Dear readers,

If you need a list of contents of the blog, here they are;

Introduction

Overview of elections
Invisible primary
Electoral College
Primaries and caucuses
Momentum
Balanced ticket
National Party Conventions
Insider and outsider candidates
Soft money and hard money
The role of the media
What does it take to win an election?
Candidate-centered elections
The key characteristics of elections
Safe seats and swing states
Fixed terms
Direct democracy
Quotes on Elections
The Republican Party
The Democrats
Third parties
Ideological spectrum
Ideological labels
Ideological trends within the main parties
Neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism
Party branding
Political advertising
Party decline
Party renewal
New Right
Internal coalitions
Quotes on Political Parties
Short-term and long-term factors
Income
Geographical location
Gender
Age
Ethnicity
Education
Religion
Demographic trends
Short-term factors
Apathy
Ticket splitting
Separate mandate
Democratic overload
Getting voters to the polls
Differential abstention
Swing voters
Alignment, de-alignment and re-alignment
Theories of voting behavior
Quotes on voting behavior
Types of pressure groups
Pluralism
Elitism
New Right
Corporatism
Marxist perspective
The positive impact of pressure groups
The negative impact of pressure groups
Direct action
The relationship between pressure groups and democracy
Methods used by pressure groups
How important is money in terms of the success of pressure groups?
The AIPAC
Clientelism
Political Action Committees
Quotes on pressure groups
Introduction to the Constitution
Limited government
Constitutional sovereignty
Separated institutions sharing power
Optimism mixed with realism
The relationship between the federal and state level
The first amendment
The second amendment
The fourth and fifth amendment
The eighth amendment
The fourteenth amendment
How relevant is the Constitution?
The Constitution and civil liberties
The rights of minorities
The process of amendment
Flexibility within the Constitution
The workings of government
Quotes on the Constitution
The structure of Congress
The functions of a legislature
Representation
Scrutiny
Gridlock
Filibustering
The law-making process
Why is it so difficult to pass laws?
Advice and consent
The role and powers of the two chambers
The prestige of the two chambers
The ability of Congress to set the agenda
Congressional committees
The party system within Congress
Vetoes and congressional override
Quotes on Congress
Hail to the chief!
Imperial presidency thesis
Imperiled thesis
The dual presidency
Dependent factors concerning presidential power
The President and foreign policy
The power to persuade
The relationship between the White House and Capitol Hill
Historical overview
The Executive Office of the President
The Cabinet
Controlling the bureaucracy
Constraints upon the President
Presidential legacy
Quotes on the presidency
Role of the judiciary
Judicial activism
Judicial restraint
Judicial review
The rule of law
How powerful is the Supreme Court?
Checks upon the judiciary
How political is the Supreme Court?
The nomination process
The importance of the nomination process
Judicial independence
Judicial neutrality
To what extent does the Supreme Court protect our rights?
Guardians of the Constitution
Swing judges
The Supreme Court, the executive and the legislature
The Roberts Court
To what extent are members of the Supreme Court partisan?
Quotes on the Supreme Court

Further quotes on American Politics

Glossary

Bibliography

Concluding remark 

I sincerely hope that this blog has – over the past year or so – provided you with a better understanding of American Politics. I also hope that the knowledge provided will be of benefit in some way, as education opens up so many doors. More importantly, I trust it has stimulated your interest in politics and thereby enabled you to engage more fully with the subject matter. Indeed, I sincerely hope it gives you the intellectual tools required to play a proper role in the political process of this great nation. America is at its best when it inspires participation amongst its people, and we all truly have a part to play regardless of the circumstances of our birth wherever we reside in this union of ours.

 

Benjamin Franklin once said that “America remains a Republic, if … we can keep it that way. All of us have a part to play.” I sincerely hope that we as citizens of this great country can retain a Republic and avoid the tyranny of ignorance. Ignorance can only serve those in power and the vested interests that shape our system. Be empowered … always! I have dedicated my working life to teaching and writing. There is nothing more important to the next generation; and I hope I can play a small role in that.

Bibliography

I have used the following to research my blog over the past few months; 

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Woodward, B. (2003) Bush at War (Simon and Schuster).

Woodward, B. (2008) The War Within (Simon and Schuster).

Watergate affair The illegal activities and subsequent cover-up of the Nixon administration. Figures within the Campaign to re-elect the President (CREEP) broke into Democrat HQ in the Watergate building, Washington DC. Watergate instigated a series of events that led to Nixon’s eventual resignation in 1974. The term ‘gate’ is routinely added to controversies that imply an abuse of power.

Wedge issue An issue considered so important that it divides two or more strands of a political party/ideology. There are several obvious examples to consider, but an unusual one is the creation of gambling casinos. Fiscal conservatives in the GOP favor such moves, but social conservatives equate gambling with a sin that is contrary to God’s teachings.

Weltanschauung An outlook taken by an individual (or social group) upon the world around them. The weltanschauung of the founding fathers was unmistakably liberal and fearful of absolutist rule.

Whip system An organization of House leaders who work to disseminate information and promote party unity in voting on legislation. It must be noted that party discipline is relatively weak in the states.

Wholesale politics A means of campaigning that involves indirect contact with citizens, such as running campaign advertisements.

Winner-take-all The practice of assigning all of a given state’s delegates to the candidate who receives the most popular votes. In recent years, there has been a shift towards proportional allocation.

Workfare A set of measures designed to get welfare claimants back to work via changes to the tax and benefit system (such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)). The aim of workfare is to reduce the number of claimants within the United States. The Clinton administration granted waivers from federal rules to over 40 states in order to enable them to pursue their own way of ending welfare as we know it. Under the Obama administration, the fiscal stimulus expanded the numbers eligible for the EITC.

World Bank A non-governmental organization that provides financial support for economic development projects in developing nations.

World Trade Organization An international organization created to oversee trade agreements between nations by facilitating negotiations and handling disputes.

Writ of certification An uncommon way in which a case is brought before the Supreme Court, whereby an appeals court asks the judicial branch to clarify federal law in regards to a particular case.

Vesting clause Article 2 Section 1 of the Constitution which states that all executive power resides with the President.

Veto message That note explaining the objections of the President to a proposed piece of legislation. The President must veto the whole bill and return it to the chamber that first considered it within ten working days.

Vice President The deputy to the President and the person who is (quite literally!) a heartbeat away from becoming Head of State. A good veep pick often adds a few points to a campaign, whereas a bad choice will often subtract to the same degree. Moreover, the importance of the role of Vice President has grown in recent years to the extent that he is now the epitome of the Washington insider (notably Gore, Cheney and Biden). Al Gore was given a significant role during the NAFTA negotiations and Dick Cheney was described as “an imperial Vice President.” The Vice President also serves (and is referred to) as President of the Senate, but a Senator is selected to serve as president pro tempore of the upper chamber. The veep is important in other ways too. For instance, he provides experience/expertise to the administration and helps to balance the ticket during the campaign. He can stand in for the President, acts as something of a cheerleader for unpopular policies and can even be an ‘attack dog’ for the administration. All this suggests his importance goes beyond taking responsibility for specific areas of policy and liaising with Congress. However, John Garner is widely believed to have described the post of Vice President as “not worth a bucket of warm spit” and Hubert Humphrey compared it to “being naked in the middle of a blizzard with no one to even offer you a match to keep you warm.”

Vietnam syndrome The deep-seated reluctance of the United States to engage in unilateral military action since their defeat in the Vietnam War. When sending troops abroad Congress often seeks assurances from the President concerning aims, cost (both financial and human) and exit strategy. For his part the President seeks to forge alliances with Congress, other countries and international organizations. Since the US experienced defeat at the hands of the Communists in Vietnam successive Presidents have found it more difficult to persuade the public as to the merits of overseas military involvement. Vietnam left a considerable scar on the conscience of the nation and those who have occupied the White House since the mid-1970s have had to deal with the consequences. America lost much of its moral certainty over Vietnam, a certainty that George W. Bush tried to recapture in the war against terror.

Virginia Plan A scheme proposed by the larger states during the Constitutional Convention in which representation within Congress was based on population. The plan also included a variety of other proposals to strengthen the federal government.

Vision thing Where the President is expected to promote an image or goal of a better America (or even a better world). The phrase is associated with George Bush senior who was criticized for lacking the vision thing, a point he readily acknowledged himself. A coherent vision can inspire supporters and give a sense of direction to a presidency.

Voting cues Items of information about a political candidate that are readily available, easy to interpret and lead a citizen to decide to vote for a particular candidate. They may derive from keynote speeches on important issues.