Chapter 1
At the base of the Statue of Liberty are the words of Emma Lazarus's oft-cited poem, ___________
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
Etched in a corridor of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., are the words Alexander Hamilton spoke when asked about the foundation of the nation's government: __________
"Here, sir, the people govern.
Theodore Sorensen, who was a policy aide to President John F. Kennedy, put his finger on the problem when he said, ____________
"To decide, you first have to know."
The Constitution of the United States begins with the words _________
"We the People."
The Declaration of Independence rings with the proclamation that people are entitled to ____________
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
Americans trace their roots to every country on earth, which has led the United States to be called a _______________.
"nation of immigrants
Americans were much less likely than Europeans to say that it was more important for government to see that _____________
"nobody is in need."
The preamble to the Constitution declares that the U.S. government was founded to secure ________________
"the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
Political analysts William Watts and Lloyd Free described the United States as _______
"the country of individualism par excellence."
French philosopher Michel Foucault called politics ______________
"war by other means,"
Political scientist Harold Lasswell described politics as a conflict over ___________
"who gets what, when, and how."
The annual income of a minimum-wage worker, for instance, is roughly _______ in the United States, compared with roughly $21,000 in Germany and $22,500 in France.
$15,000
____________ is an immigrant. If the children of immigrants are included, the figure is _______________
1 in 7 Americans, 1 in 4
Russian meddling in our elections has been thoroughly documented by U.S. intelligence agencies and, yet, ____________—deny that Russia has interfered in our elections.
1 out of 4 Americans, roughly 60 million
__ percent of respondents thought that Judith Sheindlin ("Judge Judy") holds a seat on the Supreme Court.
10
% US in US
14
In _____, the first Black slaves were brought in chains to America. Slavery lasted ____ years.
1619, 250
In _____, debtors had gained control of Rhode Island's legislature and made paper money a legal means of paying debts, even though contracts called for payment in gold. Creditors were then hunted down and held captive in public places so that debtors could come and pay them in full with worthless paper money. A Boston newspaper wrote that Rhode Island ought to be renamed Rogue Island.
1786
In the early ____, the United States pioneered the idea of a free public education for children—this at a time when education in Europe was reserved for children of the wealthy.
1800s
In ____, at the first-ever national convention on women's rights, the delegates issued the __________, which read in part: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal."
1848, Declaration of Sentiments
hundreds of African Americans were lynched in the early _____by white vigilantes.
1900s
Not until ____ was discrimination against the Chinese, Japanese, and other Asians eliminated from U.S. immigration laws.
1965
Why was the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 not critical thinking?
2 decades later US forces still in Iraq. Lots of ethnic and religious strife
More than __________ of Americans falsely believe that middle-income households pay a greater portion of their income in taxes than do the top 1 percent of income-earning households.
2/3
When President Trump decided in 2017 to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, he did so despite polls showing that ______ of Americans wanted the United States to honor its commitment. In making the decision, Trump was exercising his constitutional authority as _________
2/3, chief executive.
Corporate power can be seen today in the fact that roughly ______ of all lobbyists in the nation's capital represent business firms, which also contribute heavily to _______. Corporate power can also be seen in the workplace, where __________
2/3, political candidates, U.S. firms have greater control over wages and working conditions than do firms in other Western democracies
Most Americans believe, for example, that foreign aid accounts for _______________ of the federal budget, which has led some of them to believe that eliminating foreign aid would _________. In reality, less than ____percent of the federal budget is spent on foreign aid and, even if it was eliminated, the budget deficit would still be ____
20 percent or more, balance the federal budget, 1, huge.
When was George Floyd killed? By who?
2020, Minneapolis police
Compared with Great Britain or France, for example, the United States spends about __percent more per pupil annually on its primary and secondary schools.
30
more than _______ of those surveyed said children should be taught that "with hard work and perseverance anyone can succeed in America," while less than _________ said the same about teaching children of the nation's "cruel mistreatment of Blacks and American Indians."
4 out of 5, 3 out of 5
The US has how many 2 and 4 year institutions?
4,000
illegal immigrants, who are __ percent less likely than the native born to have been convicted of crime and imprisoned.
44
There are roughly a __________American elected official
500 thousand
The 2017 Cato Institute study, for example, found that immigrants are __ percent less likely to be incarcerated than are the native born.
69
% German in US
80
% Great British in US
81
% Italian in US
92
% Japanese in US
98
First successful large scale rebellion in human history
American Revolution
_________ have an expansive view of their rights and turn more readily to the courts to make their claims than do people elsewhere
Americans
The French writer Alexis de Tocqueville was among the first to recognize that shared beliefs were ____________. "________" was how he described their attachment to them.
Americans' common bond, Habits of the heart
________________ that requires people to think in a certain way or risk punishment
Authoritarian regime
_________ is the recognized right of officials to exercise power. Members of Congress, judges, and bureaucrats, as well as the president, routinely make authoritative decisions, only some of which are aligned with what the majority or a special interest would prefer.
Authority
The ________ was added to the Constitution a few years later as a further check on the majority
Bill of Rights
As ________ and other theorists have noted, corporate elites must be taken into account in assessing how power in America is distributed and used. The influence of the nation's major corporations goes beyond the workplace. Through advertising and public relations efforts, they seek to build public support for the private enterprise system.
C. Wright Mills
_________ in 1923 asked Congress for a permanent ban on Chinese immigration, saying that people "who do not want to be partakers of the American spirit ought not to settle in America."
Calvin Coolidge
The authoritarian regime in _____, for example, blocks Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other outlets—including those within the country—that convey messages contrary to what the ________ government wants its people to hear.
China, Chinese
In 1882, Congress suspended ________ on the assumption that the Chinese were an inferior people.
Chinese immigration
System based on rule of law, including legal protections for individuals; empowers individuals by enabling them to claim their rights in court (legal action)
Constitutional system
____________ refers to rules that limit the rightful power of government over citizens
Constitutionalism
__________—the influence of business firms on public policy—has been a defining feature of American politics since the late 1800s
Corporate power
__________ is a key to responsible citizenship, but many citizens avoid it by virtue of paying scant attention to politics.
Critical thinking
__________ is the careful gathering and sifting of information in the process of forming knowledgeable views of political developments.
Critical thinking
___________ is the process of forming an opinion after weighing the relevant facts
Critical thinking
________ is rule by the people, which in practice refers to a representative system of government in which the people rule through their elected officials
Democracy
_________ is at risk when misinformation page 3is widespread
Democracy
__________ lets people decide for themselves what to think, and how much effort to put into it
Democracy
A system of majority rule through elections; empowers majorities (majoritarianism), groups (pluralism), and officials (authority)
Democratic system
Political scientist __________ said it clearly: "In the course of centuries, there has come a great deal of agreement about what democracy is, but nobody has a monopoly on it and the last word has not been spoken."
E. E. Schattschneider
America's core ideals are rooted in the _____________
European heritage of the first white settlers
________________ is a commitment to personal initiative and self-sufficiency.
Individualism
Even today, ______________ are masterpieces of political science.
James Madison's Federalist essays on constitutional design
Slavery was followed by the _________
Jim Crow era of legal segregation.
In the span of a few months, the death toll had surpassed the number of Americans killed in the _____________
Korean war, the Vietnam war, the Afghan war, and the Iraq war combined.
Legislation enacted in 1965 eased restrictions on immigration from ____________, and most immigrants since then have come from _____________.
Latin America and Asia, these regions
Core Values
Liberty, Individualism, Equality, Self-Government
____________ is the principle that individuals should be free to act and think as they choose, provided they do not ____________
Liberty, infringe unreasonably on the freedom and well-being of others
During the Vietnam conflict, Presidents ________________ told Americans that the conflict was going well when, in fact, it was going poorly.
Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon
Farmers with more influence over agricultural subsidies.
Majoritarianism
__________ is the term used to describe situations in which political leaders act on behalf of the majority.
Majoritarianism
_________ said, "'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
Martin Luther King Jr.
How might more recent U.S. immigrants differ from those who came to the United States earlier in its history?
Most early immigrants came from Europe because restrictions on immigrants from other parts of the world.
_________ holds that, on most issues, the preference of the special interest largely determines what government does
Pluralism
_______ is the means by which society settles its conflicts and determines who gets the benefits and who pays the costs.
Politics
_________ is the process by which it is determined whose values and interests will prevail in society
Politics
____________ periods are among the few times when party conflict was relatively mild.
President George Washington's first years in office, the so-called Era of Good Feeling in the early 1800s, and the World War I and World War II
In the mid-1800s, Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany were widely reviled by ________ already here
Protestants
_____________ also entered into the thinking of the early Americans.
Religious sentiments
Why did most Americans support the US invasion of Iraq in 2003?
They believed that Iraq was no match for the U.S. military and that the war would end within a few weeks
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
Thomas Jefferson
What slave owner distinguished between free citizens, who were entitled to equal rights, and slaves, who were not.
Thomas Jefferson
Why do the northeastern states have a higher percentage of adults with college degrees?
Wealthier, more urbanized
Even the lowest-ranking state—________, with one in five—has a higher percentage of college graduates than do most European countries.
West Virginia
More than ___________were convinced that COVID-19 was no more deadly than the seasonal flu and many of them ignored social distancing, increasing the likelihood that they, and those around them, would contract the disease.
a third of Americans
Americans are linked not by a shared ancestry but by ____________
allegiance to a common set of ideals
____________ is one that openly represses its political opponents, mostly through intimidation and prohibitions on free expression but sometimes by brutalizing opposition leaders.
authoritarian government
_________- control rests with a single individual, such as a king or dictator
autocracy
Seven of every eight lost jobs are due to _________________
automation, the replacement of workers with machines
Americans' beliefs are the ____________
basis of their national identity
A high level of _________—cooperation between the parties—marked the period from the end of World War II in 1945 until the late 1960s. In addition, Republican leaders had largely abandoned their effort to turn back the New Deal policies of Democratic president ____________ which had given the federal government a larger role in ________ (for example, the Social Security program) and economic regulation (for example, oversight of the stock market).
bipartisanship, Franklin Roosevelt, economic security
Political liberty was nearly a _________ for early Americans
birthright
To guard against oppressive majorities, the writers of the Constitution devised an elaborate system of _________, ___________so that each branch could check the power of the others
checks and balances, dividing authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches
One of America's foremost political scientists was the _____________
chief architect of the U.S. Constitution and later a president.
A healthy democracy depends on __________ but also requires that this participation be informed and thoughtful.
citizen participation
Behavioral scientists Gordon Pennycook and David Rand call "______________" -_________________________
cognitive laziness, Rather than studying a claim, we often judge its accuracy on the basis of who's saying it or whether we've heard it before.
Americans' belief in self-government formed in _________
colonial America.
Other people take their identity from the ___________ that led them gradually to gather under one flag.
common ancestry
Under _______, which characterized the former Soviet Union and is practiced most fully today in North Korea, the government owns most or all major industries and takes responsibility for overall management of the economy, including production quotas, supply points, and pricing.
communism
majoritarianism occurs primarily through the _______________
competition between the Republican and Democratic Parties
____________—the idea that there are lawful restrictions on government's power.
constitutionalism
political scientists, like Yale's Robert Dahl, argue that ___________
democracies more often operate as pluralistic (multi-interest) systems than as majoritarian systems.
__________ is a form of government in which the people govern, either directly or through elected representatives.
democracy
US 3 basic systems designed to keep the government in check
democracy, constitutionalism, free market
As a discipline, political science is ___________—that is, it attempts to _________________
descriptive and analytical, depict and explain politics
Why did the American Revolution happen?
desire to create a radically different form of society.
The ___________ in a society affects who wins and who loses when policy decisions are made.
distribution of power
European white settlers arrived when?
during the Enlightenment period, when people were awakening to the idea of individual progress
Observers from Tocqueville onward have seen fit to note that liberty in America, as in no other country, is tied to a desire for __________
economic independence.
If large numbers of citizens are misinformed and base their behavior and opinions on what they think is true, __________
effective governing is difficult to achieve
No country holds as many _______ as does the United States, or has anywhere near as many ________
elections, publicly elected officials.
Economic power is also the foundation of ______
elitism
__________, which refers to the power exercised by well-positioned and highly influential individuals.
elitism
America's most elusive ideal
equality
_________—all individuals are equal in their moral worth and entitled to equal treatment under the law.
equality
In the United States, no one ___________. Majorities govern on some issues, while other issues are dominated by _____________
faction controls all power and policy groups, elites, corporations, individuals through legal action, or officials who hold public office.
Today, African Americans have equal rights under the law, but, in fact, they are __________. Compared with white children, Black children are _____ as likely to live in poverty and to die in infancy
far from equal, twice
democracy has come to mean majority rule through the __________.
free and open election of representatives
Economic system that centers on the transactions between private parties; empowers business firms (corporate power) and the wealthy (elitism)
free market system
Many of our leaders claim, that ______________ is the reason that America has lost millions of manufacturing jobs.
free trade
The U.S. economy is chiefly a _________ system.
free-market
A ___________ assigns private parties the dominant role in determining how economic costs and benefits are allocated.
free-market system
___________ operates mainly on private transactions. Firms are largely free to make their own production, distribution, and pricing decisions, and individuals depend largely on themselves for economic security.
free-market system
Congress was prohibited from enacting laws that abridge ________
freedom of speech, press, or religion
Unalienable rights
freedoms that belong to each and every citizen and cannot lawfully be taken away by government
Sociologist C. Wright Mills concluded that corporate elites, operating behind the scenes, have __________ than do elected officials.
greater control over economic policy
More than _____ of Americans falsely believe that illegal immigrants are entitled to free medical care under the Affordable Care Act.
half
A _________, for example, triggered the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark _________ ruling. Clarence Gideon had been made to stand trial in Florida without the aid of a lawyer for breaking into a pool hall. When he appealed his conviction, the Supreme Court concluded that his constitutional right to counsel had been violated. The ruling established a new policy: If the accused is too poor to hire a lawyer, the government must provide one.
handwritten note by a penniless convict, Gideon v. Wainwright
Even the American states with the lowest proportion of college graduates have a _____ percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree than does the typical European country
higher
Misinformation is now at its ________ level in the history of polling.
highest
Americans' cultural beliefs are rooted in America's ______________
historical development.
America's cultural beliefs are ________. They hold out the promise of a government of _________, in which power is _________, and where individuals are _______.
idealistic, high purpose, widely shared and used for the common good, free, independent, and equal under the law
A Pew Research Center poll found that Americans, by a ratio of seven to one, believe that _________
immigrants are more likely than native-born Americans to commit crimes.
In the 2020 presidential campaign, for instance, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden differed sharply in their positions on ___________, giving voters a choice about the direction of national policy
immigration, health care, the environment, and other major policy issues
A democratic system also bestows another form of power. Although officials are empowered by the majority, they also exercise power _________ as a result of the positions they hold.
in their own right
The obstacles to critical thinking have _______ in recent decades.
increased
Few people have pursued their ________—ranging from freedom of expression to fair-trial protections—as relentlessly as have Americans
individual rights
Officials are obliged to act within the limits of the law, which include the protection of _________
individual rights.
"The worth of the state, in the long run, is the worth of the ___." John Stuart Mill
individuals composing it
Constitution defines the __________.
institutions of governments and the rights of individuals
Conflict between America's two major parties—the Republicans and the Democrats—has ________ in recent decades
intensified
Free trade has, in fact, contributed to the job loss, but ________________________________
it's far from being the main source
Political science provides _________________ that can increase citizens' ability to _______________
knowledge and analytical tools , think critically: Reliable information about how the U.S. political system operates Systematic generalizations about major tendencies in American politics Terms and concepts that highlight key aspects of politics
The Bill of Rights in combination with an independent judiciary and a firm attachment to private property have made ________
legal action
_________—the use of the courts as a means of asserting rights and interests—a channel through which ordinary citizens exercise power
legal action
Although the United States has a higher poverty rate than do European countries, it spends _________per capita on programs for the poor.
less money
majoritarianism has its _______. The public as a whole takes an interest in ________.
limits. only a few of the hundreds of policy decisions that officials make each year.
Some talk-show hosts and bloggers care ___________.
little about the accuracy of the claims they make
More direct forms of democracy exist, such as town meetings in which citizens vote directly on issues affecting them, but the impracticality of such an arrangement in a large society has made _________ through elections the operative form of democratic government,
majority rule
Our ____________ can also lead us to hold false beliefs.
mental habits
The covid toll was much higher in __________
metropolitan areas and nursing homes
In recent years, our politics has become _____________
more heated and divisive
National Academy of Sciences and the conservative Cato Institute. The studies have found that immigrants are _________
more law abiding than are native-born Americans.
Few scholars, however, dispute the claim that corporate elites have __________ in America than they do in most other Western democracies.
more political power
Many of the newer sources are ____________
not to be trusted.
________- control rests with a small group, such as top-ranking military officers or a few wealthy families
oligarchy
Ultimately, the colonists ______________
overturned the European way of governing.
Individual is ______, government is _________
paramount, secondary
Much of the misinformation about COVID-19 originated on __________, including the claim that it was no more dangerous than the flu and that it was a "hoax" created to discredit the Trump administration.
partisan talk shows
What term is used to describe today's politics?
party (partisan) polarization
Even if they wanted to, party leaders would have difficulty getting the majority to ____________
pay attention to most issues
Journalist Walter Lippmann noted that ____________________________
people respond, not to the world as it actually is, but to the world as they think it is.
No aspect of a nation's politics is more revealing of how it is governed than are its _________
policies
____________—the widely shared and deep-seated beliefs of its people about politics
political culture
The tools of ________ can contribute to the critical thinking process.
political science
___________—the systematic study of government and politics.
political science
______, a term that refers to the ability of persons, groups, or institutions to influence political developments
power
America's constitutional system defines how ____________.
power is to be obtained and exercised
The United States is also nearly the only country to use _______ as the means of choosing party nominees.
primary elections
Many of society's costs and benefits are allocated through the _________, although economic systems differ in the degree of privatization.
private sector
Even today, the United States spends more heavily on ______ than do European countries
public education
Americans' determination to build a more equal society can also be seen in its ___________
public education system.
___________, which are the decisions of government to pursue particular courses of action.
public policies
California enacted legislation prohibiting individuals of Japanese descent from _________
purchasing property in the state
The Civil War brought an end to slavery but not to ______
racial oppression
Those with enough power can _______________
raise or cut taxes, permit or prohibit abortions, impose or relax trade barriers, and make war or declare peace.
Political science effort takes place through various frameworks including...
rational choice theory, institutional analysis, historical reasoning, behavioral studies, legal reasoning, and cultural analysis.
Critical thinking also requires citizens to ______________
recognize how their interests and values are affected by a choice they face
Many of them had fled Europe to escape _______________ and came to look upon religious freedom as part of a broader set of rights, including freedom of speech
religious persecution
Americans' chief aim, wrote Tocqueville, "is to ___________
remain their own masters."
The basis of politics is conflict over ___________
scarce resources and competing values.
Political science has developed largely through the work of ______, but ________________________ have also contributed.
scholars, political practitioners and writers
We hold these truths to be ____________, that all men are created ___________; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are ___________That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the ______________; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to _________ and to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
self-evident, equal, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness consent of the governed alter or to abolish it,
The principle of ________ has also shaped American society
self-government
__________—the principle that the people are the ultimate source of governing authority and should have a voice in their governing
self-government
Out of this experience (right to own property) grew a sense of __________
self-reliance and a culture of "rugged individualism.
The government's role is to __________
serve the people
A University of Virginia survey found that American adults are far more likely to want children to be taught about the nation's achievements than about its _________
shortcomings
Under _______, as it is practiced today in Sweden and other countries, government does not attempt to manage the overall economy but owns a number of major industries and guarantees every individual a minimal standard of living
socialism
Americans, said Bryce, reject "the very notion" that ___________
some people might be "better" than others merely because of birth or position.
In 1924, Congress passed a law that largely halted immigration from __________. Earlier, Congress had closed the door on immigrants from ____.
southern and eastern Europe, Asia
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, hostility was directed at new arrivals from _________
southern and eastern Europe—Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Jews, Russians, and others.
"Governments," the Declaration of Independence proclaims, ______________"
the consent of the governed.
Political culture derives from...
the country's traditions and help define the relationship of citizens to their government and to each other.
The president of the United States exercises authority through the powers granted ________, just as do _____ and other ___________.
the executive by the Constitution, members of Congress, public officials
democracy comes from the Greek words demos, meaning "______," and kratis, meaning "."
the people, to rule
Nearly a _____ of Americans over the age of 25 have a college degree, which ranks second only to _______ worldwide
third, Canada
Compared with Europeans, they are ________ as likely to donate to charities. But Americans are less inclined than Europeans to support ________ that could relieve people of the responsibility to take care of themselves.
twice, welfare policies
In Thinking Fast and Slow, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman notes that ______________________
we often accept explanations based on what we'd like to believe rather than what the evidence shows
The world of public affairs is large and complex, and most of what people believe about that world is a result of _______________
what they hear from others rather than what they experience directly.
a defining characteristic of American politics is the _______. Few nations have as many competing interests and institutions as does the United States.
widespread sharing of power
Do Americans still argue over the meaning of equality?
yes
