1. American Political Culture
Chapter 4
American Political Culture

2. Alexis de Tocqueville French
Why democratic republic took root in USA and not in other countries that copied our constitution
Because the United States offered more abundant and fertile soil in which roots could grow
The vast territory of the United States created innumerable opportunities for people to acquire land and make a living
Must also take into account the customs of the people – Political Culture

3. Political Culture
A distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out

4. POLITICAL SYSTEM

5. OUR view of the Political System
Liberty: rights
Equality: vote and participation and success
Democracy: Gov officials accountable to the people
Civic Duty: seriousness of community affairs
Individual Responsibility: responsible for own action and well-being

6. ECONOMIC SYSTEM

7. Economic Individualism
Vast majorities of Americans believe that every citizen should have an equal chance to influence government policy and to hold public office
“Equality of Opportunity”
NOT
“Equality of Results”

8. American Political Culture
Three Questions About Political Culture
How do we Know that American People share beliefs? Opinion Polls: supply useful evidence
If values are important to Americans, how can we explain the existence in our society of behavior that is obviously inconsistent with them? – Race Relations
If there is agreement among Americans on certain political values, why has there been so much political conflict in our history? – Civil War

9. American Political Culture
Americanism: evidence that Americans believe themselves bound by common values and common hopes

10. American Political Culture
The Economic System: (79-80)
As it is in American politics, liberty is important in the U.S. economy.
Americans support the idea of a free-enterprise system, calling the nation’s economy “generally fair and efficient” and denying that it “survives by keeping the poor down.”
However, there are limits to how much freedom they think should exist in the market place. People support government regulation of business in order to keep some firms from becoming too powerful and to correct specific abuses

11. American Political Culture
The Economic System (79-80)
Americans are willing to support education and training programs to help disadvantaged people get ahead but are strongly against preferential treatment (for example, hiring quotas)
The leaders of very liberal political groups, such as civil rights and feminist organizations, are more willing than the average American to support preferential treatment in the hiring and promoting of minorities and women – Affirmative Action
Polls show that Americans are willing to help people “truly in need” but not those deemed “able to take care of themselves.
Overall, Americans dislike preferential hiring programs and the use of quotas to deal with racial inequality

12. American Political Culture
The Economic System (79-80)
In America the INDIVIDUALIST VIEW of social policy is by far the most popular – DO IT ON YOUR OWN
In 1924 almost half of the high school students in Muncie, Indiana, said that “it is entirely the fault of man himself if he cannot succeed” and disagreed with the view that differences in wealth showed that the system was unjust.
Over half a century later, the students in the same high school were asked the same question again, with the same results

13. America v.
Other Nations

14. Political System
Americans have stronger sense of Civic Duty and Civic Competence
Table 4.1 (p81)

15. Political System
In Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba published a study of political culture in FIVE nations
In general they found that Americans, and to a lesser degree citizens of Great Britain, had a stronger sense of civic duty – a belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs and a stronger sense of civic competence – a belief that one can affect government policies than did the citizens of Germany, Italy, or Mexico.
Today, the American people have less trust in government than they once did. But even so, popular confidence in political institutions remains higher here than in many places abroad

16. ECONOMIC SYSTEM
AMERICA = Equality of Opportunity
not
Equality of Results
Table 4.2 (p82)
Table 4.3 (p82)

17. CIVIC ROLE OF RELIGION America is highly religious
Both “civically” and “spiritually”
CIVICLY = major source of volunteer and community services (faith-based approaches to solving social ills)
TABLES 4.4 & 4.5 (p83)

18. SOURCES OF
POLITICAL CULTURE

19. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
American Revolution: Liberty
American Revolution have given to American political thought and culture a preoccupation with the assertion and maintenance of rights
American political culture reflects not only our preoccupation with rights but also our long-standing distrust of authority and of people wielding power

20. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Constitution, by creating a federal system and dividing political authority among competing institutions, provided ample opportunity for wide-spread- though hardly universal – participation in politics

21. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
Religious Diversity:
The conflict between the Puritan tradition, with its emphasis on faith and hard work, and the Catholic Church, with its devotion to the sacraments and priestly authority, provided a recurrent source of cleavage in American Public life.
The differences in values between these two groups showed up not only in their religious practices but also in areas involving the regulation of manners and morals, and even in people’s choice of political party
Max Weber explained the rise of capitalism in part by what he called the Protestant ethic – what we now sometimes call the work ethic

22. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
Religious Diversity:
Churches offered ready opportunities for developing and practicing civic and political skills
Developing a participatory political culture was undoubtedly made easier by the existence of a participatory religious culture

23. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Family: 85-86
All aspects of culture, including the political, are preserved and transmitted to new generations primarily through the family
They way we think about the world are largely acquired through the family
The family is the primary source of one kind of political attitude – identification with one or another political party
The family shapes in subtle ways how we think and act on political matters

24. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The combined effect of religious and ethnic diversity, and individualistic philosophy, fragmented political authority, and relatively egalitarian American family can be seen in the absence of a high degree of class consciousness among Americans
Class Consciousness means thinking of oneself as a worker whose interests are in opposition of those of management, or vice versa
In this country most people, whatever their jobs, think of themselves as “MIDDLE CLASS”
Americans believe success is available to people who work hard

25. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
For many years, the most explosive political issues have included abortion, gay rights, drug use, school prayer, and pornography.
Instead of two economic classes engaged in a bitter struggle over wealth, we have two cultural classes locked in a war over values

26. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
The culture war differs from other political disputes (over such matters as taxes, business regulations, and foreign policy) in several ways: money is not at stake, compromises are almost impossible to arrange, and conflict is more profound

27. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
It is animated by deep differences in people’s beliefs about private and public morality – that is, about the standards that ought to govern individual behavior and social arrangements.
It is about what kinds of policies our government ought to adopt.
To simplify these two camps, the Orthodox and the Progressive
On the Orthodox side are people who believe that morality is as important as, or more important than, self-expression and that moral rules derive from the commands of God or the laws of nature – commands the laws that are relatively clear, unchanging, and independent of individual preferences
On the Progressive side are people who think that personal freedom is as important as, or more important than, certain traditional moral rules and that those rules must be evaluated in light of the circumstances of modern life – circumstances that are quite complex, changeable, and dependent on individual preferences

28. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
Most conspicuous among the orthodox are fundamentalist Protestants and evangelical Christians, and so critics who dislike orthodox view often dismiss them as the fanatical expressions of “the Religious Right.”
But many people who hold orthodox views are not fanatical or deeply religious or right-wing on most issues; they simply have strong views about drugs, pornography, and sexual morality.

29. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
Similarly, the progressive side often includes members of liberal Protestant denominations (for example, Episcopalians and Unitarians) and people with no strong religious beliefs, and so their critics often denounce them as immoral, anti-Christian radical show embraced the ideology of secular humanism, the belief that moral standards do not require religious justification.
But in all likelihood few progressives immoral or anti-Christian, and most do not regard secular humanism as their defining ideology

30. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
Moreover, the culture war is occurring not just between different religions but also within them

31. American Political Culture
The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)
The Culture War: 86-87
Two major changes in American society
Is the great increase in proportion of people who consider themselves progressive. Once almost everyone was religiously orthodox, even if politically liberal; today fewer are
The rise of media that make it easy to wage a cultural war on a large scale

32. MISTRUST OF GOVERNMENT

33. MISTRUST
Since 1950’s a more or less steady decline in trust of Washington to do right thing
Figure 4.1 Page 89
Don’t trust Gov. officials not the system

34. Why Mistrust Officials
1960s Vietnam
1970s Nixon (Watergate)
1990s Clinton almost impeached by House of Representatives

35. Highest level in many years in trust in Washington Officials
Patriotic Fever
September 11, 2001
Highest level in many years in trust in Washington Officials

36. Political Efficacy
Extent to which citizens feel that the political system will respond to their needs
A belief that you can take part in politics (internal efficacy) or that the government will respond to the citizenry (external efficacy)
Since mid-1960s sharp drop in sense of external efficacy

37. POLITICAL TOLERANCE
Political Tolerance is that which you will tolerate even though you disagree
Political Tolerance is on the Rise
Figure 4.4