not to have it as a priority and little has been done to improve the system.  Reform has been advocated going back to President Truman but no essential changes have been made.  In the 90’s President Clinton proposed reforms but they were unsuccessful.  Not much has happened since then.   Incremental changes do not seem to improve the overall picture in the U.S.

It seems to me that while we are waiting for the politicians to do something, people can take their healthcare in their own hands by practicing prevention.  This includes eating a healthy diet and maintaining a normal weight.  Eating clean food (organic when possible) and avoiding foods that are not good for us.  Stay away from refined and processed foods and eating a plant-based diet.  That makes it much easier to maintain a normal weight.  One should also exercise every day, get enough sleep, and avoid stress as much as possible.  Also, don’t drink or smoke.   If a person reads about nutrition and health one can find the best ways to do these things and fine  what can work for each of us as individuals.