U.S. Government and Politics Course
for Our Capitalistic, Democratic, Federalist, Republic
email suggested antonw@ix.netcom.com   Updated 2/21/20    Please Share

Index   

U.S. Government Schematics    Political Schematics

Course Notes & Video Lectures   1-Page Studies  

Opinions, Videos, Book Reviews

Political Theory Basics

Reading    Fun Stuff   Current Political Opinion, Book Reviews

Random Stuff

Recent Political Trends    2016 Election Issues & Demographics    

US Election Schematics     Comparing Political Economy Philosophies   

  2017 Political Theory Applications Videos     International Elections  

  Internet Collections     Introduction to Public Leadership Course

History Internet Library    Free History and Political Science Books      

Political Economy Classics     History A/V Library  

  Readings: Our Democratic Federalist Republic

Political Economy Course

Government Schematics:

Federal Government Overview

Federal Government Expanded View

Politics Schematics

US Political Schematics

Minimum Wage: A Political Path Through Governmemt

Course Notes & Video Lectures

One-Page Political Economy Studies

Two Political Eras
Political Eras One 1788 to 1892   pdf
Political Eras Two 1896 to 2016   pdf

Many Elections
Presidential Elections One 1778-1824
Presidential Elections Two 1828-1852
Presidential Elections Three 1856-1892
Presidential Elections Four 1896-1928
Presidential Elections Five 1932-72
Presidential Elections Six 1976-2012    

Political Junkie Sites
20th Century Decade Evaluation
Hardball with Chris Mathews
intelligence squared us
Political Junkie from NPR
Voter’s Spending Guides
Public Square
11 Useful Apps for Political Junkies
Election Issues 2016

Economics of Political Economy
Part III Government, Capitalism, Our Mixed Economy
30) Public Goods Help When Markets Fail
31) Market Based Government Externality Intervention
32) Antitrust and Other Government Regulation
33) Distributing Income

Other Stuff
U.S. Political Economy Internet Library
Political Economy Readings
Capitalistic Democracy Run Government at a Profit

Fun Stuff

Current Political Opinions

Washington Post Opinions 11/3/16

Bring Back Earmarks
Make Representatives Accountable to Voters
Fix Government Shutdown Politics
Lets Shine Some Light On Dark money

Gerrymandering is the biggest obstacle to genuine US democracy
 Why is no-one protesting?
 

Other Opinions

What the 1% Don't Want You to Know
video by liberal economist Paul Krugman fears Oligopoly power

Why Trump-Sanders Phenomenon Signals an
Oligarchy on the Brink of a Civilization-Threatening Collapse

E. Snowden Everything about Donald Trump

"The Death of Expertise"
has resulted in the problem of Fake News

Noam Chomsky on Madison and Aristotle 10 min video
on Democracy as a system designed to protect
private property from income equality.

Inspiring Rant: Your Democracy Has Been Stolen;
 It's Time For Revolution 90 second video

More Book Reviews

The Limits of Power Video The End of American Exceptionalism, Bill Moyers sits down with history and international relations expert and former US Army Colonel Andrew J. Bacevich who identifies three major problems facing our democracy: the crises of economy, government and militarism, and calls for a redefinition of the American way of life. The Limits of Power Democracy Now interviews Andrew Bacevich, a conservative historian who spent twenty-three years serving in the US Army.  

How You Can Kill Al-Qaeda in Three Easy Steps review from  Boing Boing  
I just got done reading Howard Clark's new book "How You Can Kill Al-Qaeda (in Three Easy Steps). He's an ex-Marine and former Homeland Security adviser who says the way to win the war on terrorism is to help empower the mainstream Muslim community, who in recent years has been overshadowed in the public spotlight by fringe Al-Qaeda extremists. The whole idea of fighting terrorism with ideas and not weapons is definitely nothing new, but Clark's populist tone and foreign policy street cred was a refreshing perspective to have in the discussion. "Click on the link below in the next 30 minutes and I'll throw in this egg slicer absolutely free! Here's how to order!" Book's official site...  
One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy
In this CSPAN2 book interview,  Allison Stanger talks of her book which looks at the increasing use of private contractors by the U.S. government and argues that with proper oversight contractors can be valuable tools for carrying out our foreign policy.  Includes audience Q&A.&

War and Politics

Guns, Germs, and Steel -  the fates of human societies   '... attempts to explain why Eurasian civilizations, as a whole, have survived and conquered others, while attempting to refute the belief that Eurasian hegemony is due to any form of Eurasian intellectual, moral, or inherent genetic superiority." 

Free Trade Doesn't  Work by Ian Fletcher, adjunct fellow at the United States Business and Industry Council, and CPA' In his effective 267 pages of text, Ian Fletcher dissects and often demolishes fundamental teachings about the benefits and risks of trade and replaces them with evidence based updates.  He then recommends a practical alternative based on clear objectives.

More Book Reviews

"The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama

When this bestselling book was first published in 2006, Barack Obama had spent just two years as a United States Senator, the only African American in the upper chamber; by the time I read it in the summer of 2008, he was the presumptive Democratic nominee in the presidential election and the favorite for the White House. The title comes from a sermon by Obama's then pastor Rev Jeremiah Wright whom the politician was forced to repudiate in the course of the Democratic primary, while the sub-title is "Thoughts on reclaiming the American dream".

Whereas Obama's first book "Dreams From My Father" was biographical and written almost in the style of a novel, this later work is essentially a set of nine political essays - over 360 pages covering Republicans and Democrats, values, the US Constitution, politics, opportunity, faith, race, the wider world, and family - although there are many personal anecdotes and the style is remarkably fluent. The overall impression is of a thoughtful, perceptive, measured and caring politician who in American terms is refreshingly liberal and empathetic. This is a man who life experiences ensure that he understands poverty in the USA and in the world and sides with the disposed and the powerless.

from Roger Darlington

This is quite a tome: some 600 p

He sees government more as part of the solution than the problem, favors provision of healthcare and abortion rights, backs affirmative action for minorities and trade union representation for workers, wants greater investment in education, science and technology, and energy independence, and believes than America should be less autocratic abroad and more willing to talk to opponents as well as allies. But he supports the death penalty in limited circumstances, understands the cultural meaning of guns in rural communities, and generally shows respect for the views of his political opponents. There is little detail to his policies but he sets out his principles very clearly and eloquently. His main theme is "the gap between the magnitude of our challenges and the smallness of our politics - the ease with which we are distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, and our seeming inability to build a working consensus to tackle any big problem".

For a top level politician, his frankness is astonishing - he admits at different times in his life to "a chronic restlessness", "self-indulgence and self-destructiveness", and a "style of communicating that can be rambling, hesitant and overly verbose", and even acknowledges that "of all the areas of my life, it is in my capacities as a husband and father that I entertain the most doubt". What drives him? "My fierce ambitions might have been fueled by my father - by my knowledge of his achievements and failures, by my unspoken desire to somehow earn his love, and by my resentment and anger toward him".

(thankfully no footnotes or end notes). But it covers a lot of ground: the four years (2009-2013) that Hillary Clinton spent as Secretary of State during the first term of the Barack Obama presidency. Her natural abilities, plus a book team of three, ensure that it is well-written, informative and thoughtful, but there are no significant differences of opinion with Obama or criticisms of world leaders because Clinton is keeping her options open for a run at the presidency in 2016. Will she run? She simply states" "I haven't decided yet". I hope she does and I hope she wins. This was my position before reading her memoir and my view is simply reinforced by reading the book.

When Clinton failed to win the Democratic primary race against Obama, she famously declared: “Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it”. When Obama won the presidential contest, she had no interest in becoming Vice-President and every intention of returning to the Senate. Then, when Obama invited her to become Secretary of State, she was “floored”, turned it down, and took two weeks to be persuaded.

Obama kept his promise of access and she reckons she was at the White House more than 700 times during her four years in office. In the book, she mentions very few differences with the White House, perhaps the most important being her wish to arm rebels in the Syrian civil war and Obama's decision not to support this approach. It looks to have been a relationship that quickly developed mutual trust and at the end Obama declared that they had gone from "a team of rivals" to "an unrivalled team". She ended up visiting 112 countries and travelling nearly one million miles with more than 2,000 hours (equivalent to 87 full days) in the air. She claims that, over the years, she had developed the ability to sleep almost anywhere at any time (me too).

She describes Secretary of State as being three roles - the country’s chief diplomat, the president’s principal adviser on foreign policy, and chief executive of a department of 70,000 personnel - and she characterizes the nation’s foreign policy are comprised of the 3 Ds – defiance, diplomacy and development. She makes the usual distinctions in foreign policy between 'hard power' (military forces in its various forms) and 'soft power' (diplomatic, economic and cultural influences) and advocates an approach of what she calls 'smart power' - the right combination of different elements of hard and/or soft power for each particular situation.

After a couple of introductory chapters, “Hard Choices” does not follow a chronological approach but instead the bulk of the book (some 450 pages) comprises a series of chapters on different countries and regions around the globe: after a general chapter on Asia, specific ones on China, Burma, Afghanistan and Pakistan; then chapters on Europe, Russia, Latin America, and Africa; and, after a general chapter on the Middle East, dedicated chapters on the 2011 Arab Spring revolution, Libya, the 2012 death of the US ambassador in Benghazi, Iran, Syria and Gaza. Only at the end are there a few thematic chapters on global challenges such as climate change, energy and human rights. The book is dotted with some fascinating facts and figures on different countries and issues.

A key feature of the Obama/Clinton partnership was the so-called "pivot strategy", an effort to re-focus American attention more towards Asia and so, in a break from precedent, Clinton's first trip was to Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and China with a first ever visit by a US Secretary of State to ASEAN. Understandably she expresses concern about tensions especially in the South and East China Seas where China is increasingly flexing its growing military muscle. Another distinguishing feature of the new administration was an attempt to “reset” relations with Russia and Clinton even presented a mocked-up reset button to Russia’s Foreign Secretary Lavrov. However, the button was labeled ‘peregruzka’ (overcharged) rather than ‘perezagruzka’ (reset) and the effort soon ran into Putin's belligerence.

For anyone interested in international affairs or global politics - like me - this is a really interesting read which takes us through all the major trouble spots of the world, almost all of which - perhaps most notably the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iran's nuclear aspirations and the assertiveness of Russia - remain active. In each case, Clinton sets out the historic background to the challenge and then describes her efforts to improve the situation. Although inevitably in a memoir, the account is somewhat self-serving and there is very little in the way of rethinking, it is a sensible and sensitive review which reflects considerable knowledge, commitment and passion for social justice.

The only real expression of a change of view is in relation to a decision before she even ran for the Democratic nomination: the vote to authorize military action in Iraq. She writes: "I came to deeply regret giving President Bush the benefit of the doubt on that vote" and "While many were never going to look past my 2002 vote no matter what I did or said, I should have stated my regret sooner and in the plainest, most direct language possible".

The theme of the book - captured in the title and alluded to many times - is that all decisions in international affairs are complicated and difficult trade-offs of principle and pragmatism. As she puts it: "Keeping America safe, strong and prosperous presents an endless set of choices, many of which come with imperfect information and conflicting imperatives". She refers to "our classic dilemma" and asks" "Should we do business with a leader with whom we disagreed on so many things in the name of advancing core security interests?".

As she explains: "The question of nations working together on some issues while clashing on others is part of a classic debate within foreign policy circles" and "Straight up transactional diplomacy isn't always pretty, but often it's necessary". In the end, she insists: "As you've seen throughout this book, there are times when we do have to make difficult compromises. Our challenge is to be clear-eyed about the world as it is while never losing sight of the world as we want it to become

Election Issues

Demographics

What Was Not Talked About!

Executive Summary

Country Economic Issues
Solving the Deficit Problem won't be easy.  
Can We Afford Entitlements Existing? Additional?  
Solving the Lack of Good Jobs affects many
Income Inequality Analysis, Affect on Growth, Cures

International Issues
Lost International Greatness  
Lost Economic Greatness
Free Trade Solution or Problem
Income Stagnates is a serious complicated issue

Individual Economic Issues
Economic Wellbeing concerns everyone.
Economic Future of Children requires attention.
Are Child & Youth Protected bothers many.
Avoiding Income Stagnation requires individual investigation

Political Issues
Our Democratic Federalist Republic?
 Should Tea Party Share Its Tea? 
Is Politics About the Money? 
Why is Poverty Controversial?

Was the 2016 Election the Most Out-of-Whack in US History

Comparing Political Economy Philosophies

Concise Studies
Greece vs. Rome, with Boris Johnson and Mary Beard 96 minute video
Basic Characteristics of Capitalism
Other Economic Systems
Political Systems

Schematics

2017 Political Theory Applications Videos

"Liberalisms' great trick has been to naturalize very difficult political contests."

the-supreme-court-under-roberts-is-tilting-to-the-left-would-neil-gorsuch-change-that
 

Noam Chomsky has never seen anything like this.  p2

Basic Philosophy Help Complete Understanding

The Era of Distortion 2004 D. Brooks sees the Internet Heard before Facebook

Should the Electoral College Be Abolished?  8/12/16

Videos

Plato on Community

• A Short Guide To The American Political System
• A Short Guide To The Australian Political System
• A Short Guide To The British Political System
• A Short Guide To The Canadian Political System
• A Short Guide To The Chinese Political System
• A Short Guide To The French Political System
• A Short Guide To The German Political System
• A Short Guide To The Indian Political System
• A Short Guide To The Israeli Political System
• A Short Guide To The Italian Political System
• A Short Guide To The Japanese Political System
• A Short Guide To The Mexican Political System
• A Short Guide To The Russian Political System
• A Short Guide To The South African Political System
• A Short Guide To The Spanish Political System
• Contrasts Between The American And British Political Systems

   

• A Short Guide To How The European Union Works
• How To Critique a Political System
• The Crisis In The Older Democracies

   

• The Case For Evolution: Natural Selection vs. Creationism
• The Question Of Identity: Assimilation vs. Differentiation
• The Issue Of Nationhood: Definition vs. Redefinition
• The Trouble With Religion: Faith vs. Reason
• The Reason For Truth: Evidence vs. Anecdote
• Why People Believe Weird Things: Skepticism vs. Credulity
• How Consumers And Citizens Make Choices: Rationality vs. Irrationality

3. From Quick Notes

Political Economy Basics

Capitalism
Our Democratic Federalist Capitalist Republic
U.S. Political Economy
Building America's Constitution
Political Economy Readings
Some States Wealthier Than Others
 

US Political Eras

Political Eras One 1788 to 1892  
Political Eras Two 1896 to 2016   

Presidential Elections One 1778-1824   
Presidential Elections Two 1828-1852      
Presidential Elections Three 1856-1892       
Presidential Elections Four 1896-1928   
Presidential Elections Five 1932-72   
Presidential Elections Six 1976-2012  

Has Capitalism Failed?

Building America's Democratic Federalist Republic

The Early Colonial Period
Determining Political Power and "We the People"
Increasing We" of "We the People"
Thomas Jefferson Leader of the Opposition
Constitutional History of Our
Democratic Federalist Republic
Capitalistic Democracy Profitable Government
 

Economics 101&102 Review Materials

Economics Interactive Class Notes
Math Review basic math for microeconomics
Formula Reviews are concise
Math for Economics Formula Sheet
7 Economics Test Reviews
International Trade
Great Recession
A Brief History of U S Banking Problems
Appendix D History/Politics Book Summaries