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American Political System

Lecture 1 - Approaches to studying US Politics
Lecture 2 - Society and Economy
Lecture 3 - Is There an American Ideology?
Lecture 4 - The American Constitutional Order
Lecture 5 - Federalism
Class 5 - Federalism
Lecture 6 - Interest Groups
Lecture 7 - Mass Media
Lecture 8 - Political Parties
Lecture 9 - Elections and Voting
Lecture 10 - Congress
Lecture 11 - Congress continued
Lecture 12 - The Presidency
Lecture 13 - The Presidency continued
Lecture 14 - Federal Bureaucracy
Lecture 15 - The Supreme Court
Lecture 16 - Foreign Policy I: Policymakers and Ideology
Lecture 17 - Foreign Policy II: Current Challenges
Lecture 18 - Economic Policy
Lecture 19 - Social Policy
Lecture 20 - Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Lecture 21 - Reforming the American Political System

Lecture 1 - Approaches to studying US Politics

Self-congratulatory - 1941-1965 - The US became a major country after the bombing of Pearl Harbour and had its military grew (hegemonic). There was prosperity. The American people looked at the world in Manichean terms i.e. US as good, others as bad). This saw the rise of consumerism and civil rights.
Critical/Radical - 1965-1980 - There was protest of the Vietnam War with black students rebelling over it. Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy were assassinated. The Nixon Watergate scandal occurred.
Functional/Critical - 1980-1992 - The US started to look in on itself but not on foreign policy. There was examination of the economy and its debt. Reagan wanted to reform government.
Crisis of Public Expectations - 1993-2001 - People are disillusioned in government and the president. Less people go out to vote.
International Crisis and Uncertainty - 2001 - This was triggered by the events surrounding the World Trade Center. there is huge is budget deficit with too much spending. The administration is not a very typical Republican government.

Constants

Lecture 2 - Society and Economy

Population - There is a massive population growth and is the world's 3rd largest population. The growth is from immigrants and their descendents. There has been a trend of people moving from the south to the north and east to west.
Immigration - It's much higher than most countries except places like Canada and Australia. People mostly now come from Latin America rather than Europe. A lot of immigrants are skilled people. There had been a lot of simulation into the US. Immigration laws in 1920s were racist to keep out southern and western Europeans and in 1939, there were country quotas. It is now based on skills and family ties. During recessions, people become anti-immigration as it is seen as outside people stealing jobs.
Ageing - People tend to be younger.
Social Structure - It used to be agricultural and then industrial but it is now a service industry.
Ethnicity - Hispanics and Latino is growing and so is Asian. Race has molded society of the South. 90%+ African Americans vote Democrat.
Religion - Large percentages of Americans go to Church (40%). Church is considered social as well as religious. Fundamental Christianity is not as powerful as it would appear. There are no official links with government and religion.
Gender - Females suffer more with poverty. Women who are professional/intellectual tend to vote Democrat as well as poorer women. Women are more anti-war. Divorce rates are high.
Education - It is a highly educated population. There is concern with standards of inter city schools.
Wealth and Poverty - Poverty is more acute in Blacks, Hispanics and single parent families. There is a lot of inequality.
Health - The US spends more on health than anywhere else but life expectancy is lower than the UK. People get healthcare from:

Class - It is not really a classless society. Class comes from how much money one has.

Lecture 3 - Is There an American Ideology?

Origins of Values - Political socialisation - passing on values through interaction with people.
Beliefs and Values - Americans do not like welfare and are pro-self-reliance and individualism. Some argue this is for the interests of capitalism where people are more willing to tolerate poverty.

Freedom and Liberty - The US is built on these concepts. The Bill of rights supports this and it has constitutional status so people believe it to be true.

Equality

Democracy - Americans are more content with majoritarianism. there are referenda from the government and initiatives from the people. Recalls remove politicians at state level. his comes from John Locke's idea of a republic.
Law - Everyone is equal before the law and courts are equal. You decide your own lawyers and there are a jury of your peers.

Conclusion - It is a distinct but not exactly an ideology like "communism", etc.

Lecture 4 - The American Constitutional Order

Origins - Nature of colonic society was that people were more agricultural and religious in the northern colonies. The pacific colonies were more industrious with ports but had problems with the natives. Southern states were based on cotton, tobacco and slaves. There were a sense of localism and to continue higher class qualities. The British did not directly tax the colonies and has colonial assemblies. The British government decided to exploit the resources of the colonies through tax like stamp duties. There was the War of Independence and the first constitution was drawn up. There was no president or judicial system. The Articles of Confederation could not raise enough money to protect itself so a group of young Americans, in 1757, drew up a new system to allow money to flow and to have a judicial system.

Influences of Framers - A lot of them were wealthy and had property. They were about 50 years old. There was an idea of there being a contract between the government and the people. It is binding on both parties. The people should be obedient but guaranteed security. Representation linked in with feelings of democracy and individualism. This comes from John Locke. There was a separation of powers based on Montesquieu (executive, judiciary, legal). At times of war, there was an idea of a leader. Congress had clearly defined duties and especially the House of Representatives.

Federalism - there were 13 colonies with loyalty to the crown. It led onto the modern system in the 10th amendment. Each state has a governor and court.

Ratification - There only required 9 out of the 13 states to sign. Some felt that the little people would be overtaxed by the federal system. To avoid no ratification, the Bill of Rights was left out.

Changes - Most amendments are for changing who can vote. There was an amendment to allow senators to be voted by the people and to only allow 2 terms for the president. The 16th amendment that allows the federal government to create an income tax, is the only system change.
The states are not the key powers but the federal system is. The system contains federal power largely.

Lecture 5 - Federalism

What is Federalism?

There is dual sovereignty. It regulates money and trade.

Advantages/Disadvantages

Evolution

Slavery, the bank and the tariff (1790-1861) - slavery caused north/south tension. People who were pro-central wanted a national bank to issues money and manage the economy. there was a fear of having one.
Tariffs - there was a north/south tension of wanting import tariffs. The north wanted it but the south did not. The south saw each state as making the country sovereign. The north disagreed and thought union made the states.

Reconstruction and the new federal bargain (1865-1932) - Although the north wins the Civil War, There is a deal to allow the south to continue as it was by keeping slaves but they would become free through paternalism. Southerners were democrats and monopolised Congress and protected their southern interests. There were laws made with exclusions to the southern states.

Rise of federal power but the south is accommodated (1932-1964) - there was national social security for the blind and old people but there was no security for servants and agricultural workers as the south wanted to keep the black people down. In the 1930s there were laws passed to increase power of the federal system except in the south.

Federal Dominance (1964-1980) - Share cropping breaks down as handpicking of tobacco is replaced with machinery harvesting.Civil rights stops racism in the south by undermining it by law. There is a lot of laws passed and strengthens the power of the federal system. Bill of Rights was not incorporated in state law of the south until the 1960s.

Retrenchment - the ebb and flow of federal power (1980-?) - there are successful administrations by giving power back to the states. The federal level is too inefficient at welfare and the states take over but it is not endorsed by conservative Supreme Court. Increasingly the economy is run at a federal level. There is a debate for national standards in water and chemical safety instead of the state level.

Federalism is very important in the U.S. but most laws at state level are civil and relate to divorce, parking, etc. It is a constant change of what is more powerful; state or national.

Class 5 - Federalism

Thomas Jefferson - "the true theory of the Constitution is that the states are independent as to everything within themselves and united as to everything; respecting foreign nations."
William Faulkner - "As long as there is a middle ground, I'm on it. But if it comes to fighting, I'd fight for Mississippi against the U.S. even if it means going out into the street and shooting Negroes."

Federalist Movements

Lecture 6 - Interest Groups

Theories

Populist - up to the 1930s - there is a belief that the banks/railroad unions are out to get you. Corporate interests are trying to hurt the people as there are tax breaks for the rich, etc.
Pluralist - popular during the 1930s-60s - It balances out an interest, e.g. food manufacturing as if it is not up to standard, people will complain. It sees interest groups as good.
Radical - 1950-70s - they criticise the pluralists by saying not all interests are equal. C.W. Mills claimed there was a power of elite military and corporate. The agenda of the interests are set by the powerful. Charles E Lindblom claimed business has a "silent veto on policy". Look at health, trade policy and the environment because these factors help the economy. This theory is on the rise with Bush Jnr.
Overload - 1980-90s - The access points of interest groups to the federal system is so many that nothing gets done. This creates gridlock where lobbying makes bills confusing at all levels of government. There is too much legislation so it is making it complicated.

Rise of the Group Activity

This is measured by the number of registered lobby groups in Washington and by looking in the telephone book. People are now more educated and politics is more complicated domestically and internationally. The committee system in Congress is more complicated where there is more access points for interest groups.

Rising and Declining Groups

Political Action Committees

It is a group organised for political action. The law allowed committees to spend $5,000 per candidate (1974). This is hard money spent within the law. In 2002 it was raised to $25,000. Soft money is given to a candidate but not to fund the campaign but in 2002, it was stopped. It was done to support candidates.
Interest Groups are the essence of all pluralist societies but more so in the U.S.

Lecture 7 - Mass Media

Structure

TV - there are 3 large TV networks. ABC, NBC and CBC and now Fox. There are ESPN (political) and CNN for news. ABC, NBC and CBC have affiliated local stations like ITV.
Radio - it is not important in politics as 95% is music.
PBS - public broadcasting covers news but is under funded. Not everyone gets it.

FCC regulates TV and radio. There used to be limits to how many stations a company could own but it changed in with the 1996 TV Act and now there is no limit. 35% of local stations are owned by one large group.

Printed Media - readership is declining. The ownership is local of regional such as USA Today and NY Times but these have national versions and mostly read by liberals. The biggest papers in the cities are the broadsheets and ownership is decentralised.
Internet - 60-65% use it. It is largely unregulated. There is a "digital divide" where the poor and rural people rarely, or never use it.

News, Bias and Political Influence

TV - local TV reflects bias of local feelings. Cities tend to be liberal TV wise. CBC, NBC and ABC try to be impartial. Increasingly there is a move towards market led journalism. There is an increase in Hollywood low bias news and more film. Fox isn't impartial but claims to be.
TV News - There's only one main news slot at 6pm to 7pm. There is an increase in appearance U.S. reality which reveals scandals and a populist theme showing the little person being hurt. There is a good versus evil element. There is a battle of inefficiency versus efficiency. There is a focus on the bizarre with less foreign news. There is a lot more political advertising where presidents can time it carefully to announce news. Good news is announced before 6pm.
Printed Media - most media is republican as business owners are conservative as it is pro-economy. The headlines are conservative and U.S. bias news magazines try to be impartial.

Censorship and Control

There is less control in the U.S. Government is given more power to control the press by the new Patriots Act. There is a bias towards business sometimes but that might be because the media are themselves businesses. There are feelings of uniformity where everyone supports the war on terrorism. This is not so different from MaCarthyism and encamping Japanese Americans as threats to security. There is opposition to Iraqi war but not as much as outside America. The market is a controller.

American Exceptionalism and the Media

It is a complex country. Political advertising is unusual outside of America. It trivialises issues on television by dumbing-down, but not in newspapers, particularly through reality TV. The media is used by politicians but they pay for it. There is a decrease in people's interest in politics.

Lecture 8 - Political Parties

Developments

Parties were more like factions who repressed interests and territorial areas.

Jeffersonian - Republicans or Democratic Republicans appeared and were led by Jefferson. They believed in a weak central government and were influential in the South. The opposing party was the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton and they favoured stronger government. They were largely influential in the North. The Democratic Republicans had a break off group called the Whigs. They were very conservative. The Federalists almost disappeared.

Jacksonian - There was a rise in mass democracy by elections so that more people could vote regardless of their ownership of property. The Democratic Republicans transformed into the Republicans. There was an increase of bottom-up politics by being state and locally orientated and local nominations of political candidates. These people were less ideological and more instrumental and territorial.

Civil War and Sectionalism - The Whigs and the Democrats could not decide on slavery as the Whigs had no view on it when the Democrats were pro-South. the 3rd party arose as the Republicans with Abraham Lincoln as thew president. The parties became very territorial (sectional). The Republicans were mostly northern. The Democrats and Republicans were conservative over the west. After the Civil War, the Democrats remained dominant in the South. There is a north/south deal where the South is allowed to continue their racist policies.

Progressive Era (1896) - The Republicans were the dominate party. The Republicans split into two parties - the Progressive and Republicans. The traditional Republicans represented big business and the rich. The progressive wing appealed to social reform from too much immigration and corrupt politics. There was prostitution, alcohol and gambling problems in the North and political corruption bowed to big business.Primaries were used to decide by the people who were the nominations candidates. It took off in California after recalls to remove corrupt and useless governors.

New Deal Coalition - In 1932, the Republicans were shattered by a landslide victory win by the Democrats. The northern industrialised workers who had voted Republican had switched to Democrats. There was a rise of liberalism and during the 30s, the Democrats controlled most things at all levels. The southern Democrats were still in the rural racist economy. The question of civil rights was ignored to keep a lid on the differences in the Democrats party. Domestic servants and agricultural workers were excluded from social security in the South. The tension in the party between North and South Democrats appear from 1940 to 1960. The South split away to vote for George Wallace to keep segregation. The southern Democrats win a few states but they realise that segregation can not remain.

Post 1968 - The South becomes less agricultural like the north. Racism is seen as wrong. The southerners shift to the conservative Republican party. The North move over to the liberal Democrat. Most Black Americans are now Democrats.

Decline of the Parties

The Democrats decline as the dominate slightly. There is a stable percentage of Americans voting Republican over the last 30 years. There are now a lot of partisan dealignment. There is a decline in party organisation. Parties are organised around the candidate now.

Does it matter?

The decline of the parties can create alienation and so less people vote and actively participate in politics. It is hard for a change like during the "New Deal" as it is about competition as there is a bigger emphasis on individual candidates. The government has become stronger in Congress and particularly in the House of Representatives where it is ideologically unified.

Lecture 9 - Elections and Voting

Nature of US Elections

Half a million people are voted into politics. It includes at local, state and national level. People tend to vote more frequently than in the UK. People can vote on initiatives, referenda and recalls. Majoritarianism and plurality is important. There is no idea of proportional representation and the majority is usually seen as right. There is a strong link with status and being voted - WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants). There are more representation of women, ethnic minorities and younger people at a lower level of the political system.

Voting and Non-Voting

Who Votes for which Party?

Generally the south is Republican including the Mountain states. The mid-west can swung both ways. Black people tend to always vote Democrat as they are the party of welfare. Jews usually vote Democrat. Women if uneducated or professional, tend to vote Democrat. The Republicans are seen to be conservative.
People tend to vote "purposively" as they vote based on the candidate rather than the party.

Lecture 10 - Congress

Introduction

Congress is the most powerful legislator in the world. 600,000 people are represented by a Senate member. It has power to assign treaties, declare war, taxation, check on the president and approve treaties.
Parties are rather weak and so do not dominate Congress. Up to around 1932, Congress dominated except during times of crisis. From 1932 to 1968, the president dominated. Congress responded to the president's agenda. From 1968 to 2003, Congress was assertive at many times like during Ford's administration and during 1995 2001 with Clinton's policies. Congressional control is only on domestic issues.

Representation

David Mayhew - advertising, credit claiming and position taking are ways of getting re-elected. The link between the representative and the people are weaker. It is less easy to claim credit. Parties have changed locally and it is now not do strong and therefore weakened credit claiming from other party members.
Reps are rated how "left" or "right" on a scale of 1-100 and scales of morality, etc. It puts Reps under pressure and to support less risky policies. Some people adopt Washington policies rather than to be local. Reps have to do more work and try to make a career out of politics.

Lecture 11 - Congress continued

Functions of Congress

It regulates taxes and collects money. It regulates trade and has the power to declare war. It makes laws and produces coins and can approve treaties. Congress has the power to investigate the Executive and audit it.

The Changing Nature of Congressional Power

Period of Party Control (1889 - 1910) - There were weak presidents at this time. Thomas Reid and Joe Cannon controlled the agenda in Congress via the Rules Committee. There was a sense of party control in the House and they could decide which person worked where on what committee to make it bias to a particular party.

Committee Power (1911 - 1971) - There was a revolt against this and the power of the speaker was reduced in 1910. It allowed committees to be powerful. It was a dispersed power so the elderly members became chairmen of the committees and their views dominated the House. It was very conservative. The presidents could not progress civil rights and social policy.
Iron Triangle:
iron triange
Johnson reformed Congress by giving all new members a committee assignment straight away rather than waiting a long time for one (years!).

The New Congress (1971 - 1994) - It accelerated after 1974 as there was a landslide victory after Nixon's behaviour and a liberal new blood entered Congress to reform it.
House - committee chairs to be voted i secretly. No member is to be allowed to chair other committees and everyone is given an assignment and committees are open to the public.
Congress is more assertive and takes on extra responsibilities through the War Powers Act and Budget and Power Control Act. It is harder to get bills through Congress and it is made harder for the president to get his own way. In 1994, it becomes a new Republican agenda with a liberal president.

The New Republican Agenda (1995 - ) - This has been building since Reagan. Newt Gringrich produced a book of changes he thought for America. This lead to a landslide victory for the Republicans. From 1995 to 2004, Republicans have been in control. Crime, bills for old people, cutting down things in Congress have been their policies.

Conclusions

Lecture 12 - The Presidency

Pre-primaries

The media works out who is the best candidates and candidates raise money.

Primaries

Parties were only necessary in the 19th century but it is not so much the case now. Delegates are sent to a state level party to chose the national convention. Caucus' tend to be closed affairs with control by parties leaders. In 1968, the control issues came to a head. A candidate was shown but not voted for and there was a backlash from this. Legislation was put in place to ensure they were democratic. Caucuses are now open. It is likely, if a nomination is Democrat and open, that candidates are appealing to the public.

Conventions

Conventions have become rather meaningless as we already know the candidate before the event.

Campaign

This is dominated by opinion polls and debates.
Many informed people are unhappy with the voting of presidents as election turnout is low and especially at the primary stage. Having good source of money and a great personality is essential. Presidents tend now to be less academic in politics.

Lecture 13 - The Presidency continued

Constitutional Powers

It is a unitary institution. The president can chose the cabinet, Supreme Court judges and Federal judiciary. He is the head of state and holds the power of veto and military.

Room for disagreement - The size of the presidency has grown. The president has executive privilege where they believe that some information should be withheld from the public. This was highlighted in Clinton's wish to keep his affair with Monica Lewinsky quiet.Who does have legislative power? This depends on the times of the president in office. The veto can be used to stop bills passing. The pocket veto is considered constitutional. This is where the president can refuse to sign a bill and Congress session eventually ends so the bill fails. Some president have used line item vetoes where they can veto parts or sections of a bill but this has been ruled unconstitutional. The president is the commander in chief. Congress declares war but since the Second World War, there have been declarations. The 1973 War Powers Act tried to influence the presidents with war.

Informal Powers

Neustadt - power is the power to persuade and evidence of failure

Public - the public has become increasingly important. There has been a shift from insider politicians to outsider (Sam Kenell - Going Public) Bush Jnr and Reagan did not use press conferences as much as they are not that good at them.
Public interest - the presidents have tried to look like they are defending public interests.
Party leader - there is no opposition leader.
Bureaucracy - There are thousands of people who look after the president. They are advisors.
Personality/leadership - this determines how well the president can influence public opinion.

There are times in history when it was hard to be the president compared to other times. Nowadays there are more issues a president needs to deal with. It creates fuzzier politics and political risks in terms of policy choice.

Lecture 14 - Federal Bureaucracy

Executive Office of the President - There are 300 or 400 people in the White House Office. It is the equivalent to Downing Street. There is between 1600 and 1700 people in the Executive Office of the President.
The Natural Security Council - holds the security leaders and people who provide the president with advice.
The Office of Management and Budget - it equals the UK treasury. It controls federal spending. It regulates environmental protection, consumer, policy, etc. It does not implement anything. It is important as economic policy so the office is vital. These offices are set up mostly by Congress for the president to interact with Congress.

Constraints - Offices have to publish annual reports. Congress confirms the heads of the offices. There are civil servants who will stay in some of the offices like the scientific people.

White House Office

There is the chief of staff, domestic policy advisor, White House Counsel and press officer. The power comes from personality and management style of the White House. There are sometimes gatekeepers that can keep the president away from other people.

Cabinet

There are 15 departments. Most of them are very unimportant and have very little of constitutional powers. On the whole, they can be ignored. The secretaries of the departments are usually had backgrounds in their area, e.g. department of education. It is very rare to have cabinet reshuffles.

Constraints - There are thousands of people working for each department.

Agencies

Congress gives them their beliefs. The president can appoint the leaders of the agencies. They are mostly independent.

Bureaucracy and Power

The departments have grown in size. Congress tries to manage the bureaucracy. It is managerialcratic and formal. It implements the law. It makes rules. The civil servants look at the bills made by Congress. There are 3200 political appointees in the bureaucracy but have to be appointed by the Senate.

Conflicts - there are conflicts between departments and with the president's political direction. The bureaucracy seems full of insensitivity and red tape.

Lecture 15 - The Supreme Court

Why is the U.S. so Litigious?

The U.S. has around half a million lawyers. There is an anglo-tradition of adversary. Lawyers are not agents of the state. The jury are lay people. There is a great scope to sue. The U.S. has a written Constitution that can be compared with laws.

Court Structure

Most civil and criminal cases are in the state system. There are district courts, appeal courts and the supreme courts. Districts deal with federal laws. Most of the cases are civil.

Judicial Decision Making

The Supreme Court is made up of people that are appointed by the president and the people chosen are agreed by Congress. The chief justice can set agendas. To listen to a case, it is called "certiorari".

Philosophical Schools

Historical - Justices change over time and people are appointed for life but can be impeached. Public opinion changed over time. You can be passive by falling back on previous rulings. This sort of judgment is hard to do with technological cases.
Positivist - You could search for hidden meanings in the Constitution. Amendment 1 is freedom of speech. it is not an absolute rule. This makes the court activist.
Balancing - The court should balance the interests of society (this school is typical of the 1940s). It is usually passive but not always.
Sociological - this is active. The courts should look at the evidence.

Constraints on the Courts

Brown versus Board of Education - this ruling was about the segregation of pupils based open their race. It was hard for this ruling to be actualised in the south.

Amendments - if the Supreme Court fails to do something, amendments can be passed.
16th Amendment - forming a graduated tax used to be banned but this was scrapped with this amendment.
Congress - it can remove Supreme Court judges and remove or add the member numbers. It can reduce funds to the Supreme Court and the number of district and appeal courts. Congress can overrule the law.
President - he can appoint judges that are politically supportive of his administration and way of thinking but Congress has to confirm them. Judges can change their views after appointment.
Judicial System - the court can not chose the cases it is given. The court relies on the courts below it and states to implement its judgments.
Public Opinion - the court tends to listen to the public opinion.

The current court (Rehnquist) is a polarised court of left and right. Four people are very conservative and there are four liberals and one judge that tends to swing either way on judgments.

Lecture 16 - Foreign Policy I: Policymakers and Ideology

History and Background

The US was not very significant globally until the 7th December 1941. The Roe Doctrine stated that the US should not have hegemony over the western hemisphere. It intervened regularly in Latin America based on self-interest and to keep America out of European control. America gained interests in the Caribbean in the early 20th century and installed constitutions in Hawaii, Cuba, Guam and the Philippines. There was not a colonist model in these countries and the global US reach was not as big as France or Britain. Until the 1930s, the US had a small navy and land army.

Theories of intervention

Idealism - it has a benign view of humanity. The more there is international cooperation, the better for every country involved. It assumes the US has a God-given mission to convert people to their way of life - democracy and freedom. In the 1940s, America saw themselves as liberating Europe. It saw the League of Nations as part of the idealism, thought never joined it. There was an assumption that states would cooperate together. Idealism is to cover the image of America but not so much in the latter part of the 20th century. Clinton however did use this theory in Kosova.

Realist - Post-war - Nations are rationally motivated to maximise their own gain and safety. (Henry Kissinger) Relationships between states are conflictive and if one state gains, than other states must lose. It is rational to cooperate if interests are shared. This reflects in the Cold War, Korean War, Berlin Airlift, Cuban Missile Crisis and the containment of communism. It has a Machiavellian viewpoint of people as they are selfish.
Reagan Doctrine - he tried to reverse and beat the Russian policy. This is done by outspending and technologically beating them.

Revisionism - Conflicts are from the aggressive US. It is a discredited view and it puts all the blame onto the US.

Preemption (or preventive) - The breakup of the eastern Europe undermined the realist view as Russia reduced its power. "911" showed that America could be hit by a foreign power. The last time being in 1814 by the British. The threats are not always from states but from organisations and/or states who are not members of international organisations such as the UN. You can use preemptive strikes in countries.

Implications

Military risk - it is more risky in micro terms but not macro. The macro threat of Russia was massive compared to terrorism.
Knock on effects for established relationships - making the UN relations soured.
Institutionally complex - it is complicated to remove people as it is difficult to work out who are the bad guys in many governments/countries.
Politically risky - Other administrations have to continue the policies set by the current president. There are problems of appearing bad to the public.

Lecture 17 - Foreign Policy II: Current Challenges

Institutions and Actors

Presidential Dominance - they are the head of the state and are the Commander in Chief. They are more powerful in times of conflict.

Role of Congress

Congress has constitutional power.
Functions - Congress declares war. There has been no declaration since WW II. Congress approves who is the secretary of defence. Congress approves all money spent on foreign policy. It can investigate wrong doings or inefficiencies of the president. Congress can pass laws that can impact on foreign policy, e.g. sanctions on South Africa - the president vetoed it.

Role of Courts

The Supreme Court decides how much legislative power the president really has. The Supreme Court made Nixon publish his pentagon papers, e.g. New York Times vs Nixon. The court can decide on the legality of trade sanctions and other matters like quotas, tariffs. It is reactive to events.

Consensus - rise and decline

Presidents are more powerful during time of wars but at quiet times, foreign policy is not so much in the focus. There was not much dispute between Congress and the president in interventions.
1941 - 1961: Congress mostly deferred foreign policy to the president (realist period). The presidents were empowered by giving Russia the label of evil and so they could fund the arms race. Presidents during the Vietnam War used illegal power. Congress passed the War Powers Act to limit presidential war tactics. It has not been very successful. Presidents have chosen to get resolutions from Congress at the start of wars on the whole since this act being passed in 1973. Congress passed the Boland Amendment to stop the president intervening in Nicaragua. Congress was more against the presidential foreign policy later in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Consensus did not rise until September 2001 but it is falling again. There was overwhelming support in Congress for the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions. Bush Jnr claimed that he was a war president! There are opportunities for conflict and pluralism because of the size of the system the diversity of the people involved.

Lecture 18 - Economic Policy

Micro - how the government affects the pricing policies of individuals, firms, local government, etc. This includes minimum wage, employee protection, stock market regulation. There is no coherent micro policy and it is very fragmented.
Macro - it is concerned with aggregates at the national level, e.g. budgets, economic growth, inflation. Congress and the President are very involved in this and the Central Bank (Federal Reserve). It is not so much affected by veto points except the budget.

Veto Points

To stop policies getting through.
Constitutional - the separation of powers and the "bicameralness" of Congress. Federalism gives power to the states to avoid national level legislation.
Political - the system is open to parties and groups to stop policies. Public policy involves coalition building.

Policies

Distribute (public goods) - this is giving out/providing to the people. The police are provided for all.
Redistributive - policies used to tax the people to redistribute to welfare policies.
Regulatory - this regulates people, governments and companies, E.g. health and safety

A divided government tends to reduced the amount of policies going through.

Institutions and Actors

Congressional

State and local government - one third of spending
Federal level - two third of spending

Lecture 19 - Social Policy

What is the nature of social policy making? Why does it dominate politics? Why are Americans infused with notions of self reliance in some areas of social policy but not in others?

Lecture 20 - Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Civil Rights

Historical Background - Until the 20th century, most clauses in the Constitution were not in state and civil law. Most of federal law was not related to civil rights at that time. There was no universal application of the Constitution, where discrimination was written into law in the south. The Civil rights "become an issue" after WW II, as black people were mobilised by war. NAACP was an organisation that tried to being cases to court.

Supreme Court Decisions - 1948 - 1978

Legislation
1957 - it did not stop discrimination but a civil rights department and a commission in the government was setup.
1964 - Civil Rights Act (Lindon Johnson) outlawed discrimination in work, education and public facilities, e.g. buses, restaurants, etc. Public facilities were desegregated quickly but not in work or education.
1965 - Voting Rights Act got rid of devices to stop black people voting.
1968 - Discrimination in housing though it was hard to enforce.

Current Situation - There has not been much progress since. It is hard to do much about housing as people are not likely to move straight away. The Supreme Court outlawed racial quotas so the maximum number of Asians going to university in California was not limited any more. Race is more complex now with immigration. There are now more Latinos than blacks in the U.S.

Civil Liberties

Historical Background - Freedom of speech, arbitrary arrest, etc. There was not a guarantee of civil liberties until the 1950/60s. Liberties were under state jurisdiction.

Freedom of Speech - It is required to criticise the government and to protect. There were laws passed to ban criticism of the government, particularly if they are anti-communist.
Schanck urged people not to fight in wars via leaflets to draftees.
Holmes and Brandeis (Supreme Court judges) thought there was a limit to the freedom of speech, such as shouting fire in a cinema. Schank was seen as overstepping this mark.
Abrams - clear and present danger - having a belief does not hurt anyone but with action, it is wrong.
Gitlow/Whitthney - advocating overthrowing the government is wrong but okay to discuss it, e.g. reading Marx is fine.
Dennis/Yates - They were members of the Communist party. The "Smith Act" banned this. The Yates decision made a ruling that there was a difference between belief and actions. Between 1957-2001, the Supreme Court has kept out of the freedom of speech. Since the 2001 Patriot Act, it denies civil liberties if you are suspected of being a terrorist.

Criminal Procedural Rights
Mapp vs. Ohio => Before, the police could look for evidence in your house and if they find something not related to the warrant, they could charge you.
Giddeon - access to a lawyer regardless of an ability to pay. He was a black guy who was sent to prison on silly charges.
Miranda - rights are now read to arrested people before being arrested. Lawyers should be present during police interrogation.
Capital Punishment - cruel and unusual punishment - there was a guy who was executed for his crimes who was a hardened drugs addict but the executioners could not find his arteries to inject the lethal injection and death was slow and messy!
Abortion - States can decide not to fund abortion clinics.

Lecture 21 - Reforming the American Political System

Constitutional Change

There have been 15 real amendments and these provide rights to people. They do not effect the fundamentals of the government, except limiting the amount of terms a president can have in office. The relationship between the House and the Senate have not really changed. There were calls for change in the 1950s, to change from a presidential system to a party system. When the south was stronger, they were wanting to change the federal system. In the 1940-60s, they wanted to limit the powers of the Supreme Court

Specific - failed changes

Balanced budget amendment it is to stop the government borrowing more money than it gets in except when Congress overrules it in times of emergency. It failed in Congress by one vote. The people do not like the government over borrowing.
Electoral College - following the 2000 election, scrutiny was put on this system. There is no proportionality.
Equal Rights Amendment - this was to give women the same protection as ethnic minorities and religious beliefs. The states did not all support this and it failed. some now see this change as outdated as there are federal laws to now protect women.

Legislative Reform - not fundamental

changes in the nature of the polity by the public domain.

Structural and Societal Reform

There is a call for the renewal of American values. There is a low turnout in elections and political participation. People are less community orientated (Putnam - Bowling Alone).

Conclusions

Reform goes off the agenda during times of emergency but it can produce change once the problems become clear.
Vietnam War => War Powers Act
War on terrorism => Civil liberties??
It is possible to veto change and it leads to conservatism o very little changes. There is a national angst that drives people to better themselves. The reform can occur at state level where it fails to do so at federal level.


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