Freedom in America / Edition 1

by William Ker Muir

Overview

If you want students to really understand the concept of power, moving beyond a survey book's quick discussion of Laswell's "who gets what and how," Muir's thoughtful Freedom in America might be the book for you. Exploring the words and ideas of such thinkers as Madison, Jefferson, Hamilton, and Tocqueville, Muir discusses the nature and limits of three types of power—coercive, reciprocal, and moral—and then uses this framework to explain how American political institutions work.

If looking for an alternative to a long survey text—or itching to get students grappling with The Federalist Papers or Democracy in America with more of a payoff—Muir's meditation on power and personal freedom is a gateway for students to take their study of politics to the next level. His inductive style, engaging students with well-chosen and masterfully written stories, lets him draw out and distill key lessons without being preachy. Read a chapter and decide if this page turner is for you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608718443
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	07/11/2011
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Preface x

Introduction 1

Machiavelli and the Notion of Personal Freedom 3

Law and Order 10

Part I Freedom and Power 15

1 Anarchy 17

Chaos in Marysville 17

Disorder in Today's Inner Cities 21

2 Coercive Power 25

The Paradox of Dispossession 26

The Paradox of Detachment 27

The Paradox of Face 28

The Paradox of Irrationality 29

The Role of Politicians 31

Summary 31

3 Tyranny 35

The Balance of Power 35

The Shortcomings of Nonviolent Resistance 37

4 The Police Power 39

A Division of Labor 39

Weak Police and the Rise of Warlords 40

Police Tyranny in the South 43

"How Do You Control Power?" 45

5 The American Constitution 49

The Articles of Confederation 50

Alexander Hamilton and James Madison 52

The Principle of Popular Sovereignty 54

The Necessity of internal Checks 55

The Consequences of Internal Checks 57

Summary 59

6 The Declaration of Independence 63

Thomas Jefferson 64

"The Pursuit of Happiness" 66

Erik Erikson and His Theory of Identity 67

Revolutionary Implications 68

7 Tocqueville and Marx 73

Individualism and Aristocracy 73

Alexis de Tocqueville 74

Karl Marx 75

Who Was Right? 76

8 Reciprocal Power 81

The Problem of Collaboration 82

The Marketplace 83

The Paradox of Scarcity 84

The Paradox of Abundance 86

The Paradox of Equality 86

The Paradox of Freedom 87

A Paradise, Not Perfect but as Good as It Gets 88

A Material Foundation for the Golden Rule 89

Summary 90

9 Moral Power 95

What Is an Idea? 96

Emotional, Balanced, and Interconnected 96

The Paradox of Perception 98

The Paradox of Responsibility 99

The Paradox of Social Order 100

The Dangers of Moral Disorder 102

10 Demagoguery 105

The Speech 106

The Resolution of Anomie 109

11 Social Pluralism 113

The American "Tumult" 114

Essential Characteristics of Moral Organizations 115

The Law Profession as a Moral Institution 117

The Religious Community as a Moral Organization 118

'The Consequences of Social Pluralism 121

12 Political Democracy 125

Political Parties 126

"50 Percent plus One" 127

The Liberal idea of Equality 128

The Conservative Idea of Personal Freedom 128

Political Democracy and The Federalist Papers 130

Part II Institutions of Freedom 135

13 The Presidency 137

Creating a Unitary Presidency 138

The President's Nine Powers 138

A Uniter and a Divider 140

The Pre-1933 Presidency 140

The Modem Presidency and the Welfare State 142

Mediated Information 144

14 The Coercive Power of the Presidency 147

The Personal Nature of the Presidency 148

Coercive Power and the National Security Council 149

15 The Presidency's Reciprocal and Moral Powers 155

Instituting Clearance Procedures 156

The Council of Economic Advisers 157

The Bully Pulpit 158

Eisenhower's Achievements 160

The Lingering Effects of Abraham Lincoln 160

16 Legislatures as Schools 165

What is a Legislature Like? 167

Madison's Vision of a Legislature as a School 167

The Modem Congress 170

The Effect of the Vote 174

"Study Hard" 175

17 Congress as Defender of Freedom 181

Where Madison and Tocqueville Diverge 182

Reciprocity 186

The Paradox of Scarcity, Redux 186

When Information Becomes Easily Accessible 187

An Abundance of Information 189

Steps to Reform 190

18 The Supreme Court as Freedom's Protector 197

Getting to the U.S. Supreme Court 198 John Marshall, Chief Justice 199

Marbury v. Madison 200

Creating a Conflict of Laws 201

The Power of Judicial Review 203

19 The Moral Power of the Courts 207

The Due Process Revolution 208

Moral Power with Little Forethought 217

20 Political Parties: Machines, Coalitions, Churches 221

A Competitive Two-Party System 223

Parties as Machines 224

Parties as Coalitions 227

Parties as Churches 229

21 American Newspapers and Ideas 235

The Arrival of Abundance 237

The Return of Partisanship 239

The Conservative Response 240

Behind the Partisanship of the Left and the Right 241

Belief Systems Have Consequences 242

22 Free-Market Capitalism 247

An Important Distinction 248

Capitalism and Socialism Compared 249

Hamilton and Tocqueville on "Commerce" 250

Capitalism's Power to Distort? 257

Capitalism and Personal Freedom 260

23 The Moral Effects of Taxation 267

Americans Pay a Large Amount of Taxes 268

The Effect of Taxes on Habits of Behavior 269

The Laffer Curve 270

The Moral Effects of the American Tax Code 271

Five Cautions 276

24 Federalism and Freedom 279

What Is Federalism? 281

The Advantages of Federalism 282

Tocqueville's Insights 283

States as Public Policy Laboratories 284

Four Potential Dangers of Federalism 285

Federalism and Freedom 286

Part III American Society 291

25 We the People 293

Americans by the Numbers 293

Diversity of Americans 295

Tocqueville's America, Contemporary America 296

The Humanity of Americans 298

26 The American Electorate 305

Low Turnout: Little Schooling, Youth, Mobility 306

High Turnout: Working for or in the Shadow of Government 308

The Candidates 309

The Convention System 311

The Importance of Party Identification 312

The Transformation of the Electorate 314

27 Tocqueville's Warnings 319

Habits of the Mind 321

Habits of the Heart 323

A Short-Sighted Materialism 324

Summary 326

28 Equality 329

The Pursuit of Equality 330

Whither American Society? 332

Feelings toward the Wealthy 333

Possibility, Not Equality 334

Summary 334

29 Racial Equality 339

Constitutional Concessions 340

The Dred Scott Cas 341

Abraham Lincoln's Response 343

Social Anomie and the Black Community 343

The Unexpected Effects of Brown 345

The Resilience of the Black Churches 346

30 Americans and Foreign Relations 353

Inconstant Policies 354

A Steadfast Foreign Policy 355

"Containment" of the Soviet Union 356

A Unitary Executive 358

The Anchor of Public Opinion 359

31 The Democratic Vision 365

America's Mission 366

Objections 368

The Social Values of Freedom 371

Four Questions 371

Epilogue 377

Appendix A The Eleven Paradoxes of Politics 379

Appendix B The Constitution of the United States 381

Appendix C Federalist Nos. 10, 51, and 70 403

Index 423