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Tables of Contents for Republic on Trial
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Tables and Figures
xi
Preface
xiii
Introduction
1
1
Problems of Democracy
2
3
Dangers of Distrust and Cynicism
5
4
Examining Whether Representative Democracy Works
9
5
What Does the Public Think?
14
17
What People Think
15
2
Why People Think the Way They Do
17
11
A Democratic Surge
18
1
The Fallout of Watergate and the Vietnam War
19
1
The Negative Role of the Media
20
1
Increasing Partisan Competition
21
2
The Polarizing Effect of Interest Groups
23
1
Legislators as ``Outsiders''
24
1
Generalizing from the Worst Cases
25
1
The Legislative Process Is Incomprehensible and Distasteful
26
1
Civic Education Hasn't Been Up to the Job
27
1
In Sum
28
1
Sources and Suggested Reading
29
2
What Did the Framers Have in Mind?
31
16
Framing the Constitution in Historical Context
32
2
Constructing the Legislative Branch
34
10
A Powerful National Assembly
35
1
Representation
36
3
A Deliberative Assembly
39
2
Constraining the Legislative Branch
41
3
In Sum
44
2
Sources and Suggested Reading
46
1
Where Do People Stand on Issues?
47
21
What the Public Believes
48
5
Why People Are Eager to Perceive Consensus
53
3
The Actual Level of Consensus
56
6
In Sum
62
4
Sources and Suggested Reading
66
2
What Makes Legislators Tick?
68
27
Who Runs for the Legislature and Why
68
3
What the Job Is Like
71
10
How They Campaign
81
2
How They Make Decisions
83
9
In Sum
92
1
Sources and Suggested Reading
93
2
How Are Legislators Linked to Their Constituencies?
95
22
How the Public Sees Representation
95
1
How Legislators Feel about Their Constituencies
96
1
How Legislators Relate to Their Constituencies
97
4
How Legislators Serve Their Constituencies
101
3
How Legislators Express Constituency Policy Views and Interests
104
8
The Legislator's Representational Perspective
104
2
The Constituencies and Their Interests
106
3
Communications between Legislators and Their Constituencies
109
3
In Sum
112
3
Sources and Suggested Reading
115
2
How Special Are the Special Interests?
117
19
Conditions for Representative Democracy: Interest Groups
118
2
Examining the Conditions
120
3
Groups and Legislators: A Series of Exchanges
123
10
Access
124
1
Information
125
1
Elections and Majorities
126
2
Lobbying the Legislature
128
5
In Sum
133
1
Sources and Suggested Reading
134
2
Why Is the Political Process Contentious?
136
19
How the People View Conflict in the Political Process
137
4
The Actual Role of Political Conflict in a Healthy Democracy
141
2
Political Conflict as the Essence of a Healthy Legislature
143
4
Bill Introduction
144
1
Committee Activity
144
1
Floor Debate
145
2
Conflict Comes from the People, Not from Parties and Special Interests
147
3
In Sum
150
3
Sources and Suggested Reading
153
2
What Makes Legislators and Legislatures Accountable?
155
19
The Legislature: Insular or Accountable?
157
5
The Agents of Accountability
162
9
The Media: Ups and Downs in Legislative Reporting
162
2
Interest Groups: Countervailing Power
164
2
Political Parties: Elections and Beyond
166
1
Fostering Accountability: Disclosure
167
1
Term Limits: Can Accountability Be Mandated?
168
3
In Sum
171
1
Sources and Suggested Reading
172
2
How Well Have Legislatures Been Working?
174
22
Representativeness
175
2
Capacity
177
4
Integrity
181
3
Transparency
184
1
Competitiveness
185
3
Participation
188
2
Internal Democracy
190
2
Responsiveness
192
2
In Sum
194
1
Sources and Suggested Reading
194
2
Representative Democracy Does Work
196
24
What Standards Should We Use?
196
2
What Are the Alternatives?
198
16
Executive Dominance
199
5
Direct Democracy
204
6
Advantages of Representative Democracy
210
4
In Sum
214
4
Sources and Suggested Reading
218
2
Index
220