GVPT 170 American Government and Politics in a Global Era

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GVPT 170American Government and Politics in a
Global Era

• ORIGINS OF AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINCIPLES AND
  AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM
• January 30, 2006

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AMERICA IS A CONSERVATIVE NATION WITH LIBERAL
VALUES

• WHY CONSERVATIVE?
• FRAGMENTED NATURE OF
• US POLITICAL SYSTEM
• WHY LIBERAL?
• HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

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WHAT ARE AMERICAS CLASSICAL LIBERAL VALUES?

• INDIVIDUALISM
• FREEDOM
• CAPITALISM
• EQUALITY
• RULE OF LAW
• DEMOCRACY
• DIVERSITY

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CONSERVING LIBERALISM

• CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN
• GEOGRAPHY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
• UNEVEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• RACISM
• ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DIVISIONS
• STATE REPRESSION

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AMERICAN POLITICAL THOUGHT A MAZE OF
CONTRADICTIONSCapitalist v AnticapitalistPragmat
ic v AbsolutistOptimistic v PessimisticMateriali
st v IdealistIndividualist v ConformistFreedom
v Equality OrientedGlobal v Insular
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AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

• Unique Nature American exceptionalism
• A Tradition of Classical Liberalism
• America was a nation before a state
• Leadership of the Founding Brothers
• An evolving process
• A conflictual process
• A process compromised by political
• fragmentation???

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AMERICANISM POLITICAL PRINCIPLES AND THEMES

• SHAPED BY WESTERN TRADITIONS
• A MAZE OF CONTRADICTIONS
• AMERICAN IDEOLOGY IS INSULAR
• AMERICA IS A CONSERVATIVE NATION
• AMERICANISM IS LIBERALISM
• EXCEPTIONALISM HAS ITS PERILS

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GVPT 170American Government and Politics in a
Global Era

• THE UNIFINISHED REVOLUTION, NATIONBUILDING AND
  THE U.S.
• CONSTITUTION
• February 1, 2006

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LECTURE THEMES

• AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AND THE LACK OF A FEUDAL
  TRADITION
• THE UNFINISHED REVOLUTION
• PRE-CONSTITUTION IMMENSE POLITICAL AUTHORITY IN
  STATES LOCALITIES
• A DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC SOLUTION
• TO PRESERVE FREEDOM AND
• EQUALITY
• LEADERSHIP FAILURES IN PHILADELPHIA

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AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

• CITY ON THE HILL AND THE NEW WORLD AS BLESSED
• DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE AS THE PROMISE OF
  EQUALITY
• (Lincoln, Martin L.King Jr.,T.Marshall)
• AMERICAN DREAM PEOPLE JUDGED
• NOT BY ACCIDENT OF BIRTH

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The Unfinished Revolution

• Change in governance
• Traditions of classical liberalism and localism
  intact
• Unsettled political conflicts represented by
• the split between Federalists and
• Anti-Federalists
• Conflicts escalated into Civil War (1861-1865)
• Some issues remain unresolved

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THE FRAMERS AND A NEW SCIENCE OF POLITICS

• No relevant model of republican governance
• Differing views- what is a good republic
• A Big Victory for the Federalists
• Consensus was key
• Federalists controlled the agenda
• Slavery protected by 3 clauses

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AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
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AMERICANISM POLITICAL PRINCIPLES AND THEMES

• SHAPED BY WESTERN TRADITIONS
• A MAZE OF CONTRADICTIONS
• AMERICAN IDEOLOGY IS INSULAR
• AMERICA IS A CONSERVATIVE NATION
• AMERICANISM IS LIBERALISM
• EXCEPTIONALISM HAS ITS PERILS

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GVPT 170American Government and Politics in a
Global Era

• Analyzing American Political Beliefs
• February 6, 2006

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CENTRAL THEMES

• HAMILTONIAN V JEFFERSONIAN MODELS OF POLITICAL
  ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
• PROCEDURAL V SUBSTANTIVE DEMOCRACY

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Hamiltonian Model of Political Development

• Manufacturing-based economy
• Activist government
• Elite orientation
• Expansion of the national government

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Jeffersonian Model of PoliticalDevelopment

• Agriculturally-based economy
• Importance of the small farmer
• Confidence in the ordinary citizen
• State and local governmental control

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AMERICAN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP FROMFDR
TO CLINTON CONSENSUSHamiltonianpublic needs
best met in contextof a healthy business
climateJeffersonianOrdinary citizens needs
take precedence in a good society
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PROCEDURAL V SUBSTANTIVEDEMOCRACY

• Early 20th century conflicts far from resolved
• Changes in economy led to demands for expansion
• of procedural democracy
• Growing inequalities Abolition, Suffragist,
  Workers,
• Farmers, Early Civil Rights Movements
• Without the means cannot achieve the ends of
• democracy
• Major role of federal courts in the expansion of
• procedural rights

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INDIVIDUALISM A FUNDAMENTAL AMERICAN BELIEF

• Very deep cultural commitment
• Individual as the starting point
• Some limits placed
• Contentious
• Contradictory
• Continuing subject of disagreement

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PROPERTY A FUNDAMENTAL POLITICAL BELIEF

• Meaning has changed over time
• Jeffersonian owning land central to citzenship
• Hamiltonian ownership broader
• Conflict over forms of property
• Legacy government subsidizes home ownership
• Legacy Americans threatened by government
  ownership
• Legacy no real workers movement today

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CONTRACTS AND LAW AMERICAN BELIEFS

• Contract as an embodiment of higher law
• Public and private life
• U.S. Constitution is a contract
• Contracts basis of daily transactions
• Contentious neutrality of the law
• Individualism, Property, Contracts support
• capitalism

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FREEDOM AND EQUALITY AS COMPLEMENTARY AND
CONTENTIOUS BELIEFS

• Freedom as the absence of restraints
• Equality as entitlements
• Conflicts
• -Political equality impinges on freedom
• -Freedom leads to inequalities
• -Resentment over equality of opportunity
• -Utopian idea of equality and safety net