We Hold These Truths

Updating the Framers' Vision of American Democracy

Stephen M. Maurer (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

300 Seiten

2023
Cambridge University Press (Verlag)
978-1-108-84570-0 (ISBN)

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This book presents a self-contained and accessible economic analysis of American politics. Chapters address voters, political parties, the media, Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court. Maurer explains how the Framers' design usually encourages moderation – but can also veer into the kind of dangerously divisive politics we know today.

The Federalist remains the best single account of how American democracy is supposed to work. That said, it remains incomplete. While generations of scholars from Alexis de Tocqueville to Anthony Downs have worked hard to fill these gaps, America's constantly-changing society and political institutions continue to encounter new puzzles and challenges. We Hold These Truths provides a comprehensive survey of recent scholarship about the Framers' vision, stressing how long-established political patterns can abruptly change as voters become more polarized, and even lead to feedbacks that amplify public anger still further. Developing a theory of American democracy for the age of the internet, Trump, and polarization, this study mixes modern social science with a detailed knowledge of history, asking where the Framers' scheme has gone wrong – and what can be done to fix it.

Stephen M. Maurer is Adjunct Emeritus Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Trained as a lawyer, he has been associated with Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy since 1999. His books include WMD Terrorism (2009), On the Shoulders of Giants (CUP 2017), and Self-Governance in Science (CUP 2017).

Introduction; 1. Updating the framers; 2. The people: from individuals to communities; 3. Selling policy: political narratives & ideologies; 4. The public forum: mass media and the web; 5. Mass democracy: political parties and elections; 6. The 'extended republic': communities, states & regions; 7. Making law: the congress; 8. Implementing law: the executive; 9. Interpreting law: the courts; 10. Democracy evolving: the future of American politics.

Erscheinungsdatum	22.12.2023
Zusatzinfo	Worked examples or Exercises; 6 Halftones, black and white; 6 Line drawings, black and white
Verlagsort	Cambridge
Sprache	englisch
Maße	160 x 236 mm
Gewicht	730 g
Themenwelt	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Politische Theorie
ISBN-10	1-108-84570-3 / 1108845703
ISBN-13	978-1-108-84570-0 / 9781108845700
Zustand	Neuware