• FrenchFrench• Why democratic republic took Why democratic republic took

root in USA and not in other root in USA and not in other countries that copied our countries that copied our constitutionconstitution

• Because the United States Because the United States offered more abundant and offered more abundant and fertile soil in which roots could fertile soil in which roots could growgrow

• The vast territory of the United The vast territory of the United States created innumerable States created innumerable opportunities for people to opportunities for people to acquire land and make a livingacquire land and make a living

• Must also take into account the Must also take into account the customs of the people – customs of the people – Political CulturePolitical Culture

•A distinctive and A distinctive and patterned way of patterned way of thinking about how thinking about how political and political and economic life economic life ought to be carried ought to be carried outout

• 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

• 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”

• Three Questions About Political Culture

1. How do we Know that American People share beliefs? Opinion Polls: supply useful evidence

2. 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

3. If there is agreement among Americans on certain political values, why has there been so much political conflict in our history? – Civil War

• Americanism: evidence that Americans believe themselves bound by common values and common hopes

• 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

• 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

• 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

•Americans have stronger sense of Civic Duty and Civic Competence

•Table 4.1 (p81)

• In 1959-1960 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

•AMERICAAMERICA = Equality = Equality of Opportunity of Opportunity

not not • Equality of ResultsEquality of Results

• Table 4.2 (p82)Table 4.2 (p82)• Table 4.3 (p82)Table 4.3 (p82)

• America is highly religiousAmerica is highly religious• Both “civically” and Both “civically” and

“spiritually”“spiritually”• CIVICLYCIVICLY = major source of = major source of

volunteer and community volunteer and community services services (faith-based (faith-based approaches to solving approaches to solving social ills)social ills)

• TABLES 4.4 & 4.5 (p83)TABLES 4.4 & 4.5 (p83)

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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.

• 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

• 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

• The Sources of Political Culture: (84-87)

• The Culture War: 86-87– Two major changes in

American society1. 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

2. The rise of media that make it easy to wage a cultural war on a large scale

• 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

• 1960s Vietnam1960s Vietnam

• 1970s Nixon 1970s Nixon (Watergate)(Watergate)

• 1990s Clinton 1990s Clinton almost impeached almost impeached by House of by House of RepresentativesRepresentatives

• September 11, 2001September 11, 2001

• Highest level in Highest level in many years in trust many years in trust in Washington in Washington OfficialsOfficials

• Extent to which citizens Extent to which citizens feel that the political feel that the political system will respond to system will respond to their needstheir needs

• A belief that you can take A belief that you can take part in politics part in politics (internal (internal efficacy)efficacy) or that the or that the government will respond to government will respond to the citizenry the citizenry (external (external efficacy)efficacy)

• Since mid-1960s sharp Since mid-1960s sharp dropdrop in sense of in sense of external external efficacyefficacy

•Political Tolerance is that which you will tolerate even though you disagree

•Political Tolerance is on the Rise

•Figure 4.4