American Political Culture

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American Political Culture

• Habits of the Heart

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Learning Objective

• To understand what political culture is and how
  it may potentially impact political outcomes.

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What is Politics?

• Harold Lasswell, Who gets what, when, and how
• Tom Patterson Politics is the process through
  which a society settles its conflicts.
• Carl Schmitt The specific political distinction
  to which political actions can be reduced is
  between friend and enemy.

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Political Culture

• The characteristic and deep seated beliefs of a
  particular people about government and politics.
• Examples
• Many people in the Islamic world believe Israel
  is a colonial power that is highly unjust. This
  belief may impact the domestic and foreign
  policies of Islamic countries.
• Many Americans believe in the importance of
  individual efforts for personal success and
  therefore are opposed to generous welfare
  benefits.

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Sources of American Political Culture

• Greco-Roman
• Judeo-Christian
• Anglo-Saxon
• Native American
• African
• Asian

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Americas Core Values The American Creed

• Declaration of Independence - Life, Liberty and
  the Pursuit of Happiness
• Liberty through the frontier and through
  governmental intervention
• Equality as an ideal and an historical struggle
  moral worth and under law
• Self-Government Of the people, by the people,
  and for the people people are the source of
  legitimate authority

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Other Principles Associated with the America Creed

• Individualism Commitment to personal
  initiative, self-sufficiency, and material
  accumulation property rights, consumerism, and
  distrust of government
• Unity From Articles of Confederation through
  the supremacy of the Federal government
• Diversity one out of many states rights
  multicultural society

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Percentage agreeing that success in life is
pretty much determined by forces outside our
control

• United States 32
• Great Britain 48
• France 54
• Italy 66
• Germany 68

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Education

• More than a third of the nations young attend
  college
• Equality of Opportunity
• California (322) and New York (320) have more
  colleges than any European democracy

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The Limits of Ideals

• Ideals are myths
• Slavery
• Hostility to Immigrants Nevertheless Americans
  are twice as likely French or Germans to have
  positive images of major immigrant groups within
  their society
• Ideals as a source of change
• Examine opinions about the teaching of history in
  American schools

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Where do ideals come from?

• Historical experience As a former colony of
  Britain, many of Americas ideas are inherited
  from the historical experiences of the British
  people
• Material circumstances Geography and modes of
  production impact beliefs
• Resource dependent economies often produce
  autocratic governments
• Countries with good ports often become vibrant
  commercial powers with greater tendencies toward
  production of wealth that leads to more
  participation in political decision making.

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Where do ideals come from?

• The Logic of Ideas
• Ideas have consequences the will of the people
  cannot take precedence over the revealed word of
  God
• Acceptance of pluralism limits the areas of
  agreement that a society may have and may make
  its policies less consistent and coherent
  overtime

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The Social Contract

• Thomas Hobbes The Leviathan (1651) People
  surrender freedom to have protection from a
  sovereign power
• John Locke Second Treatise on Civil Government
  (1690) People have inalienable rights
  including life, liberty, and property
• Jean Jacques Rousseau Social Contract (1762)
  Government is legitimate if it serves the
  General Will

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The Rules of American Politics

• Democracy contrast to oligarchy and autocracy
  democracy is less direct in the United States
  extreme fragmentation of governing authority is a
  defining characteristic of the American political
  system
• Constitutionalism rule of law and extraordinary
  attention on individual rights
• Capitalism contrast to socialism and communism
  sharp distinction between what is political and
  what is economic

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Theories of Power

• Majoritarianism Rule by the majority of the
  society
• Pluralism Rule by interested groups
• Elitism Rule by small, influential minority
• Bureaucratic rule Rule by the executors of the
  laws

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American Conservatism and Liberalism as Ideals

• Conservatives Believe in limiting the power of
  the state in economic affairs and using the state
  as enforcing strong social norms
• Evangelical Christians
• Liberals Believe in using state power to bring
  about positive economic outcomes, but are more
  tolerant of a variety of social norms
• Ethnic Minority Groups helped by Federal Power