| Chapter 1: Freedom, Order, or Equality? |
The Four Freedoms (Short Version)
 | Go back in time over 60 years to hear President Roosevelt articulate what we have come to know as the "four freedoms" -- the freedom of speech, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want, and the freedom from fear. [1]
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The Four Freedoms (Long Version)
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Freedom in 2003
| Bush in 2003 warns that Middle Eastern nations must embrace freedom. [2] |
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| Chapter 2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy? |
Voting Rights
| Universal participation was not always the rule in the United States. For the first time since the era of Reconstruction, African Americans voted in a Democratic primary in South Carolina on August 10, 1948. [3] |
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| Chapter 3: The Constitution |
A Senator Invokes the Constitution
| 1. Constitution is superior to actions of president and Congress. (compares Constitution to the Bible as a source of wisdom). 2. The people -- as determined by email and phone calls to his office -- have a better grasp of constitutional principles such as the war power than members of Congress. ("I might as well speak to the waves.") 3. He insists on a literal meaning to the "power to declare war" which rests fundamentally, in Byrd's opinion, with Congress, not the President. |
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| Chapter 4: Federalism |
A Practical Reality of Dual Sovereignty
| Presidents lack the power to order governors to act with the state’s sphere of action. That’s the blessing and – perhaps – the curse of federalism. In this excerpt of a conversation between President Kennedy and Governor Barnett, consider the polite sense of cooperation that each actor wishes to portray. Note how each man portrays his duty: Kennedy to the Constitution and Barnett to the laws of the state of Mississippi.In the end, Kennedy ordered federal marshals to assist in the registration process. A riot ensued and Kennedy followed with a deployment of the U.S. Army to restore order.For a copy of the transcript of the conversation, click here and go to pp. 239 et seq. [4] |
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No Child Left Behind
| Some conservatives object to national government overreaching because educational policy is a state and local problem. The same could be said for the national government’s efforts to establish a national minimum drinking age. You will recall that the national government used its spending power to lure the states to accept national standards. With states hard-pressed to fund education, it is difficult for them to resist the substantial sums that would be held back if the states failed to cooperate with NCLB. But criticizing the law on federalism grounds still has theoretical coherence. [5] |
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| Chapter 5: Public Opinion and Political Socialization |
“Too Stupid for Democracy”?
| Americans have always expressed their cynicism as well as their patriotism through music. In this song, Eileen McCann questions whether public opinionis the best guide for lawmakers to follow. [6] |
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| Chapter 7: Participation and Voting |
The Dixie Chicks
| Listen to the Dixie Chicks’ 2003 news conference about registering 100,000 young women to vote. [7] |
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| Chapter 8: Political Parties |
William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech (Short Version)
| Hear William Jennings Bryan deliver his stirring “Cross of Gold” speech to the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Candidates don’t talk like that any more. [8] |
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William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech (Long Version)
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| Chapter 9: Nominations, Elections, and Campaigns |
Ike for President
| Listen to this paid TV advertisement for Dwight Eisenhower, Republican candidate for president in 1952. [9] |
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| Chapter 10: Interest Groups |
Emily’s List
| Listen to a report on the PAC Emily’s List, the top fundraising PAC of 2002. [10] |
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| Chapter 11: Congress |
Joseph McCarthy
| Senator Joseph McCarthy’s investigation of Communists in government began to lose public support after he clashed with lawyer Joseph Welch at this hearing in June, 1954. [11] |
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| Chapter 12: The Presidency |
The “Smoking Gun” Tape
| President Nixon and his chief of staff plot to obstruct the FBI’s Watergate investigation. [12] |
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John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
| A new president pledges to advance freedom and peace in the Cold War era. [13] |
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| Chapter 13: The Bureaucracy |
Reagan Threatens to Fire Striking Workers
| The public’s dislike of bureaucracy was surely in President Reagan’s mind when he threatened to fire striking air traffic controllers in August, 1981. [14] |
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| Chapter 14: The Courts |
Welcome to the Supreme Court
| Students approach the Supreme Court with naïve notions about the institution and its members. The purpose of Brennan’s story is to humanize himself and his colleagues. They were interested in the World Series. -President Dwight D. Eisenhower swore in Brennan on October 16, 1956 as a recess appointee. But the World Series took place October 3 to 10. Brennan recalls his introduction on the first day of the series, which was Wednesday, October 3. The Dodgers won that game against the Yankees by a score of 6 to 3. Sal Maglie was the winner pitcher: Whitey Ford was the loser. Jackie Robinson and Gil Hodges hit home runs for Brooklyn. Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin hit homers for New York. (This will demonstrate your baseball erudition.) |
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| Chapter 15: Order and Civil Liberties |
Brett Barber on NPR
| Brett Barber’s willingness to put his political beliefs into action are exceptional. Few people are willing to risk the challenges – to person and reputation – by airing politically unpopular messages. What features of character are likely to lead a person to take unpopular positions? It might be that Barber was seeking notoriety or perhaps he was raised to question authority or perhaps it was the influence of a teacher. This is an opportunity to speculate about motivation and consider the Mark Twain’s remark (quoted in the text): "It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice either of them." |
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Justice Harry Blackmun defends Roe v. Wade
| Roe v. Wade has been the object of scholarly debate since it was announced. On the whole, the scholarly criticism tends to outweigh the scholarly support. Professor John Hart Ely argued persuasively that the opinion was not a constitutional opinion but rather an expression of abortion policy. That criticism has tended to stick and Blackmun was likely using the occasion of this interview to emphasize his disagreement with Ely and other critics. But declaring that an opinion rests on constitutional fundamentals may not be enough to prove that it is constitutional. |
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| Chapter 16: Equality and Civil Rights |
Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” Speech
| King drew on his previous speeches for his “Dream” address. This is established with great clarity from the annotated version.
His departure from his prepared text was said by one historian to come at the direction of the great Gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, who was sitting on the podium. When King’s remarks seem to fall flat, she raised her voice as if in church and declared: “Tell ‘em about The Dream, Martin.” Perhaps King took his inspiration from her, but whatever the source, King departed from his text and elaborated his remarks the way someone might take a musical theme and extemporize on it. As one commentator declared, this inspiration comes from the same source that makes the blues sweet. Note that the Washington Post, like most newspapers, emphasized the address of A. Philip Randolph. King’s speech received almost no commentary. Today, few people even recall the other people who spoke that day. [15] |
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| Chapter 17: Policymaking |
The Contract with America
| In the 1994 congressional elections, Republicans took the unusual step of campaigning on a coordinated national agenda. On the first day of the new Congress in 1995, the Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, asserted that the public endorsed this program, “The Contract with America,” and Congress was obligated to enact it.January 4, 1995 Newt Gingrich unveiled his “Contract with America” and his aggressive legislative agenda. It’s a little over 6 minutes long and the entire speech is worth listening to when studying policymaking. [16] |
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| Chapter 18: Economic Policy |
I heard what Greenspan said, but what did he mean?
| Alan Greenspan discusses the economy and others puzzle over his decision. |
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| Chapter 19: Domestic Policy |
LBJ’s “War on Poverty”
| LBJ set in motion the Great Society, including many of the federal programs that still exist today (student loans, Medicare, Medicaid, indexing Social Security to inflation). Some battles in the war were won. The elderly – once the largest segment of the poor – were lifted by Medicare, which assumed a large measure of medical costs. Poverty rates fell, but the overall poverty rate remains close to what it was 30 years ago. What steps does the Bush administration propose to alleviate proverty in America today? That might be a good talking point for discussion and analysis with students. Will privatizing Social Security help? Probably not much. The end of the old welfare system offered some hope in the on-going war but without substantial job growth and ways to address health care coverage for the uninsured, poverty may still remain as a chronic imperfection of the American political system. Like unemployment, is there some base figure that represents how low we can go and be satisfied that government is doing all it can do? [17] |
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The Medicare Extension
| The legislation is a coup for Republicans because it demonstrates their commitment to compassionate conservatism while supporting a key constituency in the 2004 presidential elections. The costs have been underestimated by at least $100 billion dollars. Such a revelation during the 2004 presidential campaign might have proved damaging to the Bush administration. Still, the cost will be borne by future generations of taxpayers who may be so enraged by this added tax burden that they will consider alternative solutions not now in view. Miller’s idea of generational equity is that no age segment of the population should be unduly burdened with taxation. With fewer workers to support a growing aged population, the tax burden of the elderly will fall much more heavily on younger workers. This may mean that we may need to limit health care for the aged. Today, medical procedures aim to extend the life and quality of life for nonagenarians. There is a strong incentive to extend these services since seniors form a powerful and growing voting block. But as the services cost little or nothing to the patients, the burden will fall on younger citizens. To address this inequity, perhaps we need to contemplate some form of medical service rationing. |
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| Chapter 20: Global Policy |
Truman on the U.N.
| Truman says that fighting social injustice is the U.N.’s role. [18] |
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The 9/11 Commission Testimony
| George Tenet Admits that the CIA Made Mistakes. Listen to a short segment of Director Tenet's testimony of April 14, 2004, before the 9/11 Commission. He said, "We lacked a government wide capability to integrate foreign and domestic knowledge, data, operations, and analysis." [19] |
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