1. Irony of democracy -- The meaning of elite theory -- The meaning of democracy -- Elites in a democracy -- Focus : mass distrust of the U.S. elite -- The meaning of pluralism -- How elitism and pluralism differ -- Elite and mass threats to democracy -- Focus : mass views of elite governance -- An elite theory of democracy -- 2. The elite consensus of the Founding Fathers : U.S. political principles -- Elites and masses in the new nation -- Elite preferences : inspiration for a new constitution -- Formation of a national elite -- George Washington's prestige -- The founders' governing experience -- The Founders' education -- The Founders' wealth -- The Founders national view -- Elite consensus in 1787 -- Protecting liberty and property -- Government as contract -- Republicanism -- Limited government -- Elite consensus in a world context -- Elite negotiation : conciliation and compromise -- Representation -- Slavery -- Trade and commerce -- Voter qualification -- The Constitution as an elitist document -- Taxation and the repayment of loans -- Protecting money and credit -- Opening western land to speculation -- Creating the military -- Protecting against revolution -- elitism and the structure of the national government -- National supremacy -- Republicanism in operation -- Separation of powers and checks and balances -- Judicial review -- Focus : James Madison, suppressing majority "factions" -- Ratification : an exercise in elite political skills : the Bill of Rights as an afterthought -- The constitution : an elitist interpretation -- Elites in America -- Early elite consensus : Hamilton's financial vision -- Focus : elite attitudes toward mass governance -- The rise of the West -- Elite cleavage : the Civil War -- Rise of the new industrial elite -- The Progressive Era -- The Great Depression and the New Deal -- Noblesse Oblige -- The growth of government : the New Deal to the Cold War -- Technology elites -- Globalization -- Focus : hedge funds -- Corporate elites -- Government and corporate elites -- Elite policy-making institutions -- Focus : greed in the boardroom -- Power in the United States : an elitist interpretation -- Focus : the elite think tanks --
10. Courts : elites in black robes -- Judicial review as an elitist principle -- The making of a Supreme Court Justice -- Focus : Senate confirmation as spectacle -- The structure of the Federal Court System -- Federal District courts -- Circuit courts of Appeals -- The U.S. Supreme Court -- The jurisdiction of the Federal Court System -- Appeals -- Caseloads -- Judicial power : activism versus self-restraint -- Focus : "Make it a Federal crime!" -- Stare decisis -- Original intent -- Wisdom versus constitutionality -- Supreme Court politics -- Liberal and Conservative blocs -- Do the Courts rule the nation? -- Focus : the Supreme Court and abortion -- The Courts : an elitist interpretation -- 11. Federal Bureaucracy -- Sources of bureaucratic power -- Government size and cost -- Organization of the Washington Bureaucracy -- Cabinet -- Focus : the growth in executive departments -- National Security Council -- Office of Management and Budget -- Presidential control of the bureaucracy -- Appointments -- The presidential budget -- Focus : bureaucratic maneuvers -- Continuing resolutions and government shutdowns -- Presidential vetoes of appropriations bills -- Elite fiscal responsibility? -- Entitlement spending -- Balancing the budget -- Tax politics -- The Internal Revenue Service -- Bureaucratic power, iron triangles, and revolving doors -- Implementation, regulation, and adjudication -- Focus : Capital gains taxes and the economy -- The regulatory quagmire -- Focus : the FED, money is too important to be left to elected officials -- Deregulation and reregulation -- Controlling the bureaucracy : checks and balances? -- The Federal bureaucracy : an elitist interpretation -- 12. Federalism : state and community elites -- Federalism : the division of power between national and state governments -- Power flows to the national elite -- Money and power -- The evolution of U.S. Federalism -- Focus : rising star, Governor Bobby Jindal -- Coercive Federalism -- Mass influence in the states -- The Populist Movement in the states -- The politics of state initiatives -- The old-community economic elites -- Focus : corporate elite structures in the states -- Focus : rising star, Mayor Kevin Johnson -- The new-community political elites -- Federalism : an elitist interpretation --
13. Civil Rights : diversifying the elite -- Minorities acquiring elite status -- The history of decline of minority exclusion -- The African-American struggle for freedom -- Abolition and aftermath -- Elites and desegregation -- Focus : the early Black elite, Booker T. Washington -- Martin Luther KIng, Jr. -- The Hispanic-American search for rights -- Asian-American search for rights -- Multiracial Rights Movement -- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- Racial inequality and Affirmative Action -- Focus : "diversity" in higher education -- Elite versus mass response to Civil Rights -- Women's rights in the UNited States -- The Women's Movement -- Equity feminism -- Gender feminism -- Women and work -- The dual labor market and the earnings gap -- Gender equality in Civil Rights laws -- Feminism and elitism -- Women acquiring elite status -- Gay rights -- 14. The United States as global elite -- Approaches to foreign relations in the United States -- Idealism -- Realism -- Elites debate the use of military force -- War as politics -- Focus : elite foreign policy-making, the Council on Foreign Relations -- The United States in the international security system -- United Nations Security Council -- NATO -- Security threats to the United States -- Nuclear threats -- Deterrence and arms reductions -- Antiballistic missile defenses -- Nuclear terrorism -- The terrorist threat -- The war in Iraq -- Focus : David Petraeus -- The cyber threat-- The global economic elite -- The United States and global trade-- The world Trade Organization -- the International Monetary Fund -- The World Bank -- Globalization and democracy -- United States as global hegemon : an elitist interpretation -- Epilogue : what can students do? -- Appendix. The Constitution of the United States of America.
4. Masses in the United States -- Elite gains, mass stagnation -- Worker earnings -- Deunionization -- Inequality in the United States -- Mass disaffection from politics -- Antidemocratic attitudes among the masses -- Social class and democratic attitudes -- Education and democratic attitudes -- Elite experience and democratic attitudes -- The growing tolerance of the masses -- Mass political ignorance -- Focus : mass confidence in U.S. institutions -- Ignorance and paranoia : conspiracy theory -- Mass political apathy -- The dangers of mass unrest -- Focus : popular movements, The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street -- Counterelites -- Left-wing, Right-wing, and single-issue extremism -- Elite repression -- Repression and the War on Terrorism -- How does democracy survive: -- Mass conditions : an elitist interpretation -- 5. The media : elite-mass communication -- The news makers -- the media's political functions -- Socialization -- Bashing the United States for fun and profit -- Sex and violence -- Focus : political entertainment -- Bias in television news -- Hollywood liberals -- Political power and the press -- bias and slander : freedoms of the press -- No prior restraint -- "Absence of malice" -- Politics and the internet -- Media campaigns -- Media coverage of presidential elections -- Assessing media impact -- Cognition and comprehension -- Attitudes and values -- Public opinion -- Behavior -- The media : an elitist interpretation -- 6. Elections, parties, and democracy -- The functions of elections -- Why people vote in the United States -- Political parties and elections -- Focus : images of the candidates -- Two-party politics -- Primary elections and the deterioration of the parties -- Money drives elections -- Focus : dirty politics -- Superpacs --
7. Elites and organized interests -- Interest groups : pluralist or elitist? -- The elite bias of interest groups -- Class bias -- Dominance of business and union organizations -- Organized labor -- Focus : super lobby, the business roundtable -- Focus : billionaire activists -- Focus : are you a liberal or a conservative? -- Civil rights organizations -- Women's groups -- Gay rights groups -- How well do groups represent their members? - Focus : size and representation -- Lobbying : how organized interests influence government -- Assess -- Information -- Focus : lobbyists and influence peddlers -- Grassroots mobilization -- INterest group influence through campaign support -- PACs -- Interest groups bias against change-- Interest groups : an elitist interpretation -- 8. Congress : the legislative elite -- The elite bias of congressional recruitment -- Political entrepreneurship -- Professionalism -- Race and gender -- Focus : Representative Paul Ryan -- Whom does Congress really represent? -- Congress in disrepute -- The elaborate procedures of legislative elites -- Kill bill -- The lawmaking process -- Standing congressional committees -- Public hearings -- Committee membership -- The seniority system -- The power of the chair -- Decentralization : subcommittees and "iron triangles" -- The House Rules Committee -- Senate filibusters -- The floor vote -- Conference committees -- Fast track legislation -- Elites within elites : the congressional establishment -- Focus : Senator Al Franken -- Polarization on Capitol Hill -- Congress and the President : an unstable balance of power -- Impeachment -- Focus : congressional ethics -- Congress : an elitist interpretation -- 9. The presidency -- The president as symbolic leader -- Focus : president as superhero -- The president and mass psychology -- Presidential character -- Presidential powers of persuasion -- The president's formal powers -- Chief executive -- Chief legislator -- Chief diplomat -- Commander-in-chief -- Chief of law enforcement and grantor of pardons -- Party leader -- The vice president -- The president and Congress -- White House lobbying -- The veto power -- Limits on presidential executive power -- Executive privilege -- IMpeachment -- Focus : Watergate and the limits of presidential power -- The Obama presidency -- Focus : George W. Bush's turbulent presidency -- The presidency : an elitist interpretation --
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Cultural pluralism-- United States.
Elite (Social sciences)-- United States.
Cultural pluralism.
Elite (Social sciences)
Politics and government.
United States, Politics and government, Textbooks.