Changing American Values Political Culture Changing American Values

Sources of American Political Culture (1) The American Revolution Had liberty as its object Founding experienced created a preoccupation with the assertion & maintenance of rights

Sources of American Political Culture (2) Absence of an official religion Encouraged religious pluralism & political pluralism

Sources of American Political Culture (3) Dominance of Protestantism Promoted a participant-oriented culture

Sources of American Political Culture (4) Child-rearing practices Stressing equality among family members Freedom for children produced corresponding political values

American Political Culture All of these influences shaped a political culture in which “class consciousness” is relatively unimportant

American Political Culture The values of the American political culture are not immune to change

American Values Firmly entrenched values of the late 18th & early 19th centuries were radically altered by the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s

American Values The most profound economic change was the increase in the inequality in the distribution of wealth & income

American Values By the end of the century, great wealth lay in the hands of a few people – the entrepreneurs or “robber barons”

American Values The economic development brought out some inherent conflicts between the core values already established

Capitalism Before the late 1800s, most personal wealth was based on land ownership

Capitalism Commitment to capitalism (wealth based on money) became an additional shared political value during the Industrial Revolution Complements individualism & freedom

Free Enterprise During the same period, American beliefs in freedom & individuals came to embrace free enterprise Economic competition without restraint from government

American Values New beliefs conflicted with old value of equality & tensions resulted

American Values Robber barons were accused of exploiting workers & limiting competition in order to get ahead of themselves Challenging equality & other people’s liberty

American Values Monopolies also caused many to question equality of opportunity

American Values Solution/resolution: (1) Legislate new government regulations to ensure fair treatment in the marketplace (2) Add to our political culture: government responsibility for the general welfare