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

2. Compare Two Political Cultures Saudi Arabia Crime—Murderers are beheaded, thieves hands cut off Lowest crime rate in the world Religion—Women are subservient to men; taught in schools; punishment in some countries for not practicing Islam Gender—Women cannot drive without an escort; marriages arranged; veiled in public You cannot buy alcohol or explicit magazines

3. Compare Two Political Cultures United States Crime—Government uses force less to keep order. Death penalty widely supported 1972—Supreme Court rules state’s death penalty unconstitutional; reverses in 1976 Punishment by death not unconstitutional 1995—77% supported it Religion—Protestant Work Ethic Derived from Puritanism

4. American Political Culture Liberty Equality Democracy Civic Duty Individual Responsibility

5. Beliefs About Economics Americans support free enterprise, but support some limits on marketplace freedom Americans believe in equality of opportunity but not equality of result Americans have a widely shared commitment to economic individualism

7. American Political Culture Americans tend to assert their rights Emphasize individualism, competition, equality, following rules, treating others fairly but impersonally Some other countries put more emphasis on harmony and equality

8. Why don’t Americans engage in religious violence or overthrows as in other cultures? Our system has widespread legitimacy No post-revolution revolution to challenge the 6 principles No Socialist Movement Thus, our political culture values political inclusion, democracy and nonviolent change. Socialism seen as un-American Relatively little class consciousness

9. Sources of Political Culture American Revolution Preoccupation with rights Emphasis on individuality Adversarial Spirit—distrust of authority Widespread (not universal) participation permitted by Constitution Absence of an established national religion made religious diversity inevitable Family instills how we think about world and politics Not a high degree of class consciousness

10. Class Poll

11. 1. The fact that some people have so much more money than other shows there is an unjust condition in this country that ought to be changed. Y=4 N=38 2. I have confidence in the Police. Y=16 N=26 3. I have confidence in Congress. Y=18 N=23 4. I have confidence in business. Y=22 N=21 5. I have confidence in the media. Y=3 N=40 6. I am very patriotic. Y=10 N=32 7. There should be a top limit on income. Y=6 N=37

12. 8. It’s the government’s responsibility to take care of the very poor. Y=32 N=11 9. The government should ensure equality of opportunity. Y=43 N=0 10. The government should ensure equality of results. Y=4 N=39 11. I never doubt the existence of God. Y=18 N=25 12. I am proud of many things about our form of government. Y=41 N=2 13. I can trust the government: Always=0; Most of the time=14; Some of the time=29; Never=0

13. 14. Sometimes politics are so complicated that I can’t really understand what’s going on. Y=35 N=8 15. People like me don’t have any say about what the government does. Y=19 N=24

16. Public Confidence in Institutions

18. Political Efficacy Internal Efficacy External Efficacy

19. Changes in the Sense of Political Efficacy, 1952-2002

20. Mistrust of Government There is evidence that mistrust has increased since the late 1950s Causes: Watergate, the Vietnam War and Clinton impeachment Public confidence is likely to ebb and flow with circumstances No dramatic change in confidence in Americans

22. Figure 4.4: Views of Toleration and Morality Source: The American Enterprise (January/February 1999): 37, reporting data from Roper, Washington Post, Harvard, and Kaiser Family Foundation polls.

23. Is America a “Christian” nation Would you say you are a religious person? US 82%; France 48%; Britain 55%; Sweden 29% Would you say you are a convinced atheist? US 1%; France 11%; Britain 4%; Sweden 4%

24. Religion and Politics Religious beliefs have played an important role in American politics Both liberals and conservatives use the pulpit to promote political change Candidates for national office in most other contemporary democracies rarely mention religion; drastically different in the U.S.

25. Write one short paragraph summarizing American Political Culture.