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Lesson 2 : The Policy Making System, History and Structure of Policy Making in the United States

Changes and Stabilities in the Constitutional Order

Chapter 3 of Birkland's textbook (2020) discusses the historical development of the constitutional order over the 200+ years of the American republic under the Constitution. Initially, American citizens felt closer to their state governments than to the federal government. Over time, however, this changed. It is very helpful to understand the changes that have taken place since the enactment of the Constitution.

Evolution of the Constitutional Order Over Time

Even though the American political system is typically stable over time, dramatic changes can and do take place—even if at a slow pace.

For a quick view of key events over time in the United States, go to the Interactive Timeline on the National Constitution Center website.

First, the Constitution itself has changed. Until the Civil War era, amendments to the Constitution (outside of the Bill of Rights) were rare and not of particularly great significance. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments changed that pattern:

  • The 13th Amendment ended slavery, an institution that was the foundation of the southern economy and culture.
  • Section 1 of the 14th Amendment granted freed slaves the immunities and privileges of all other American citizens, forbidding states from depriving any person "of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Finally, no person within any state's jurisdiction could be denied "equal protection of the laws" (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, §1). These clauses were clearly intended to protect the rights of former slaves.
  • The 15th Amendment closed out the three Civil War amendments by guaranteeing all citizens the right to vote, a dramatic change. Of course, these amendments did not automatically prevent freed slaves from discrimination.

Another change—discussed in the textbook and alluded to earlier—had to do with the relations between state and national government.

Many people use a "layer cake" model to describe the first government under the Constitution to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt administration: the state governments and the national government operated in somewhat different spheres. The states attended to their own affairs, while the national government focused more on developing the national economy, foreign relations, and national security. However, there were some collaborations between the national and state governments.  The Morrill Act, passed during the Lincoln administration, provided support for a set of state colleges (land-grant institutions), such as Penn State, Michigan State, and the like.

The next phase, in some constructions, was termed cooperative federalism (Wright, 1988) or "the marble cake," in which the state and national governments worked together to address problems. Take, for instance, grant programs: the federal government would make funds available for the states to use to address national problems, with the state being a key actor in addressing such challenges. One simple example comes from a mythical employee referred to as a "sanitarian." Wright quotes Morton Grodzins, describing this employee:

"The sanitarian is appointed by the state under merit standards established by the federal government. His base salary comes jointly from state and federal funds, the county provides him with an office and office amenities and pays a portion of his expenses, and the largest city in the county contributes to his salary and office by virtue of his appointment as a city plumbing inspector. . .But [the sanitarian] does not and cannot think of himself as acting in these various capacities. All business in the county that concerns public health and sanitation he considers his business. Paid largely from federal funds, he does not find it strange to attend meetings of the city council to give expert advice on matters ranging from rotten apples to rabies control. He is even deputized as a member of both the city and county police force" (Wright, 1988, p. 72)

That represents a considerable movement away from the layer cake.

Stability in the Constitutional Order

Over the years since the Constitution was ratified and went into effect, there has been considerable stability in the United States. Of course, this has not always been the case—the Civil War is a dramatic example. But, for the most part, there has been stability and consistency. While the constitutional order has evolved, great stability underpinned the changes.

American Ideology

One key factor has been the stability over the years in the American ideology. Citizens' basic political beliefs do not change rapidly; there is a core that only slowly changes. One study that seems to make this clear is a book by Donald Devine, The Political Culture of the United States (1972). This is a rather old volume, but it summarizes public opinion data collected over several decades and across demographic groups.

A 1968 Survey of Public Opinions

Devine draws upon 35 years' worth of public opinion surveys to explore the extent to which there is a definable and stable American political culture. He argues that poll findings suggest a "liberal" tradition, in the sense of an acceptance of principles associated with political thinkers like John Locke and James Madison. Furthermore, evidence suggests that there is widespread approval of basic views across many demographic categories. The tables below (Tables 2.3-2.5) are derived from a 1968 survey of public opinion. It is striking that basic values tend to be agreed upon by many different demographic breakdowns and across many groups. However, there are anomalies. For instance, when we explore the effect of party identification, the apolitical appear to be outliers on the issue of community trust. For the most part, though, it appears as if there is considerable acceptance of certain basic values.

Table 2.3. Potential Cleavages for American Political Culture: Identity System
Social group Community trust (%) Obey unjust government (%) Responsive government (%)
Political party: Democrat 47 54 65
Political party: Republican 68 59 67
Political party: Independent 59 56 65
Political party: Apolitical 26 61 58
Political ideology: Liberal 52 55 67
Political ideology: Conservative 62 62 64
Political public: Attentive 61 61 69
Political public: Non-attentive 53 53 62
Income ($): 0-2999 35 54 57
Income ($): 3000-4999 53 50 62
Income ($): 5000-7499 54 55 61
Income ($): 7500+ 64 59 72
Education: 0-7 years 30 51 48
Education: 8 years 37 56 53
Education: 9-11 years 46 54 61
Education: 12 years 59 64 67
Education: some college 74 50 78
Sex: Male 56 58 62
Sex: Female 57 54 67
Religion: Protestant 55 56 64
Religion: Catholic 59 58 70
Religion: Jew 74 24 61
Religion: Other 53 55 67
Religion: None 60 55 63
Age: Young 57 48 72
Age: Middle 58 57 67
Age: Old 51 60 55
Race: White 59 59 64
Race: Non-white 25 33 69
Adapted from The Political Culture of the United States, by D. Devine, 1972, pp. 374–375.
Table 2.4. Potential Cleavages for American Political Culture: Rule System
Social group Elections support (%) Congress support (%) Federalism (%)
Political party: Democrat 88 74 52
Political party: Republican 89 78 81
Political party: Independent 89 79 65
Political party: Apolitical 68 37 77
Political ideology: Liberal 89 76 45
Political ideology: Conservative 90 78 80
Political public: Attentive 90 81 67
Political public: Non-attentive 86 72 60
Income ($): 0-2999 76 63 60
Income ($): 3000-4999 85 67 54
Income ($): 5000-7499 89 76 66
Income ($): 7500+ 92 84 67
Education: 0-7 years 68 57 49
Education: 8 years 82 66 59
Education: 9-11 years 90 72 63
Education: 12 years 91 81 68
Education: some college 94 85 63
Sex: Male 89 76 66
Sex: Female 88 76 61
Religion: Protestant 88 75 67
Religion: Catholic 89 78 52
Religion: Jew 88 72 47
Religion: Other 87 76 66
Religion: None 92 76 55
Age: Young 88 81 61
Age: Middle 91 80 61
Age: Old 79 64 71
Race: White 88 76 69
Race: Non-white 86 63 19
Adapted from The Political Culture of the United States, by D. Devine, 1972, pp. 374–375.
Table 2.5. Potential Cleavages for American Political Culture: Belief System
Social group Achievement (%) Bible (%) School prayer (%)
Political party: Democrat 48 92 84
Political party: Republican 70 90 81
Political party: Independent 70 88 76
Political party: Apolitical 54 87 88
Political ideology: Liberal 47 91 79
Political ideology: Conservative 74 91 81
Political public: Attentive 62 91 81
Political public: Non-attentive 59 89 81
Income ($): 0-2999 45 93 86
Income ($): 3000-4999 54 90 86
Income ($): 5000-7499 62 92 84
Income ($): 7500+ 67 89 76
Education: 0-7 years 36 90 89
Education: 8 years 57 93 87
Education: 9-11 years 58 94 87
Education: 12 years 66 92 86
Education: some college 66 84 67
Sex: Male 63 87 77
Sex: Female 57 92 84
Religion: Protestant 63 93 88
Religion: Catholic 56 91 83
Religion: Jew 36 64 41
Religion: Other 55 83 74
Religion: None 58 59 59
Age: Young 57 88 74
Age: Middle 60 91 82
Age: Old 62 90 85
Race: White 66 90 80
Race: Non-white 12 94 92
Adapted from The Political Culture of the United States, by D. Devine, 1972, pp. 374–375.
Polls During Great Depression

Another approach to ideological stability comes from polls taken during the Great Depression. Given the extent of the misery, with about one quarter of the population unemployed, why were there no mass protests? Wouldn't we expect the development of a more radical American working class? Such a movement did not occur. Why not?

Polls from the late 1930s

Polls from the late 1930s, when there was still considerable hardship, asked a sample of Americans the extent to which they believed in the free enterprise system. A clear majority of most social groups continued to support capitalism—even those who were unemployed working-class citizens. More telling, only a minority of working-class people exhibited anything like class consciousness or a sense of themselves as workers with interests in opposition to a capitalist class. So why didn't the working class become radicalized? The polls, simply, showed that they remained attached to individualistic and liberal ideals associated with the free enterprise and capitalist system. Their acceptance of dominant American values dampened the prospects of a radicalized working class movement (Verba & Schlozman, 1977).

Thus, ideological stability appears to be one factor that contributes to the stability over time of the American constitutional order.

References

Birkland, T. A. (2020). An Introduction to the Policy Process (5th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Devine, D. (1972). The political culture of the United States. Boston, MA: Little, Brown.

U.S. Const. amend. XIV, §1.

Verba, S., & Schlozman, K. L. (1977). Unemployment, class consciousness, and radical politics: What didn't happen in the Thirties. Journal of Politics, 39, p. 291–323.

Wright, D. S. (1988). Understanding intergovernmental relations (3rd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.


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