000			02760nam a2200373 4500
001			OTLid0000916
003			MnU
005			20201105133417.0
006			m o d s
008			201002s2020 mnu o 0 0 eng d
020			_a
040			_aMnU _beng _cMnU
050		4	_aH1
050		4	_aJA71
100	1		_aHubert, David _eauthor
245	0	0	_aAttenuated Democracy _bA Critical Introduction to U.S. Government and Politics _cDavid Hubert
264		2	_bOpen Textbook Library
264		1	_bSalt Lake Community College
300			_a1 online resource
490	0		_aOpen textbook library.
505	0		_aPart 1: Thinking Like a Political Scientist -- Part 2: Constitutional Foundations -- Part 3: Congress -- Part 4: The Presidency -- Part 5: The Supreme Court -- Part 6: The Federal Bureaucracy -- Part 7: Linkage Institutions -- Part 8: Electoral Politics and Public Opinion -- Part 9: Individual Political Behavior -- Part 10: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
520	0		_aThe U.S. political system suffers from endemic design flaws and is notable for the way that a small subset of Americans-whose interests often don't align with those of the vast majority of the population-wields disproportionate power. Absent organized and persistent action on the part of ordinary Americans, the system tends to serve the already powerful. That's why this text is called Attenuated Democracy. To attenuate something is to make it weak or thin. Democracy in America has been thin from the beginning and continues to be so despite some notable progress in voting rights. As political scientists Benjamin Page and Martin Gilens wrote, "The essence of democracy is not just having reasonably satisfactory policies; the essence of democracy is popular control of government, with each citizen having an equal voice." (1) Since this is likely to be your only college-level course on the American political system, it is important to point out the structural weaknesses of our system and the thin nature of our democracy. Whenever you get the chance-in the voting booth, in your job, perhaps if you hold elected office-I encourage you to do something about America's attenuated democracy.
542	1		_fAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
546			_aIn English.
588	0		_aDescription based on print resource
650		0	_aSocial sciences _vTextbooks
650		0	_aPolitical Science _vTextbooks
710	2		_aOpen Textbook Library _edistributor
856	4	0	_uhttps://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/916 _zAccess online version
999			_c20250 _d20250