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 PREFACE

Critical Thinking and American Government was written for students who come to the study of American government unac-
customed to thinking critically and analytically about politics. It was also written for Advanced Placement and college in-
structors who want their students to grasp American politics in greater depth and with more practical applications than
standard survey textbooks provide.
We are happy to have a found a new home at Pearson for Critical Thinking and American Government. For our first
edition with Pearson, we’ve updated the exercises with new data and material focusing on important political developments
that have occurred in the past four years. There is an updated exercise, for example, that leads students through an analysis
of presidential statements during the 2008 presidential campaign. The role of the economy in presidential elections continues
to be critical, and the most recent presidential campaign is now incorporated in the exercise on this topic. Perhaps the most
significant development since the last presidential election has been the Tea Party movement, and the exercise on earmarks
and pork-barrel spending now incorporates coverage of this movement.
We suggest that students and teachers consider a few elements that underpin the critical thinking approach to the
study of American politics incorporated in this text. The first element is discipline‐based critical thinking. Many colleges
and universities require students to take a class in critical thinking as one of their degree requirements. Unfortunately,
those classes are often taught in isolation from any academic discipline, which is a bit like teaching writing without a lan-
guage to work with. This text grounds the development of critical and analytical thinking skills in the discipline of political
science.
Second is the integration of critical thinking into the introductory American politics course. The critical thinking ex-
ercises in this text are grouped in chapters that match those in most standard survey texts. The exercises allow students and
teachers to delve critically and analytically into topics typically covered in the introductory course. Examples include tracing
African American representation in Congress using data sets, analyzing the Electoral College through popular and electoral
vote results, assessing the president’s war power by categorizing and quantifying the use of armed force abroad, and investi-
gating incumbency using data on reelection rates. Students and teachers will find that the exercises complement their studies
in class and in the standard text.
The third element in our approach is the regular assignment of critical thinking exercises. This text allows students to
practice analytical inquiry within political science on a regular basis, thereby deepening their knowledge and understanding
of the discipline and course material. We recognize that the term homework conjures up in many students’ minds images of bleak,
unending drudgery. But that won’t be the case here. These critical thinking exercises offer a wide variety of approaches that our
students find interesting and challenging.
The fourth element is actively engaging the subject. The introductory American government course is often con-
strained by its reliance on the instructor’s description and analysis of the subject matter. But no matter how effective a survey
text—or how dynamic an instructor—description without active engagement brings students up short. Our students want to
confront, apply, manipulate, and actively problem‐solve within the discipline. This text provides that opportunity.
For teachers in the natural sciences and mathematics, it is evident that students must embrace the subject—actively
and regularly—to learn it. Imagine teaching math by describing numeric problems with a PowerPoint® presentation and not
requiring students to practice solving problems that embody the concepts and relationships explained in class. Science stu-
dents have their labs; math students have their proofs and problems. Why should a midterm and final exam alone suffice for
students of American politics?
The fifth element is that these critical thinking exercises are designed to facilitate the measurement of student out-
comes and assessment. The authors have misgivings about the simplistic market‐based model of outcomes and assessment,
which too often comes from those without classroom experience. This text is anchored, however, in the classroom and builds
on what teachers know from their everyday experience: Successful student learning requires clear objectives and regular as-
sessment. Instructors need to know whether students are mastering the required skills and subject matter of the discipline.
We believe that our text is consistent with the most useful research on outcomes and assessment as well as the new scholar-
ship of teaching and learning.

A NOTE ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE TEXT

Each critical thinking exercise begins with a one‐ to three‐page introduction, broadly explaining the topic and preparing
students to tackle the critical thinking assignment. The introduction is followed by critical thinking questions based on a
wide variety of primary sources: Supreme Court opinions, legislation, the Federalist Papers, public opinion polls, appor-
tionment and population tables, presidential and congressional election results, data on campaign spending, among others.
The critical thinking questions are calibrated carefully to lead students to engage these sources successfully. The exercises

vii
viii Preface

focus on data interpretation and analysis, the discovery of basic relationships among variables, and the ability to read criti-
cally, to summarize information concisely, to formulate generalizations and hypotheses, to draw logical inferences, to as-
sess the strength of opposing arguments and positions, and to practice obtaining and analyzing reliable sources on the
Internet.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS

Appendix 1 in this text is a guide to using this critical thinking approach. It includes suggestions on selecting and assigning
exercises, integrating the exercises into the introductory class, getting students started, employing the exercises as group
work, and evaluating the exercises.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are indebted to reviewers, colleagues, and students for the new approaches, exercises, and topics they have suggested. We
thank them, too, for pointing out problems in previous editions, allowing us to clarify and amend where necessary. Phyllis
Brudney’s expertise helped us get the mathematics right. Of course, remaining sins of omission or commission are ours
alone. Our thanks go to the professionals at Pearson, most especially our editor, Reid Hester, who could not have been more
encouraging. Most of all, we thank John Culver for co‐authorship of the first two editions with Wadsworth. He has been
sorely missed, but his good work is still evident in several exercises.
◾ ◾ ◾ ◾ ◾
1
Governing Principles and Ideologies

EXERCISE 1.1 Reading the Constitution

INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Constitution establishes the fundamental principles, processes, and structures of the U.S. political system, including
representative government, republicanism, popular sovereignty, and individual rights; the process of checks and balances;
and the structures of separation of power and federalism. The Constitution grants power to government institutions, to
officeholders, and to citizens, and it constrains all of them in their exercise of power. Under the Constitution, sovereignty is
divided among the people, the state governments, and the national government, thus preventing a concentration of power
that could endanger the liberties of citizens.
That the Constitution has endured for more than two centuries is a function of four extraordinary innovations in the
theory and practice of republican government. First, American constitutions were written. This innovation was employed in
creating state constitutions and later the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution of 1787. Written constitutions were
a significant departure from the British model, a vague body of law and precedent, some written and some not. During the
colonial and revolutionary periods, Americans had found that an informal constitution was a weak and unreliable guarantor
of citizens’ liberties. So they insisted that their constitutions be written.
Second, the American constitutions were separate from and superior to the government they sought to restrain. This,
too, was a departure from the British model. In England, citizens customarily looked to Parliament to protect their liberties
from the abuse of power by the king. But Americans learned from their experience with state governments between 1776 and
1787 that duly elected legislatures and even citizens themselves might abuse power and had to be restrained by a higher au-
thority. Their written state and federal constitutions would be that separate and paramount authority.
The third innovation was a process for creating and then amending the written documents. A constitution separate
from and superior to the government could not be created or altered by the government it was meant to control. So Americans
located the power to create and alter the Constitution of 1787 in special conventions of citizens that were separate from the
national and state governments in existence at the time.
Article V of the Constitution of 1787 divides the amendment power between the national and state governments, on
one hand, and popular conventions of citizens, on the other. Popular conventions have been employed only once since the
adoption of the Constitution, when the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed Prohibition, was ratified by popularly
elected conventions in the states in 1933. But their inclusion in the Constitution illustrates the conviction of Americans that
fundamental law must be separate from the institutions of government.
The fourth innovation was judicial review, the power of judges to say what a constitution means and to strike down
government actions that conflict with the authority of the Constitution. Judicial review was rooted in the belief that the na-
tion’s fundamental law is both separate from and superior to the government. Clearly, government officials cannot evaluate
their own performance against the standards set forth in the Constitution. The framers, or authors, of the Constitution could
have made the people the instrument for assessing the government’s compliance with the Constitution. But they, like many
Americans at the time, held a dim view of democracy and feared the consequences of locating power in the citizenry.
Actually, judicial review is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution of 1787. But the concept of a fundamental law that
binds the government pointed to the need for interpretation by some impartial body. Judges at the state government level
were the first to exercise judicial review. In 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court asserted the power for the first time, striking down
1
2 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

a law passed by Congress. In Marbury v. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall claimed for the
Supreme Court the power to interpret the Constitution: “A law repugnant to the Constitution is
void.” The exercise of judicial review confirmed that Americans had elevated the fundamental
law above their government and had found a practical way to maintain that separation.
The framers intended the Constitution to be the foundation for “A New Order of the Ages,”
yet it is a surprisingly brief and often ambiguous document. Both its brevity and ambiguity sug-
gest the wisdom of its authors: They did not want the document to be so detailed that it would
constrain policymakers in future generations, tying them to the interests and issues of the found-
ing period. The framers knew that a free people facing ongoing political change would cast off
any document that could not be adapted to new circumstances. The spareness of the Constitution
has helped it endure as the fundamental law in the United States for over 200 years.1
Some of the matters on which the Constitution is ambiguous are important. The interests
of those at the Constitutional Convention were often too diverse to reconcile through bargaining
and compromise. Ambiguous language allowed the parties to agree on issues that, if dealt with
specifically, would have deadlocked the convention. Since 1787, ambiguities in the Constitution
have been sorted out in the practice of U.S. political life and through interpretation by the federal
courts. Still, the meanings of certain phrases—“necessary and proper” (Article I, Section 8) and
“equal protection” (Fourteenth Amendment), for example—are likely always to be contested.
On a number of important matters, the Constitution is silent. The framers did not explicitly
confer the right to vote on anyone. The right to vote is implicit, of course, in the Constitution’s guar-
antee that every state will have a republican form of government and in the Constitution’s references
to the election of representatives, senators, and the president. But until the Fifteenth Amendment
was ratified in 1870, state governments alone determined who could vote in their respective states.
Subsequent amendments granted the right to vote to women and citizens of age 18 or older. The
framers did not set out the role that political parties should play in the political system or a process
for canceling treaties. Over the years, state legislatures and Congress have defined, in law, the func-
tions and responsibilities of parties in the electoral arena. And it wasn’t until the late 1970s that
the treaty issue was resolved. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter abrogated (canceled) a mutual
defense treaty with Taiwan without securing the approval of the Senate. A group of senators chal-
lenged the president’s action in court. In Goldwater v. Carter (1979), the Supreme Court ruled that
the case involved a political question and refused to decide the matter. With both the Constitution
and the Supreme Court silent on the authority to abrogate treaties, it seems that authority is now the
president’s by virtue of a president’s having claimed it and successfully exercised it.
The Constitution offers neither law nor much guidance on current social issues. It was the
Supreme Court that legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade (1973). And the courts are now in the pro-
cess of examining issues such as gay marriage and the right to die. Judges will have to look deeply
into the Constitution and their own notions of truth and justice to determine how to rule on
these matters.

ASSIGNMENT, PART A: THE CONSTITUTION’S BASIC PROVISIONS

The following questions will familiarize you with the organization of the Constitution and several of its
provisions. Consult the Constitution in the appendix of this text. In your answers, always cite the num-
ber of the relevant article or amendment. Preview the questions below before you read the Constitution
so that you know what to be looking for as you read the document.
1. Read each article of the Constitution. In just one sentence, state the general purpose or subject
of each article.

Article I:

Article II:

1
By contrast, many state constitutions suffer from excessive detail. They often run on for hundreds of pages, with arcane
specifications confused by scores of amendments. They are commonly documents that only legislators, lawyers, and
judges can make sense of.
 Exercise 1.1 • Reading the Constitution 3

Article III:

Article IV:

Article V:

Article VI:

Article VII:

2. In the Constitution of 1787—the unamended document—how many times do the words

slave and slavery appear?

3. The powers the Constitution specifically grants to the branches of government or to office-
holders are called enumerated powers.
a. Identify one enumerated power of the president.

b. Identify one enumerated power of the vice president.

c. Identify one enumerated power of Congress.

4. a. How were U.S. senators chosen before the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913?

b. How have U.S. senators been chosen since 1913?

5. a. Identify one power that the Constitution prohibits Congress from exercising.

b. Identify one power that the Constitution prohibits the states from exercising.

6. According to the principle of checks and balances, each branch of government must have some
degree of scrutiny and control over the other branches. With the exception of the judiciary, the
Constitution accomplishes that by giving each branch roles in the affairs of the others.2 Look at the first
two articles of the Constitution, and identify one of each of the following types of checks and balances:
a. A power that the executive branch holds over the legislative branch
4 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

b. A power that the executive branch holds over the judicial branch

c. A power that the legislative branch holds over the executive branch

d. A power that the legislative branch holds over the judicial branch

7. a. What are the two ways that amendments to the Constitution can be proposed?

b. What are the two ways that amendments to the Constitution can be ratified?

8. Article V of the Constitution of 1787 singles out two matters that are beyond the reach of the
amendment process. What are they?

9. Read the twenty-seven amendments to the Constitution. Identify, by number, one amend-
ment that:
a. extended individual rights.

b. extended civil rights (including voting rights).

c. prohibited certain practices by the states.

10. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment describes the sequence of events that would install the vice
president as acting president against the will of the president. Outline that sequence of events.

2
The Constitution specifies no role for the judiciary in the functions of the legislative or executive branches. The power of
judicial review was claimed by Chief Justice John Marshall in his decision in Marbury v. Madison (1803). See Exercise 9.1.
 Exercise 1.1 • Reading the Constitution 5

11. Identify one term in the Constitution that you do not understand. Look up the meaning of
the term, and define it here.

ASSIGNMENT, PART B: MAJORITY AND SUPERMAJORITY

Essential to the functioning of government and to balancing the relative powers of its three
branches are the numeric requirements the Constitution sets forth for overriding a presidential
veto, ratifying treaties, and carrying out other tasks and procedures. The three numeric re-
quirements specified in the Constitution are the simple majority and two supermajority levels,
two-thirds and three-fourths. The simple majority and two-thirds margins apply to the num-
ber of House and Senate members actually casting votes, not to the total number of votes resid-
ing in each body. For example, the requirement for passing legislation in the House is a simple
majority, or 50 percent plus one, of the number of votes cast. There are 435 members in the
House, so a simple majority is 218. But 218 votes are needed to pass a bill only if all 435 mem-
bers vote. If only 400 members vote on a bill, then 201 votes would satisfy the simple-majority
requirement.

1. a. What bodies have the power to override a presidential veto?

b. What margin is required to override a presidential veto?

2. a. What body has the power to ratify treaties?

b. What margin is required to ratify treaties?

3. To impeach means “to bring charges against” or “to indict.”

a. What body has the power to impeach the president?

b. What margin is required to impeach a president?

4. a. What body has the power to convict the president of charges brought against him in the
impeachment process and thereby remove him from the presidency?
6 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

b. What margin is required to convict and remove a president?

5. a. What body has the power to accept or to reject a president’s nominations to the Supreme
Court?

b. What margin is required to elevate a president’s nominee to a seat on the Supreme Court?

6. a. If no candidate for the presidency wins a simple majority of the total number of electoral
votes, what body has the power to choose the president?

b. What margin is required to choose the president?

7. The Constitution requires that the House and the Senate have a simple majority of their
members present to conduct legislative business. This is called a quorum requirement. If the
House can muster only the minimum requirement for a quorum, what number of votes would be
needed to pass a bill?

8. The Constitution specifies a three-fourths majority for just one process. What is it?
 Exercise 1.2 • The Framers of the Constitution and Republicanism 7

EXERCISE 1.2 The Framers of the Constitution and Republicanism

INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Constitution established a republic. The framers chose the republican form of govern-
ment over all other forms, including monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.
Americans have often differed over the practice of republican government. But they have
agreed in large part on the fundamental principles and elements of republican government:
• Republican government is limited. The powers of government are constitutionally re-
stricted to reduce the possibility of tyranny. In the Constitution, the framers set limits on
the powers exercised by each branch of government (legislative, executive, and judicial),
on the powers exercised by the national government over the states, and on the powers
exercised over individuals.
• Republican government is representational. The government’s exercise of power over citi-
zens is legitimate only when elected officials represent their interests in legislative bodies.
The framers’ historical model for representative government was rooted in the representative
institutions of the Roman Republic. They even named the U.S. Senate for the Roman Senate.
But republicanism offered no standard position on four difficult issues:
1. How many constituents should each legislator represent?
2. Should legislators be responsible to their constituents, to their own conscience, or to the
public interest?
3. Should representatives of the people be elected by the people themselves or by
intermediate institutions (e.g., the Electoral College)?
4. Who should be eligible to vote for legislators?
On the issue of the direct popular election of representatives (number 3 in the preceding
list), the framers were divided. The Constitution has always provided for the direct popular
election of members of the House of Representatives, but U.S. senators were chosen by
members of their state legislature until the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified in 1913.
Remember that the framers didn’t think too highly of the public’s ability to handle political
power wisely. So they chose not to expand the right to vote beyond the voting qualifications
the states had previously established for the largest branch of each state’s legislature. The
Constitution of 1787 did not guarantee voting rights. That issue was left to the states. Later,
a series of constitutional amendments, Supreme Court decisions, and popular movements
democratized representation and expanded the eligible electorate. Today, because of the
gradual expansion of a constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, we refer to the United States
as a representative democracy or as a democratic republic. But the framers did not refer to
the constitutional order they founded as a democracy: They used the term republic, though
it did include some representative democracy in the House of Representatives.
• In republican government, the people are sovereign. Sovereignty means ultimate authority.
Republicans believe that the people at large create, authorize, and empower government,
and they also believe that government must be accountable to the people. A government
rooted in the people cannot act without the consent of the people. The word republic comes
from the Latin res publica (“the public thing”), which means that government is a common
enterprise, originating from and belonging to the people. Thomas Jefferson made the prin-
ciple of popular sovereignty clear in the Declaration of Independence: “Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government.”

ASSIGNMENT
The following questions require a close reading of the Constitution. Consult the U.S. Constitution
in the appendix of this text.
1. Identify three significant elements of the unamended Constitution of 1787 that embody the
republican principle of limited government. (This excludes from your response the Bill of Rights,
8 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1791, as part of a compromise
to secure the ratification of the Constitution.) Explain and support your answers.

2. Three institutions in the new government embodied the framers’ commitment to the princi-
ple of representation: the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the presidency. Identify
below the system of representation the framers established for each institution by answering this
question: Was it representation by direct popular election, or was representation filtered through
the choice of some intermediate body? If the latter, identify that intermediate body and describe
its role.

House of Representatives:

Senate:

President:

3. Identify three amendments to the Constitution that expanded democratic representation,

and explain what each amendment accomplished.
 Exercise 1.2 • The Framers of the Constitution and Republicanism 9

4. Identify one passage in the Constitution that expresses the republican principle of popular
sovereignty.
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 Exercise 1.3 • Contemporary American Political Ideologies 11

EXERCISE 1.3 Contemporary American Political Ideologies

INTRODUCTION
The labels we use to describe political thought are often loaded with connotations—either posi-
tive or negative—depending on who’s wielding the label as a political weapon and on who’s listen-
ing. Republicans, for example, have turned liberalism into a term of disparagement by associating
that label with big government, moral irresponsibility, and a lack of will to defend the nation.
Democrats have tried to discredit conservatism by linking that label to practices such as racism,
the oppression of women, religious fanaticism, and favoritism for the rich.
A political ideology is a set of coherent, deeply felt political beliefs and values through which
individuals interpret political events and decide what is politically right and wrong. Despite the utility
of the labels in making sense of political issues and actors, most Americans are not ideologues: They
may hold ideological positions on particular issues, but they do not think of their politics in ideologi-
cal terms. Most Americans are pragmatists—positioned in the middle of the political spectrum—and
are unlikely to judge issues or candidates by a set of consistent political beliefs. They care more about
solving problems pragmatically than they care about ideological dogma about how to solve problems.
Indeed, Americans historically have rejected political movements and candidates that appeared too
ideological. Some public opinion polls suggest, however, that Americans have become increasingly
ideological in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Ideological labels do help voters sort out a bewildering array of political arguments, and to
some extent they do reflect political positions, especially among political elites, whose positions
tend to be more ideological than other Americans. There is abundant evidence that elected repre-
sentatives in Congress and in state legislatures have become increasingly more ideological than
the electorate. This helps us to understand why legislative bodies are becoming more and more
polarized and why they find compromises difficult.
The task of identifying ideological positions has become more difficult in recent decades as
the relatively simple divisions of the New Deal era—based largely on the economy and the role of
government in the economy—have fragmented into more diverse and complex thinking about
the economy; moral, religious, and social issues; and foreign policy, especially in the wake of 9/11
and the war on terrorism.
Here are brief definitions of seven ideologies prominent on the American political land-
scape today. Recognize that the descriptions are simplified.
Liberalism. Liberals generally support strong government action in a broad array of con-
temporary problems, from economic policy to civil rights. But liberals are likely to oppose
strong government action when they believe it threatens civil liberties—freedom of speech,
for example, or the individual’s right to privacy. Liberals believe that government must play
an active role in creating equal opportunity, through antidiscrimination laws, through af-
firmative action programs, and through initiatives to assist the disadvantaged. Liberals pin
their hopes for a just and progressive society on action by the national government because
of its superior power, reach, and resources. Liberals favor progressive income taxes as a
means of assisting the most disadvantaged, and they believe that all levels of government
should prevent and punish market practices that hurt consumers and threaten the environ-
ment. Liberals want foreign and defense policies that depend less on military and unilateral
action and more on diplomacy and multilateralism, especially through the United Nations.
Liberals were heartened by the presidential election of 2008 and the congressional elections
of 2006 and 2008, when the Democratic Party gained large majorities in Congress and won
the presidency. Many believed that these victories signaled the beginning of a new area of
active government, perhaps a new New Deal. But their hopes were dashed by ongoing eco-
nomic recession, by a president who often pursued a centrist approach, and by the
Republican tidal wave in the 2010 midterm elections.
The Left Wing. From the 1930s to the 1960s, the American Left supported socialist, or
Marxist, economics (public ownership of the means of production and the redistribution of
wealth to foster economic equality); opposed U.S. imperialistic, interventionist foreign poli-
cy; and sought to eradicate racism in the United States. In the decades since, with the increas-
ingly conservative trend in U.S. politics and the end of the cold war, the left has splintered into
a number of movements, each with its own passionate critique or indictment of U.S. society.
12 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

Among those left-wing movements are radical feminism (denouncing patriarchy in all its
manifestations), radical environmentalism (damning the ethos of acquisitiveness and the
rape of nature), and radical multiculturalism (censuring social, economic, and belief systems
that marginalize people of color). Recently, left-wing organizations have attacked economic
globalization, which they believe cheats developing nations, hurts U.S. workers, and damages
the environment. The left wing has opposed the Bush and Obama administrations’ unilateral
(“imperialistic”) actions in world affairs.
Conservatism. Conservatives want to reduce the role of government in the nation’s eco-
nomic affairs. For conservatives, government’s chief roles are to defend the nation from
foreign attack, maintain law and order, and protect citizens from immediate threats to their
health and safety. Conservatives decidedly favor government spending on national security
over social programs. Although many conservatives have made peace with the main com-
ponents of the welfare state—Social Security and Medicare—many want those programs to
be contained or even scaled back and partially or wholly privatized. Conservatives today
are split on budgetary policy. Supply-siders, like George W. Bush, advocate across-the-
board tax cuts—even a flat tax—which, they believe, will stimulate economic growth. Fiscal
conservatives, on the other hand, worry about budget deficits. Rather than cut government
revenues, they want to see existing programs downsized. Conservatives argue that affirma-
tive action improperly creates special rights for minority groups. Most conservatives be-
lieve that individual liberties must be balanced against the government’s responsibilities to
protect national security and to defend core American values (e.g., the Patriot Act, which
significantly broadened governmental powers of search and seizure and reduced fair trial
rights), or Judeo-Christian values (e.g., government support to religious organizations that
render social services). Conservatives support a foreign policy that muscularly advances
U.S. interests abroad and protects U.S. prestige—unilaterally and preemptively if necessary.
Conservatives worry that multilateral organizations, like the United Nations, may under-
mine U.S. sovereignty and constrain America’s freedom to act on the world stage. During
the Obama Administration, conservatives have broadened their attack on the growing
responsibilities of the federal government, especially in the wake of the healthcare reform
of 2010. The ambitious Obama Administration’s package of federal programs led to the rise
of the Tea Party movement—populist allegations that the Obama/Democratic program
constituted a socialistic and anti–states’ rights subversion of the framers’ constitutional
ideals. Some have proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of two-
thirds of state legislatures to nullify a federal program.
Neoconservatism. Neoconservatism took a prominent place in U.S. foreign policy after
9/11. Neoconservatives want to secure and advance the cultural and moral traditions of the
United States—particularly freedom and democracy. The justification for U.S. intervention
in Iraq was largely the result of strong neoconservative voices in the Bush Administration.
Neoconservatives call for a renewed commitment to individual responsibility—a value that
they believe has been eroded by liberal policies. Their influence in Washington has de-
clined with weakening public support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with the
election of President Obama.
Christian Conservatism/Evangelical, Born-Again Christianity. Conservative Christians
have been a major political force in the United States beginning in the 1980s. Their votes
contributed significantly to George W. Bush’s election in 2000 and his reelection in 2004.
Adherents of this ideology/theology promote so-called traditional moral values against a
perceived assault on them by a hedonistic, media-driven culture. Christian conservatives
believe that the United States was founded on and owes its greatness to Judeo-Christian
principles. They oppose abortion rights, they favor government aid to students who attend
religious schools, and they have mobilized in opposition to gay marriage. With the rise of
the Tea Party movement, the Christian Conservatives’ center-stage role in U.S. politics has
been moved to stage right within the Republican Party.
Libertarianism. Libertarians are more consistent in their view of government activism
than are either liberals or conservatives. Both liberals and conservatives favor government
activism but in different kinds of policy. Liberals favor active government in enforcing civil
rights, programs to help the disadvantaged, and government regulation of the economy,
whereas they favor less government in civil liberties (e.g., free speech), in national security
 Exercise 1.3 • Contemporary American Political Ideologies 13

policy, and the vigorous pursuit of U.S. interests abroad. Conservatives, favor active gov-
ernment in protecting national security, maintaining law and order, and the muscular de-
fense of U.S. global interests, whereas they favor less government in regulation of the econ-
omy, new programs to help the disadvantaged (e.g., healthcare reform), and the enforcement
of civil rights. Libertarians favor minimal government involvement in all areas of policy.
Although they recognize the need to defend the nation, their primary value is individual
liberty, which they believe is threatened as much by the government’s zealous protection of
national security and economic regulations as it is by the government’s attempts to restrict
civil liberties or the right of same-sex couples to marry. Ron Paul, a libertarian and a long-
time member of the House of Representatives from Texas, who ran for the Republican
presidential nomination in 2008, criticized Republicans for their support of the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan as much as he criticized Democrats for their reliance on government to
solve the nation’s economic problems.
The Right Wing. The Right in the United States includes groups with different agendas,
but it is united in its opposition to social diversity and to governmental encroachments on
private property rights. Right-wing ideologues contend that the national government has
established a tyranny over the individual; white Christian males are believed to be those
most oppressed. Many right-wing groups embrace doctrines of racial supremacy; others
are anti-Semitic. In recent years, several right-wing groups have come to believe that armed
resistance—including terrorism—is necessary to liberate the United States from perceived
sources of oppression. Timothy McVeigh, a self-described right-winger, was involved in the
1993 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

ASSIGNMENT
1. Listed below are five hypothetical statements. Identify the ideology each statement reflects.
Explain and support your answer.
a. “Marriage must be legally defined as only between a man and a woman.”

b. “If elected, I will get government off your backs and release the great economic energy of
the American people.”

c. “So long as I am president, no American shall go to bed hungry, no American shall suffer the
burden of discrimination, and no American shall fall ill without the benefit of medical help.”

d. “To make America safe from terrorism, we must first make the Islamic world safe for
democracy.”
14 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

e. “The war on terrorism should not provide a pretext for a governmental assault on the liber-
ties of the American people.”

f. “The government that governs best governs least.”

2. Web-Based Question. Go the Directory of U.S. political parties at http://www.politics1.com/

parties.htm.

Web addresses sometimes change. If you can’t locate a website, try an external search (e.g., Google) to
find the website. Configurations within a website often change. If you can’t find a particular link or article,
for example, try an internal search of the website as well as an external search. Be resourceful! If you still
can’t find what you’re searching for, move on to the next question.

The site briefly describes the ideologies of the two major political parties in the United States,
Democratic and Republican, and more than thirty minor parties. The site also provides a link to
each party’s website. Search the directory for a political party that exemplifies each of the political
ideologies identified above. Explain and support your answer.

Liberalism:

The left wing:

Conservatism, or neoconservatism, or Christian conservatism:

The right wing:

Libertarianism:
 Exercise 1.3 • Contemporary American Political Ideologies 15

3. Web-Based Question: Go to the websites of the following organizations. Identify the ideolo-
gy each organization exemplifies. Explain and support your answer. You might need to navigate
around the website to determine the ideology.

Religious Freedom Foundation: http://www.rfcnet.org/news/default.asp

Change: http://www.change.org

Project for the New American Century: http://www.newamericancentury.org/

United for a Fair Economy: http://www.faireconomy.org/

Minutemen Project: www.minutemanproject.com/

Tea Party Movement: http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/

Cato Institute: http://www.cato.org/

16 Chapter 1 • Governing Principles and Ideologies

4. Web-Based Question. To find your ideology, take the “World’s Smallest Political Quiz” at
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz. What was the result? Do you think the quiz was accurate
about you? Why or why not?
Another random document with
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mercy, we conceal not thy beneficence. Thou hast set at liberty the
generations of our nature, thou didst hallow the virginal womb by thy
birth. All creation praiseth thee who didst manifest thyself; for thou, O
our God, wast seen upon earth, and didst dwell together with men.
Thou didst hallow the streams of Jordan, sending down from heaven
thy Holy Ghost, and didst crush the heads of the dragons that lurked
therein.
And the priest then saith this thrice, and blesseth the water with
his hand at each verse.
Do thou thyself, O man-loving King, be present now also through
the descent of thy Holy Ghost, and sanctify this water.
And give it the grace of redemption, the blessing of Jordan. Make
it a fountain of incorruption, a gift of sanctification, a loosing of sins, a
healing of sicknesses, a destruction of demons, unapproachable by
hostile powers, fulfilled with angelic strength, that all they that draw
and partake thereof may have it for the cleansing of souls and
bodies, for the healing of sufferings, for the sanctification of houses,
and for every befitting need. For thou art our God, who through water
and the spirit hast renewed our nature fallen through sin: thou art our
God, who through water didst overwhelm sin in the time of Noe: thou
art our God, who through the sea by Moses didst deliver the Hebrew
race from the servitude of Pharao: thou art our God, who didst divide
the rock in the wilderness, and it gushed waters and poured streams,
and satisfied thy thirsty people: thou art our God, who through water
and fire by Elias didst convert Israel from the error of Baal.
And do thou thyself now, O Master, sanctify this water by thy Holy
Ghost.
Thrice.
And grant unto all them that touch it, and partake thereof, and are
sprinkled therewith, sanctification, healing, cleansing, and blessing.
Save, O Lord, thy Servant, our Most Pious, Autocratic Great Lord,
THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER ALEXANDROVITCH of all Russia,
thrice.
 And his Consort, the Most Pious Lady, THE EMPRESS MARIA
THEODOROVNA.
And His Heir, the Right-believing Lord, the Cesarevitch and Grand
Duke, NICOLAUS ALEXANDROVITCH, and all the Reigning House.
Save, O Lord, and have mercy upon the Most Holy Governing
Synod.
And keep them under thy protection in peace, subdue under Them
every enemy and adversary, grant unto Them all desires for
salvation and eternal life, that by elements, and by men, and by
angels, and by things visible and invisible thy most holy name may
be glorified, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and
to ages of ages. Amen.
Priest. Peace to all.
Deacon. Bow your heads to the Lord.
Priest, the bowing down prayer.
Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hearken unto us, thou that didst
vouchsafe to be baptized in Jordan, and didst hallow the waters; and
bless us all, who through the bending of our necks indicate the
representation of service; and count us worthy to be filled with thy
sanctification through partaking of this water; and may it be to us, O
Lord, for the healing of soul and body.
Exclamation.
For thou art our sanctification, and to thee we ascribe glory, and
thanksgiving, and worship, with thine unbeginning Father, and with
thy Most Holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and
to ages of ages. Amen.
And straightway, blessing the water crosswise with the honourable
cross, he dippeth it perpendicularly, sinking it in the Water and
raising it, holding it with both hands, and singing the present
troparion in tone i.
In Jordan when thou wast baptized, O Lord, the worship of the
Trinity was manifested; for the Parent’s voice bore witness unto thee,
naming thee the well-beloved Son; and the Spirit, in appearance of a
dove, testified to the surety of the word. Thou who wast manifested,
O Christ God, and enlightenest the world, glory to thee.
And the same is sung by the singers.
Again a second time in like manner he signeth the water. And a
third tune in like manner. And the priest, having taken of the
sanctified water in a salver, turneth himself with his face towards the
west, holding the cross in his left hand and the aspergillus in his
right. And first the president approacheth, and kisseth the
honourable cross, and the priest signeth him in the face with the
aspergillus with the sanctified water. Then the priests come forward
in their order. And after this all the brotherhood in order.
And the troparion,
In Jordan when thou wast baptized, O Lord.... is sung many times,
until all the brotherhood are sanctified with the sprinkling of the
water.
And straightway we go into the temple, singing the idiomelon, tone
vi.
Ye faithful, let us sing the greatness of God’s providence for us; for
he that for our sins became a man, in Jordan for our cleansing
cleansed was, himself alone being pure and uncorrupt, me hallowing
and the waters, and the dragons’ heads crushing the water in. Then,
brethren, let us water draw with joy; for unto them that draw in faith
the Spirit’s grace invisibly is given by Christ, the God and Saviour of
our souls.
Then, Blessed be the name of the Lord.... thrice.
And Psalm xxxiii. I will bless the Lord at all times....
And, first having drunk of the sanctified water, we receive the
antidoron from the priest. And he maketh the full dismissal.
He that vouchsafed to be baptized in Jordan for our salvation,
Christ our true God, through the prayers of his Most Pure Mother,
and of all the Saints, have mercy upon us and save us, as being
good and the lover of mankind.
 Chapter XXIV.
PRAYER AT THE BLESSING OR FLESH-MEAT ON
THE HOLY AND GREAT SUNDAY OF PASCHA.

The priest maketh,

Blessed be our God....
Christ is risen.... thrice.
Then, Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord, have mercy.
O Lord Jesus Christ, our God, look thou upon flesh-meat, and
sanctify it, as thou didst sanctify the ram which the faithful Abraham
brought unto thee, and as the lamb which Abel offered unto thee as
a holocaust, likewise also as the fatted calf which thou didst bid to be
killed for thy prodigal son when he returned again to thee, that as he
was counted worthy to enjoy thy grace, so may we also enjoy those
things that are sanctified and blessed by thee for the nourishment of
us all. For thou art the true nourishment, and the giver of good
things, and to thee we ascribe glory, with thine unbeginning Father,
and with thy most holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and
ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
 Chapter XXV.
PRAYER AT THE BLESSING OF CHEESE AND
EGGS.

Master, Lord our God, author and creator of all things, bless thou the
curdled milk, and with this also the eggs, and preserve us in thy
goodness, that, as we partake of these, we may be filled with thine
ungrudgingly bestowed gifts, and with thine unspeakable goodness.
For thine is the might, and thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now
and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
 Chapter XXVI.
PRAYER AT THE PARTAKING OF GRAPES ON
THE VIth DAY OF AUGUST.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord have mercy.
Bless, O Lord, this new fruit of the vine, which through the salubrity
of the air, and through showers of rain and temperate weather, thou
art well-pleased should at this time attain unto maturity. May our
partaking of this new growth of the vine be for gladness, and for the
offering of a gift unto thee for the cleansing of sins, through the
sacred and holy body of thy Christ, with whom thou art blessed,
together with thy most holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now
and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
And be it known that this prayer is said, where there are vineyards,
over grapes, and these are brought into the temple for a blessing on
this sixth day of August. But here in great Russia, where, vineyards
are not found, apples are this day brought into the temple, and the
prayer for them that offer first-fruits is said, of which the beginning is,
Master, Lord our God....
And likewise other fruits, let each be brought in their season to the
temple for a blessing, and then let the prayer be said over them.
 Chapter XXVII.
PRAYER FOR THEM THAT OFFER FIRST-FRUITS.

Master, Lord our God, who biddest everyone according to their

purpose to offer unto thee thine own of thine own, and bestowest
upon them in return thine everlasting blessings, who didst favourably
accept the offering of as much as she could of the widow; do thou
now also accept the things offered by thy servant, name, and
vouchsafe to lay up the same in thine eternal treasury, and grant
unto him abundant possession of thy worldly blessings, together with
all things that are serviceable unto him.
For blessed is thy name, and glorified is thy kingdom, of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to
ages of ages. Amen.
 Chapter XXVIII.
PRAYER AT THE LAYING OF THE FOUNDATION
OF A HOUSE.

O God Almighty, who didst make the heaven in understanding, and

didst found the earth on its firmness, thou builder and creator of all;
look upon thy servant, name, who purposeth, in the might of thy
strength, to erect a house for habitation, and to set it up with a
building. Do thou stablish the same on a firm rock, and, according to
thy divine evangelical voice, so found it that neither wind nor water,
nor anything whatsoever may be able to injure it. Be pleased to bring
it to completion, and deliver them that desire to live therein from
every snare of the enemy.
For thine is the might, and thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
 Chapter XXIX.
PRAYER WHEN ONE ENTERETH INTO A NEW
HOUSE.

O God our Saviour, who was pleased to enter in under the roof of
Zaccheus, and didst bring salvation unto him and unto all his house;
do thou thyself now also preserve unhurt from every harm them that
have purposed to live here, and offer unto thee prayers and
supplications through us unworthy ones, blessing those whose
dwelling-place is here, and preserving their life without snares.
For to thee is due all glory, honour, and worship, with thine
unbeginning Father, and with thy most holy, and good, and life-
creating Spirit, now and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
 Chapter XXXIII.
PRAYER FOR ONE THAT PURPOSETH TO GO ON
A JOURNEY.

O God, our God, the true and living way, who didst journey with thy
servant Joseph; do thou journey with thy servant, name, and deliver
him from every storm and snare, and peace and vigour continually
provide. Be pleased that, having accomplished every intention of
righteousness, according to thy commandment, and being filled with
temporal and heavenly blessings, he may return again.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and to
ages of ages. Amen.
 FOOTNOTES
[1] The office for the laying on of hands of a bishop is not found
in the book here mentioned, and consequently no translation of
this office will be found in the present work.
[2] This work also contains the troparia for the day and other
matter not written at length in the text of the present one.
[3] See Euchology, chap. xxvii.
[4] These verses form no part of the proper Easter service, but
are sung at Matins on ordinary Sundays. See Euchology, page
25.
[5] This Doxology is the one sung at Matins on an ordinary
week-day when no festival is observed. See Euchology, page
105. And observe how the present office, with its Stichera, etc.,
takes the form of Matins.
[6] These Verses are proper for the Saturday of meat-
abstinence. See Euchology, page 261.
[7] This verse is proper to Matins, and serves as a keynote to
indicate whether the occasion is a joyful or a penitential one, it
being superseded by the singing of Alleluia in the latter case. See
Euchology, pages 23 and 94.
[8] An exclamation at the celebration of the Liturgy, after the
consecration and the intercession for the dead and living, and
before the ectenia that introduces the Lord’s prayer.
[9] Chap. vi., 3-11.
[10] Chap. xxxviii., 16 ad fin.
[11] The questions that follow, coming down from Byzantine
times, though retained in the Trébnik, are not now asked, but the
confessor waits for the penitent to reveal his or her offences, and,
when necessary, puts suitable questions, according to the
person’s condition, sex, and age.
[12] Here in the Trébnik follow some instructions respecting the
imposition of penance, which, according to the canons, consists
in prohibition from Holy Communion for a given time for certain
grave sins.
[13] Chap. v. 20, ad fin.
[14] Chap. ii. 1-11.
[15] James v: 10-16.
[16] Chap. x. 25-37.
[17] Chap. xv. 1-8.
[18] Chap. xix. 1-10.
[19] 1 Cor. xii. 27—xiii. 8.
[20] Chap. x. 1, 5-8.
[21] 2 Cor. vi. 16—vii. 1.
[22] Chap. viii. 14-23.
[23] 2 Cor. i. 8-11.
[24] Chap. xxv. 1-13.
[25] Chap. v. 22—vi. 2.
[26] Chap. xv., 21-28.
[27] 1 Thess. v., 14-23.
[28] Chap. ix., 9-13.
[29] Psalm xc.
[30] Psalm cxviii.
[31] 1 Thess. iv. 13-17.
[32] Chap. v. 24-30.
[33] Sun. chap. i. 1-8. Mon. chap. i. 12-17 21-26. Tues. chap. ii.
14-21. Wed. chap. ii. 22-36. Thurs. chap. ii. 38-43. Fri. chap. iii. 1-
8. Sat. chap. iii. 11-16.
[34] Matt. xxviii. 16-20.
[35] 1 Thess. iv. 13-17.
[36] Chap. v. 24-30.
[37] Chap. v. 12 ad fin.
[38] Chap. v. 17-24.
[39] Psalm xxiii.
[40] 1 Cor. xv. 1-11.
[41] Chap. vi. 35-39.
[42] Psalm lxxxiii.
[43] 1 Cor. xv. 20-28.
[44] Chap. vi. 40-44.
[45] Chap. xiv. 6-9.
[46] Chap. vi. 48-54.
[47] Psalms cxlviii, cxlix, and cl.
[48] Psalm xc.
[49] 1 Cor. xv. 39-45.
[50] Chap. vi. 35-39.
[51] Chap. ii. 11 ad fin.
[52] Chap. v. 1-4.
 APPENDIX.
THE LAYING ON OF HANDS.
 CONTENTS OF APPENDIX.
PAGE.
The office for the appointment of a reader and singer 5
The office that is used at the laying on of hands of a
subdeacon 9
The office that is used at the laying on of hands of a deacon 12
The office that is used at the appointment of an archdeacon
and a protodeacon 17
The office that is used at the laying on of hands of a
presbyter 18
The order of the office for the making of a protopresbyter 23
The office that is used at the appointment of an abbot 24
The office that is used at the appointment of an
archimandrite 27
 THE OFFICE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A
READER AND SINGER IS PERFORMED ON THIS
WISE.
He that is to be made a taper-bearer is brought by two
subdeacons into the middle of the church, and he maketh three
reverences. And, turning himself, he boweth thrice to the Archpriest;
and, having been conducted to the Archpriest, he boweth his head,
and the Archpriest signeth him crosswise with the hand upon his
head thrice. And after this, placing his hand upon his head, he saith
this prayer.
Lord, who with the light of thy wonders enlightenest all Creation, who
knowest the intention of each before it is formed, and strengthenest
them that desire to serve thee; do thou thyself adorn with thine
unspotted and undefiled robes thy servant, name, who is minded to
precede thy holy mysteries as a taper-bearer, that, being enlightened
and meeting thee in the world to come, he may obtain an
incorruptible crown of life, rejoicing with thine elect in everlasting
blessedness.
Exclamation. For hallowed is thy name, and glorified is thy
kingdom, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now
and ever, and to ages of ages. Amen.
And be it noted that, if the liturgy be not celebrated, the Archpriest
maketh the beginning, Blessed be our God.... and then is sung, O
heavenly King.... Trisagion. O most holy Trinity.... Our Father.... For
thine is the kingdom.... And the troparion of the day is said.
But if the liturgy be celebrated, O heavenly King.... and Trisagion
and Our Father.... are not sung, and only these troparia are said.
O holy apostles, pray the merciful God that he may grant our souls
remission of sins.
 The grace of thy mouth, shining forth like fire, hath illuminated the
universe, hath offered the world treasures of liberality, and hath
shewed to us the height of humility. And as thou instructest by thy
words, O father John Chrysostom, pray Christ, the Word of God, to
save our souls.
Thy sound is gone forth into all the earth, which hath received thy
word, whereby thou hast divinely taught, hast explained the nature of
things that are, and brightened the customs of men, O royal divine,
venerable father: pray thou Christ God to save our souls.
The shepherd’s reed of thy divinity hath overcome the trumpets of
the orators; for as to him that seeketh the deep things of the spirit, so
was the grace of language accorded thee. Then, father Gregory,
pray Christ God to save our souls.
Glory. Both now.
Through the prayers, O Lord, of all the saints, and of the God-
bearing one, grant thy peace to us, and have mercy upon us, as
being alone compassionate.
Then the Archpriest sheareth his head crosswise, saying, In the
name of the Father. A protodeacon and a reader, or a singer, say,
Amen. Archpriest. And of the Son. Protodeacon. Amen. Archpriest.
And of the Holy Ghost. Protodeacon. Amen.
Then the Archpriest putteth the short phelonion on him, and again
thrice signeth him crosswise on his head with the hand, and layeth
his hand upon him, and prayeth thus,
O Lord God almighty, elect this thy servant, and sanctify him, and
grant unto him, in all wisdom and understanding, to practise the
study and reading of thy divine words, preserving him in a blameless
course of life.
Exclamation.
Through the mercy, and compassions, and love to man of thine
only-begotten Son, with whom thou art blessed, together with thine
all-holy, and good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and to ages
of ages. Amen.