AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE American Political Ideals May 14

AMERICAN POLITICAL CULTURE American Political Ideals May 14 th, 2003

POLITICAL CULTURE: What is It? • value consensus regarding the appropriate method of making political decisions and the appropriate spheres subject to political decision-making – constitution (formal rules of the game)/political culture (operational rules of the game) – both about process and outcome

POLITICAL CULTURE: What is It? • CHARACTERISTICS – consensus -- not monolith – enduring -- not transitory – different from (but related to) political ideology • more complex, less consistent than ideology

POLITICAL CULTURE: Where Does It Come From? • IMMIGRATION – religious/ethnic background • fleeing religious persecution • puritanism – moral absolutism • protestantism – distrust of hierarchy – protestant work ethic

POLITICAL CULTURE: Where Does It Come From? • GEOGRAPHY – more land than labour • undermined development of rigid social hierarchy • reinforced emphasis on individualism – frontier imagery • settlement preceded authority

POLITICAL CULTURE: Where Does It Come From? • HISTORICAL EVENTS – American Revolution • patriotism • emphasized liberty and democracy – American Civil War • emphasized idea of “one nation”

POLITICAL CULTURE: Where Does It Come From? • ECONOMY – dynamic, rapidly growing economy – reinforced notions of equality of opportunity, individualism, and individual responsibility

POLITICAL CULTURE: Where Does It Come From? • POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS – reflects political culture but also reinforces it – constitutional emphasis on individual rights and limited government – political practice emphasizing mass participation

POLITICAL CULTURE: Where Does It Come From? • PLACE IN THE WORLD – major superpower • doctrine of isolationism ultimately unsustainable – reinforced patriotism and moral absolutism

Elements of American Political Culture • liberty • egalitarianism – equality of opportunity • • • democracy/populism individualism and individual responsibility voluntarism moral absolutism patriotism

Main Point! • American politics is shaped by various values (sometimes contradictory) which arose out of the historical context in which the US political system developed • this political culture is widely shared and deeply embedded – commitment to these values is often shared by those critical of American political practice