Analyzing Politics The Five Principles of Politics will help you make sense of the complexity of the political world, identify political patterns, and understand political outcomes. THE RATIONALITY PRINCIPLE People do what they do politically to achieve purposes—personal, social, philosophical. THE INSTITUTION PRINCIPLE The rules we use to make decisions influence the outcomes. THE COLLECTIVE ACTION PRINCIPLE Politics involves many people who compete, bargain, and cooperate. THE POLICY PRINCIPLE Policies are the result of individual goals, institutional rules, and collective action. THE HISTORY PRINCIPLE Decisions and actions in the past affect political choices and outcomes today. FOURTEENTH EDITION iii W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Mary D. Herter Norton first published lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult education division of New York City’s Cooper Union. The firm soon expanded its program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of Norton’s publishing program—trade books and college texts—were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the company to its employees, and today—with a staff of four hundred and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year—W. W. Norton & Company stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees. Copyright © 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, 1992, 1990 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Editor: Ann Shin Associate Editor: Emily Stuart Editorial Assistant: Shannon Jilek Project Editor: David Bradley Media Editor: Spencer Richardson-Jones Associate Media Editor: Michael Jaoui Media Editorial Assistant: Ariel Eaton Marketing Manager: Erin Brown Production Manager: Ben Reynolds Book Designer: Kiss Me I’m Polish LLC, New York Design Director: Rubina Yeh Permissions Manager: Megan Schindel Composition: GraphicWorld Manufacturing: Quad/Graphics—Taunton MA Permission to use copyrighted material is included in the credits section of this book, which begins on page A57. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lowi, Theodore J., author. | Ginsberg, Benjamin, author. | Shepsle, Kenneth A., author. | Ansolabehere, Stephen, author. American government : power & purpose / Theodore J. Lowi, Cornell University, Benjamin Ginsberg, The Johns Hopkins University, Kenneth A. Shepsle, Harvard University, Stephen Ansolabehere, Harvard University. Fourteenth Edition. | New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. LCCN 2016055795 | ISBN 9780393283754 (hardcover) LCSH: United States—Politics and government. LCC JK276 .L69 2017 | DDC 320.473—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc. gov/2016055795 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., 15 Carlisle Street, London W1D 3BS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 For Our Families Angele, Anna, and Jason Lowi Sandy, Cindy, and Alex Ginsberg Rise, Nilsa, and Seth Shepsle Laurie Gould and Rebecca and Julia Ansolabehere Contents PREFACE xxiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxvi PART 1 FOUNDATIONS 1 Five Principles of Politics 2 Making Sense of Government and Politics 4 What Is Government? 5 Forms of Government 5 Politics 6 Five Principles of Politics 6 The Rationality Principle: All Political Behavior Has a Purpose 7 The Institution Principle: Institutions Structure Politics 9 The Collective Action Principle: All Politics Is Collective Action 12 The Policy Principle: Political Outcomes Are the Products of Individual Preferences and Institutional Procedures 18 The History Principle: How We Got Here Matters 19 vi Contents Conclusion: Preparing to Analyze the American Political System 21 For Further Reading 22 ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE How Do Political Scientists Know What They Know? 24 Constructing a Government: 2 The Founding and the Constitution 30 The First Founding: Interests and Conflicts 32 British Taxes and Colonial Interests 33 Political Strife and the Radicalizing of the Colonists 34 The Declaration of Independence 36 The Revolutionary War 36 The Articles of Confederation 37 The Second Founding: From Compromise to Constitution 38 International Standing, Economic Difficulties, and Balance of Power 38 The Annapolis Convention 39 Shays’s Rebellion 39 The Constitutional Convention 40 TIMEPLOT Representation in Congress: States’ Ranks 42 The Constitution 46 The Legislative Branch 47 THE POLICY PRINCIPLE The Constitution and Policy Outcomes 48 The Executive Branch 50 The Judicial Branch 51 ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE Constitutional Engineering: How Many Veto Gates? 52 National Unity and Power 54 Contents vii Amending the Constitution 54 Ratifying the Constitution 55 Constitutional Limits on the National Government’s Power 55 The Fight for Ratification: Federalists versus Antifederalists 57 Representation 59 The Threat of Tyranny 60 Governmental Power 61 Changing the Institutional Framework: Constitutional Amendment 62 Amendments: Many Are Called, Few Are Chosen 62 The Twenty-Seven Amendments 64 Conclusion: Reflections on the Founding—Ideals or Interests? 68 For Further Reading 70 3 Federalism and the Separation of Powers 72 Who Does What? Federalism and Institutional Jurisdictions 74 Federalism in the Constitution: Who Decides What 75 THE POLICY PRINCIPLE Federalism and Support for Corn Farmers 76 The Slow Growth of the National Government’s Power 80 Cooperative Federalism and Grants-in-Aid: Institutions Shape Policies 83 Regulated Federalism and National Standards 86 New Federalism and the National–State Tug-of-War 88 ANALYZING THE EVIDENCE Health Care Policy and the States 90 The Separation of Powers 92 Checks and Balances: A System of Mutual Vetoes 93 viii Contents