The New American Political System, Anthony King, (ed), (Washington DC: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, 1978), 395pp.
Justifying aspirations; litigation; politics; of general applicability to environmental problems; written for the first party participant.
The New American Political System is an examination of change in the political system of the United States since the New Deal era of the 1930s. The editor asserts that the impetus for much of this change can be located in the events of the 1960s and 1970s.
The New American Political System is required reading for ARSC 5010/7010 as taught by Dr. Guy Burgess and Professor Charles Lester. This work will be of interest to those who wish and understanding of the reasons for and effects of changes to the political system of the United States. This work is comprised of ten chapters, each by a different author. The first of these concerns the movement toward a new public philosophy. The public philosophy of the New Deal and the revolutions of the sixties are examined. Next, change and continuity as reflected in the modern presidency are discussed. The author sees the formation of the modern presidency in the administration of FDR. Further, he attributes structural changes in that presidency to the post-1960s era.
Chapter three focuses upon the formation of issue networks and the executive establishment. The author examines the change in the nature of policy-makers, and the growth of government. This is followed by a chapter on what the author terms the ?semi-sovereign Congress'. An examination of the changes apparent in the 95th Congress is offered. The author focuses on: constituent changes, changes in Congressional organisation, changes in decision-making, and the meaning of those changes. Chapter five examines changes in the Supreme Court, with focus upon the Warren and Burger courts. The author examines thepolicy-making process of the court and its emerging role as an independent and effective policy-maker.
The change in political parties is the next focus. Specifically, the increase in participation in and decrease in loyalties to electoral parties, and the parties' role in presidential politics is examined. The author asserts that this increase in participation has resulted in a new presidential elite. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick offers her analysis of changing patterns of electoral competition. After an examination of the base line or normal politics, the author discusses both the symptoms and sources of electoral change, followed by what she terms ?very tentative' conclusions. The next author addresses the puzzle of political participation in the United States. After presentation of studies concerned with trends in turnout, the author considers non- electoral political participation and asserts that political contact is participation, which would demote voting from the single form of political participation to one of several forms.
The ninth chapter considers the States in the context of the new political system. This chapter is concerned with the local, national, and inter-governmental political relationships. The author discusses parties and interest groups, and innovation and diversity. The editor authors the final chapter in which he examines the polity of the United States in the late 1970s. He addresses the facts of change and questions whether there is, indeed, a new political system. The author concludes with a discussion on the nature ofcoalition building and questions whether, in the new political system, coalitions aren't illusory.
The New American Political System is an examination, by multiple authors, of changes in the political system in the United States. The overwhelming consensus is that there has been a significant and substantive change in the political system under consideration. This work attempts an explanation of symptoms and causes of that change.
T. A. O'Lonergan
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