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 18 th & early 19 th 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