Chapter 4: American Political Culture

Study Outline
Chapter 4: American Political Culture I. Introduction A. The American model of government both here and abroad B. Tocqueville on American democracy 1. Abundant and fertile soil for democracy to grow 2. No feudal aristocracy; minimal taxes; few legal restraints 3. Westward movement; vast territory provided opportunities 4. Nation of small, independent farmers 5. "Moral and intellectual characteristics," today called political culture II. Political Culture C. Defined as a distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out (e.g. stronger American belief in political than in economic equality)
D. Elements of the American political system 6. Liberty 7. Democracy 8. Equality 9. Civic duty E. Some questions about the U.S. political culture 10. How do we know people share these beliefs?
Before polls, beliefs inferred from books, speeches, and so on 11. How do we explain behavior inconsistent with beliefs?
Beliefs still important, source of change 12. Why so much political conflict in U.S. history?
Conflict occurs even with beliefs in common 13. Most consistent evidence of political culture
Use of terms Americanism, un-American F. The economic system 14. Americans support free enterprise but see limits on marketplace freedom 15. Americans prefer equality of opportunity to equality of result; individualist view 16. Americans have a shared commitment to economic individualism/self-reliance (see 1924 and 1977 polls) III. Comparing citizens of the United States with those of other nations G. Political system 17. Swedes: more deferential than participatory a. Defer to government experts and specialists b. Rarely challenge governmental decisions c. Believe in what is best more than what people want d. Value equality over liberty e. Value harmony and observe obligations 18. Japanese f. Value good relations with colleagues g. Emphasize group decisions and social harmony h. Respect authority 19. Americans i. Tend to assert rights j. Emphasize individualism, competition, equality, following rules, treating others fairly (compare with the Japanese) 20. Cultural differences affect political and economic systems 21. Danger of overgeneralizing: many diverse groups within a culture 22. Almond and Verba: U.S. and British citizens in cross-national study k. Stronger sense of civic duty, civic competence l. Institutional confidence m. Sense of patriotism H. Economic system 23. Swedes (contrasted with Americans): Verba and Orren n.
Equal pay and top limit on incomes o. Less income inequality 24. Cultural differences make a difference in politics: private ownership in United States versus public ownership in European countries I. The Civic Role of Religion 25. Americans are highly religious compared with Europeans 26. Recent trends in religiosity 27. Putnam's "bowling alone" thesis J. Religion and Politics 28. Religious movements transformed American politics and fueled the break with England. 29. Both liberals and conservatives use the pulpit to promote political change. 30. Bush, Gore and public support for faith based approaches to social ills IV. The sources of political culture K. Historical roots 31. Revolution essentially over liberty; preoccupied with asserting rights 32. Adversarial culture the result of distrust of authority and a belief that human nature is depraved 33. Federalist-Jeffersonian transition in 1800 legitimated the role of the opposition party; liberty and political change can coexist L. Legal-sociological factors 34. Widespread participation permitted by
Constitution 35. Absence of an established national religion p. Religious diversity a source of cleavage q. Absence of established religion has facilitated the absence of political orthodoxy r. Puritan heritage (dominant one) stress on personal achievement 1. Hard work 2. Save money 3. Obey secular law 4. Do good 5. Embrace "Protestant ethic" s. Miniature political systems produced by churches' congregational organization 36. Family instills the ways we think about world and politics t. Great freedom of children u. Equality among family members v. Rights accorded each person w. Varied interests considered 37. Class consciousness absent x. Most people consider themselves middle class y. Message of Horatio Alger stories is still popular M. The culture war 38. Two cultural classes in America battle over values 39. Culture war differs from political disputes in three ways: z. Money is not at stake {. Compromises are almost impossible |. Conflict is more profound 40. Culture conflict animated by deep differences in people's beliefs about private and public morality 41. Culture war about what kind of country we ought to live in 42. Two camps: }. Orthodox: morality, with rules from God, more important than self-expression ~. Progressive: personal freedom, with rules based on circumstances, more important than tradition 43. Orthodox associated with fundamentalist Protestants and progressives with mainline Protestants and those with no strong religious beliefs 44. Culture war occurring within religious denominations 45. Current culture war has special importance historically because of two changes: . More people consider themselves progressives than previously �. Rise of technology makes culture war easier to wage V. Mistrust of government N. What the polls say 46. Since the 1950s, a steady decline in percentage who say they trust the government in Washington 47. Increase in percentage who think public officials do not care about what we think 48. Important qualifications and considerations: �. Levels of trust rose briefly during the Reagan administration �. Distrust of officials is not the same as distrust for our system of government �. Americans remain more supportive of the country and its institutions than most Europeans O. Possible causes of apparent decline in confidence 49. Vietnam 50. Watergate and Nixon's resignation 51. Clinton's sex scandals and impeachment 52. Levels of support may have been abnormally high in the 1950s �. Aftermath of victory in World War II and possession of Atomic bomb �. From Depression to currency that dominated international trade �. Low expectations of Washington and little reason to be upset / disappointed 53. 1960's and 1970's may have dramatically increased expectations of government 54. Decline in patriotism (temporarily affected by the attacks of September 11) P. Necessary to view in context 55. Decline in confidence not spread to all institutions 56. Decline in confidence also varies from group to group 57. American's loss of support for leaders and particular policies does not mean loss of confidence in the political system or each other VI. Political efficacy Q. Definition: citizen's capacity to understand and influence political events R. Parts 58. Internal efficacy �. Ability to understand and influence events �. About the same as in 1950s 59. External efficacy �. Belief that system will respond to citizens �. Not shaped by particular events �. Declined steadily through the 1960s and 1970s S. Comparison: still much higher than Europeans' T. Conclusion 60. Some say Americans are more "alienated" from politics 61. But current research has not easily established a relationship between trust in government and confidence in leaders and vote turnout 62. Decline in trust and confidence may mean support for non-incumbents and third party candidates VII. Political tolerance U. Crucial to democratic politics 63. Citizens must be reasonably tolerant 64. But not necessarily perfectly tolerant V. Levels of American political tolerance 65. Most Americans assent in abstract 66. But would deny rights in concrete cases �. Liberals intolerant of extreme right �. Conservatives intolerant of extreme left 67. Most are willing to allow expression to most 68. Americans have become more tolerant in recent decades W. Question: How do very unpopular groups survive? 69. Most people do not act on beliefs 70. Usually no consensus on whom to persecute 71. Courts are sufficiently insulated from public opinion to enforce protection X. Conclusions 72. Political liberty cannot be taken for granted 73. No group should pretend it is always tolerant �. Conservatives once targeted professors �. Later, professors targeted conservatives