Traditions in US Political Development Liberal Republicanism Ascriptive hierarchy

Liberal Tradition Locke’s natural rights Hartz’s Liberal Tradition in America Lacks a feudal past, “born equal” No social revolution against existing order Did not emerge from remnants of another society

Liberal Tradition cont. “final conclusion” of Locke’s state of nature Promotes equality and individual liberty Tyranny of unanimity “irrational Lockianism” Ie Cold War eccentricity into sin

Liberal Tradition, cont. Tied liberal ideas to the Alger dream of democratic capitalism Prevented the rise of socialism

Horatio Alger (1832-1899) Wrote rags to riches stories about American dream Is a type of reference/symbol for idea that one can pick oneself up by his/her bootstraps via hardwork, courage, determination, etc. Novels were popular and rivaled Mark Twain

Why Socialism didn’t happen here? Defining factor for US exceptionalism Some of Lipset and Marks reasoning: Egalitarian and anti-static political values and institutions Separation of labor and political movement Effect of immigration on reducing class consciousness Lipset, Seymour Martin and Marks, Gary. It didn’t happen Here: Why Socialism failed in the United States. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000

Two different ideas about liberalism One from John Locke, John Stuart Mill, etc, which emphasizes toleration and respect for individual rights Other is the opposite of what we now know as conservatism. Favors more generous welfare state and greater measure of social and economic equality

Liberalism and Democracy’s Discontent Michael Sandel’s Democracy’s Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy (1998) Two fears facing democracy today Losing control of forces that govern our lives Moral fabric of community unraveling

Liberalism- theory of rights Republicanism- theory of citizenship

What is Republican Theory? Depends on sharing in self government Deliberating with citizens about common good Requires knowledge of public affairs Possess civic virtues Sense of belonging

Republican theory cont. Linked to philosophy of Rousseau (1712-1778) Communitarianism vs. Liberalism Government is not neutral towards values and ends citizens espouse Calls for development of character (developmental model) Civic and moral ties matter

Rogers Smith (1953) Focuses on constitutional law, American political thought, and modern legal and political theory with special interests in questions of citizenship, race, ethnicity and gender Some of his publications include • Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Membership, Cambridge University Press, 2003. (Read the first chapter or buy this book from the publisher in hardcover or paperback)

Some of his publications include: • Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Membership, Cambridge University Press, 2003. • The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America (with Philip A. Klinkner) (University of Chicago Press, 1999). • Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History (Yale University Press, 1997). Civic Ideals was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in history in 1998, and it received six "best book" awards from divisions of the American Political Science Association, the Organization of American Historians, the Social Science History Association, and the Association of American Publishers. http://www.polisci.upenn.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=38&Itemid=73, http://www.apsanet.org/content_8128.cfm

Smith: “American politics is best seen as expressing the interaction of multiple political traditions, including liberalism, republicanism, and ascriptive forms of Americanism, which have collectively comprised American political culture, without any constituting it as a whole” (p. 550).

What does Smith Say? Theories miss a main element of US tradition– inegalitarian ideologies and institutions of ascriptive hierarchy that have persisted and defined politics of racial and ethnic minorities and women throughout US history In particular he studies the 1870-1920 period

What is an ascriptive tradition? It’s inherent and passed down, but not achieved Dealing with natural roots lineage Citizenship is constructed and restricted by ascribed characteristics

Smith challenged Tocqueville’s thesis by pointing out that for over 80% of US history, most of the world’s populations could not attain full American citizenship because of their race, original nationality or gender. In addition, for at least 2/3 of US history, the majority of the adult population was denied full citizenship for the same reasons (p. 549).

Thus, Smith calls for a multiple traditions approach in which liberalism, republicanism and ascriptive forms of Americanism interact to comprise American political culture

Why have these ascriptive traditions held up over time? Liberal and republican ideas threaten privileged positions Thus, “typical, not aberrational” From slavery to new ascriptive, hierarchical doctrines Currents of liberalism and towards more inequality both have force

What do you think? Do you think one tradition has greater explanatory power in describing US political culture?