Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Political Issues » (15th Edition)

McKenna received his Ph.D. at Fordham University. He has taught for 30 years at The City College of New York. He is the coeditor of two books in our Dushkin Taking Sides series: Taking Sides on social issues and on political issues. He has led local civic and environmental groups in New York and New Jersey.

TAKING SIDES: CLASHING VIEWS ON POLITICAL ISSUES presents current controversial issues in a debate-style format designed to stimulate student interest and develop critical thinking skills. Each issue is thoughtfully framed with an issue summary, an issue introduction, and a postscript. An instructor’s manual with testing material is available for each volume. USING TAKING SIDES IN THE CLASSROOM is also an excellent instructor resource with practical suggestions on incorporating this effective approach in the classroom. Each TAKING SIDES reader features an annotated listing of selected World Wide Web sites and is supported by our student website, www.mhcls.com/online.

Preface     v
Correlation Guide     xv
Introduction     xvii
Democracy and the American Political Process     1
Should Americans Believe in a Unique American "Mission"?     2
Yes: Wilfred M. McClay, from "The Founding of Nations," First Things (March 2006)     4
No: Howard Zinn, from "The Power and the Glory: Myths of American Exceptionalism," Boston Review (Summer 2005)     13
Is Democracy the Answer to Global Terrorism?     22
Yes: George W. Bush, from Speech at National Defense University, (March 8, 2005)     24
No: F. Gregory Gause III, from "Can Democracy Stop Terrorism?" Foreign Affairs (September/October 2005)     29
Should America Adopt Public Financing of Political Campaigns?     38
Yes: Mark Green, from Selling Out: How Big Corporate Money Buys Elections, Rams Through Legislation, and Betrays Our Democracy (Regan Books, 2002)     40
No: John Samples, from "Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns," in John Samples, ed., Welfare for Politicians? Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns (CATO Institute, 2005)     46
The Institution of Government     55
Does the President Have Unilateral War Powers?     56
Yes: John C. Yoo, from Memorandum Opinion for the Deputy Counsel to the President (September 25, 2001)     58
No: Michael Cairo, from "The 'ImperialPresidency' Triumphant," in Christopher S. Kelley, ed., Executing the Constitution (SUNY, 2006)     65
Should the Courts Seek the "Original Meaning" of the Constitution?     74
Yes: Antonin Scalia, from Remarks at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (March 14, 2005)     76
No: Stephen Breyer, from Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution (Knopf, 2005)     83
Is Congress a "Broken Branch"?     91
Yes: Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, from The Broken Branch (Oxford University Press, 2006)     93
No: Lee H. Hamilton, from How Congress Works (Indiana University Press, 2004)     104
Should the President Be Allowed "Executive Privilege"?     114
Yes: Mark J. Rozell, from "Pro," in Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson, eds., Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive (CQ Press, 2006)     116
No: David Gray Adler, from "Con," in Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson, eds., Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive (CQ Press, 2006)     122
Social Change and Public Policy     133
Is Homosexual Conduct Constitutionally Protected?     134
Yes: Anthony Kennedy, from the Majority Opinion, in Lawrence v. Texas, U.S. Supreme Court (2003)     136
No: Antonin Scalia, from the Dissenting Opinion, in Lawrence v. Texas, U.S. Supreme Court (2003)      146
Does Affirmative Action Advance Racial Equality?     158
Yes: Glenn C. Loury, from The Anatomy of Racial Inequality (Harvard University Press, 2002)     160
No: Walter E. Williams, from "Affirmative Action Can't Be Mended," in David Boaz, ed., Toward Liberty: The Idea That Is Changing the World (CATO Institute, 2002)     165
Should Abortion Be Restricted?     174
Yes: Robert P. George, from The Clash of Orthodoxies: Law, Religion, and Morality in Crisis (ISI Books, 2001)     176
No: Mary Gordon, from "A Moral Choice," The Atlantic Monthly (March 1990)     182
Should the Government Provide National Health Insurance?     190
Yes: Ezra Klein, from "The Health of Nations," The American Prospect (May 2007)     192
No: John C. Goodman, from "Health Care in a Free Society," Policy Analysis (January 27, 2005)     200
Is America Becoming More Unequal?     212
Yes: Jeff Madrick, from "Inequality and Democracy," in George Packer, ed., The Fight Is for Democracy (Perennial, 2003)     214
No: Christopher C. DeMuth, from "The New Wealth of Nations," Commentary (October 1997)     223
Does the Patriot Act Abridge Essential Freedom?     232
Yes: Nat Hentoff, from The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance (Seven Stories Press, 2003)     234
No: Heather Mac Donald, from "Straight Talk on Homeland Security," City Journal (Summer 2003)     244
Stopping Illegal Immigration: Should Border Security Come First?     257
Yes: Mark Krikorian, from "Comprehensive Immigration Reform II," Testimony Before Senate Committee on the Judiciary (October 18, 2005)     259
No: Frank Sharry, from "Comprehensive Immigration Reform II," Testimony Before Senate Committee on the Judiciary (October 18, 2005)     269
Should There Be a "Wall of Separation" Between Church and State?     278
Yes: John Paul Stevens, from Dissenting Opinion in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677 (June 2005)     280
No: Antonin Scalia, from Dissenting Opinion in McCreary County, Kentucky et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, 545 U.S. 844 (June 27, 2005)     289
America and the World     301
Does the War in Iraq Help the War Against Terrorism?     302
Yes: J. R. Dunn, from "Prospects of Terror," The American Thinker (March 21, 2006)     304
No: Robert Jervis, from "Why the Bush Doctrine Cannot Be Sustained," Political Science Quarterly (Fall 2005)     315
Is "Middle Eastern" Profiling Ever Justified?     326
Yes: Daniel Pipes, from "Fighting Militant Islam, Without Bias," City Journal (November 2001)     328
No: David A. Harris, from "'Flying While Arab,' Immigration Issues, and Lessons from the Racial Profiling Controversy," Testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (October 12, 2001)     335
Is the Use of Torture Against Terrorist Suspects Ever Justified?     342
Yes: Charles Krauthammer, from "The Truth About Torture," The Weekly Standard (December 5, 2005)     344
No: Andrew Sullivan, from "The Abolition of Torture," The New Republic (December 19, 2005)     352
Is Warrantless Wiretapping in Some Cases Justified to Protect National Security?     363
Yes: Andrew C. McCarthy, from "How to Connect the Dots," National Review (January 30, 2006)     365
No: Al Gore, from "Restoring the Rule of Law," from a speech presented to The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and The Liberty Coalition (January 16, 2006)     371
Is China a Military Threat to the United States?     379
Yes: Robert D. Kaplan, from "How We Would Fight China," The Atlantic.com (June 2005)     381
No: Ivan Eland, from "Is Chinese Military Modernization a Threat to the United States?" Policy Analysis (January 23, 2003)     390
Must America Exercise World Leadership?     399
Yes: Robert J. Lieber, from The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century (Cambridge University Press, 2005)     401
No: Niall Ferguson, from "An Empire in Denial," Harvard International Review (Fall 2003)     409
Contributors     419