1. American Political Culture

2. What Makes a Real American? by Race/Ethnicity
Percent who believe "Trying to get ahead on your own effort is important in making a person a real American?" 81 79 85
WHITES
BLACKS
HISPANICS
ASIANS 20 40 60 80
100
PERCENT

3. Definitions What is political culture? What is an ideology?
“A distinctive, patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.”
Different from an ideology.
What is an ideology?
An internally consistent set of beliefs and values about the policies the government ought to pursue.

4. What Makes an American? Who are Americans? What makes us Americans?
Jus Soli – of the soil
Jus Sanguinis – of the blood
What makes us Americans?
Shared beliefs
Shared ideology

5. Alexis de Tocqueville – an early observer of American political culture – came to the United States during the 1830s to investigate why the American democracy seemed to be so successful, especially since his native France seemed to be having so much trouble with it.

6. Tocqueville recorded his observations in Democracy in America, a book that remains today a classic study of American political values.

7. American ‘Liberalism’
He identified several factors that he believed to be critical in shaping America’s successful democracy:
America “grew up” in
Belief in monarchy was dying
Socialism/Marxism not yet born
No feudal tradition
no brutal repression
no violent class revolution
result = moderate culture

8. TWO TYPES OF LIBERALISM
CLASSICAL (19th Century) LIBERALISM
historical roots in the revolt against feudalism
NEW DEAL LIBERALISM
historical roots in the Great Depression and Roosevelt presidency

9. Contrasting Ideologies
Classical Liberalism:
>opposed to government intervention in economy and society
American (New Deal) Liberalism:
>favors using government to soften the harshness of market economy (capitalism)
>opposed to government intervention in individual thought and personal (private) behavior

10. Contrasting Ideologies
American Conservatism
>hostile to government intervention in economy and society (similar to classical liberalism)
>favors using government to shape individual's thought and behavior (differs from classical liberalism)

12. Shared Values Freedom / Liberty Understood to mean individual freedom
Ability to structure our own lives
Sources:
Frontier
Many chances for success
Few Externalities
Protestantism

13. Shared Values Equality A belief that we are all as good as anyone else
Sources:
Lack of a feudal tradition
Protestant Tradition (all souls equal in the eyes of God)

14. Shared Values Individualism
the belief that individuals are responsible for their own well-being and that the strength of our system lies in the ability of individuals to be left alone to compete for success.
Sources
“Rugged Individualism”
Frontier Past

15. Shared Values Civic Duty Responsibility to participate in government
Sources:
Distance from England
Social contract tradition

16. Shared Values Capitalism Limited government interference in the market
Government is not responsible for citizens’ welfare
Sources:
Roman Law
Frontier
Wealth of the country
Protestant Work Ethic

17. Shared Values Tolerance Live and let live attitude Sources:
At least in abstract
Sources:
Frontier distances
Settlement patterns

18. Shared Values Rule of law
Stands in opposition to rule by an individual, which to many Americans implies following the whims of a dictator.
Sources
Greece/Rome
Enlightenment
English tradition

19. Shared Values Democracy
Most Americans believe that government should be based on the consent of the governed, or that legitimacy ultimately lies in the hands of the people.
Sources
Greece/Rome
Enlightenment
English tradition

20. Shared Values Political tolerance
Democracy depends on citizens being reasonably tolerant of the opinions and actions of others, and most Americans believe themselves to be fairly tolerant.
As a general rule, people are willing to deny rights to people on the opposite end of the political spectrum. For example, liberals are most likely to deny right-wing groups, such as neo-Nazis or self-styled militia groups their rights, and conservatives are most likely to deny them to groups they may disapprove of, such as gays, atheists, or black militants.

21. Shared Values Mistrust of the government
Trust in government and its officials has declined significantly since the mid-1960s. Many scholars blamed the Vietnam War and Watergate for the initial, dramatic drops, but the trend is persistent into the early 21st century, with Americans in record numbers expressing disgust with politics and politicians.

24. Shared Values Mistrust of the government
Accompanying the mistrust of government has been a drop in political efficacy, a citizen’s capacity to understand and influence political events. Political efficacy has two parts:
Internal efficacy – the ability to understand and take part in political affairs
External efficacy - the belief of the individual that government will respond to his or her personal needs or beliefs.

25. Is Faith a Characteristic of American Political Culture?
Religious
America is a profoundly religious nation, esp in comparison to European counterparts.
Politics often fought out in arena of religion.
(a) Abolition struggle
(b) Civil rights struggle
(c) Prohibition struggle