1. Changing American Values
Political Culture
Changing American Values

2. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

17. American Values
Monopolies also caused many to question equality of opportunity

18. 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