The Politics of Power or Probability Models for Economic Decisions

The Politics of Power: A Critical Introduction to American Government

Author: Ira Katznelson

THE POLITICS OF POWER provides a lively, comprehensive, critical perspective of the American political system by highlighting how political conflicts, institutions, and processes are influenced by deep inequalities generated by the country's political economy. Building on the coverage of all of the major topics typical of an American Government course the critical analysis in this text is based on the theme that American democracy is limited by fundamental inequalities in power and economic resources. Respected for its critical theme, THE POLITICS OF POWER also strives to be direct without being simplistic, engaging without being flippant, and critical without being cynical.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1	Democracy's Challenge	1
	Introduction	1
	Titanic Inequalities	4
	Democracy and Capitalism	8
	Standards of Democracy	10
	Change, and More Change	14
	Conclusion	18
Part I	Introduction to American Political Economy	21
Chapter 2	Global Capitalism and American Politics	27
	Introduction	27
	The System of Capitalism	28
	The Mobilization of Bias	35
	Corporate Capitalism	39
	Who Owns America's Private Government?	44
	The Professionalization of Capital	45
	The Structure of Employment	48
	Conflict and Cohesion	51
	The Unstable Character of Capitalism	54
	The Current Situation	56
	Conclusion	59
Chapter 3	The American State and Corporate Capitalism	61
	Introduction	61
	The First Wave of Expansion	64
	Stagnation and Challenge	65
	The Second Wave of Expansion	67
	Corporate Capitalism Unravels	68
	A New Deal	70
	The Road Not Taken	72
	Conservative Keynesianism	74
	The Golden Age of Capitalism	75
	Economic Policy Making	7
	Fiscal Policy	78
	The Budget Process	81
	Monetary Policy	84
	The End of the Golden Age of Capitalism	87
	Reaganomics	88
	Clintonomics	90
	The Global Marketplace	92
	Conclusion	95
Part II	The Many Faces of Political Participation	99
Chapter 4	Movement for Change: Workers and Work	101
	Introduction	101
	Work Transformed: The Decline of the Independent Middle Class	104
	Creating Unions	107
	The Growth and Decline of Unions	112
	Future Labor Prospects	122
	Social Movements and Democratic Citizenship	126
	Conclusion	130
Chapter 5	Political Parties, Elections, and Movements	133
	Introduction	133
	The Disappearing American Voter	135
	Party Systems	138
	A Two-Party System	139
	Critical Elections	141
	Party Decay	142
	The Decline of Party Organization	144
	Party Structure and Orientation	145
	Money and Elections	148
	The PAC Phenomenon	153
	Media and Elections	156
	Political Consultants	158
	The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Coalition	160
	A New Republican Party	162
	A Magical Mystery Tour: the 2000 Presidential Election	164
	Contemporary Party Coalitions	168
	A Postelectoral Era?	172
	Conclusion	174
Part III	Political Institutions	177
Chapter 6	The Presidency: Imperial or Imperiled?	181
	Introduction	181
	The Historical Presidency	185
	The Imperial President?	188
	The Imperiled President	193
	Presidential Styles	196
	Bill Clinton as President	198
	The Exercise of Presidential Power	200
	The President's Response: End-Running the Bureaucracy	211
	Behind the Velvet Glove	214
	Conclusion	215
Chapter 7	Congress	217
	Introduction	217
	The Origins of Congress	220
	The Historical Congress	228
	Congress as a Career	232
	Money and Congressional Elections	233
	Safe Seats and Turnover	235
	Members of Congress	237
	The Legislative Process	242
	How a Bill Becomes Law	243
	The Senate	247
	The House of Representatives	253
	Congress, the Bureaucracy, and Interest Groups	259
	Lobbying and Congress	261
	Conclusion	263
Chapter 8	The Judiciary	265
	Introduction	265
	Politics and the Law	269
	A Dual Court System	270
	The Law and the Development of American Capitalism	278
	The Supreme Court in History	280
	The Modern Court: From Warren to Rehnquist	285
	Politics by Lawsuit	292
	Conclusion	294
Part IV	Public Policy	297
Chapter 9	Corporate Capitalism, Foreign Policy, and the Global Political Economy	299
	Introduction	299
	American Foreign Policy Before World War II	302
	Cold War Rivalry	304
	Global Expansion and the Invisible Empire	306
	A New Era of Globalization?	308
	Globalization and Multinational Corporations	311
	Multinational Corporations	315
	The Military Establishment	316
	Political and Economic Influence	319
	The Military-Industrial Complex	319
	Foreign Policy in the Post--Cold War Era	323
	Rationalizing and Restructuring American Military Dominance	325
	The New Global Economy: Whose Globalization?	328
	Promoting Democracy Abroad	332
	Conclusion	334
Chapter 10	The Welfare State	335
	Introduction	335
	The Historical Welfare State	342
	The New Deal	343
	Conservative and Liberal Welfare States	347
	Beyond the New Deal	349
	The Great Society and Its Backlash	355
	Clinton Democrats and the Welfare State	361
	Conclusion	364
Chapter 11	Conclusion: American Politics, Past, Present, and Future	367
	Introduction	367
	The Reagan Revolution?	369
	The New Politics of Inequality	370
	The Clinton-Gore Administration: Bold Centrism or Broken Compact?	372
	The Compassionate Conservatism of the Bush Presidency	381
	Conclusion	384
	Credits	385
	Index	387

Book about:

Probability Models for Economic Decisions (with CD-ROM)

Author: Roger Myerson

This book is an introduction to the use of probability models for analyzing risks and economic decisions. Throughout this book, author Roger Myerson focuses on showing students how to use probability in complex realistic situations. All the analytical work in this book is done in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. As a result of the emphasis on spreadsheet modeling, students will also develop sophisticated spreadsheet skills. However, the main goals of the book are to make the practical power of probability analysis accessible to students and to demonstrate how to apply these concepts in the real world.