American Political

Culture
(American Political Culture and Ideology)
AB Political Science 4
The AMERICAN DREAM.

It's the belief that each American has the

freedom to pursue a better life than of the
forefathers.
This freedom has fueled incredible "RAGS TO
RICHES" stories, such as Presidents starting out in
log cabins and highly successful entrepreneurs who
came to America as penniless immigrants — not to
mention the guy that dropped out of Harvard to
become the richest man in the world. These stories
contribute to the American political culture.
• The ideas about the American dream help shape
the American political culture.
• The American political culture describes the relationship
between the American people and the American
government.
POLITICAL CULTURE — widely shared beliefs, values, and
norms that define the relationship between citizens and
government, and citizens to one another. Beliefs about
economic life are part of the political culture because
politics affects economics. A good understanding of a
country's political culture can help make sense of the way a
country's government is designed, as well as the political
decisions its leaders make.
Almond and Verba’s Civic Culture

The civic culture is pluralistic, and "based on

communication and persuasion, a culture of consensus
and diversity, a culture that [permits] change but
[moderates] it" (Almond and Verba 1963, 8).
This civic culture is but one example of political
culture generally, which they take to refer to "the
specifically political orientations -- attitudes towards the
political system and its various parts, and attitudes
toward the role of the self in the system". Moreover, in
its position of general values and attitudes shared by the
populace, political culture is formulated as "the
connecting link between micro- and macro politics".
Three Broad Types of Political Culture

1) parochial – in which no clear differentiation of

specific political roles and expectations exists among
actors, i.e. "political specialization is minimal“
2) subject – in which institutional and role
differentiation exists in political life, but towards which
the citizen stands in largely passive relations
3) participant – in which the relationships between
specialized institutions and citizen opinion and activity is
interactive. They summarize this general schema as
follows:
Melting Pot
The melting pot is a metaphor for
a heterogeneous society becoming
more homogeneous, the different elements "melting
together" into a harmonious whole with a common
culture. It is particularly used to describe
the assimilation of immigrants to the United
States. The melting-together metaphor was in use
by the 1780s. The exact term "melting pot" came
into general usage in the United States after it was
used as a metaphor describing a fusion of
nationalities, cultures and ethnicities in the
1908 play of the same name.
 The desirability of assimilation and the
melting pot model has been reconsidered by
some proponents of multiculturalism, who have
suggested alternative metaphors to describe the
current American society, such as
a mosaic, salad bowl, or kaleidoscope, in which
different cultures mix, but remain distinct in
some aspects. Others argue that cultural
assimilation is important to the maintenance of
national unity, and should be promoted.
Multiculturalism

• Multiculturalism is the view that we should embrace

our diversity and learn about one another’s cultures.
Much of American culture derives from western
European cultures (the British Isles in particular),
which makes some other groups feel excluded.
Learning about new cultures and respecting diversity
have taken on new force in recent years. For many
people, being American is about adhering to ideas and
principles, not to a particular religious or ethnic
identity. So one can be a patriot while still honoring
one’s ancestral traditions.
Alexis de Tocqueville

• Why does our system of government work for us better

than for almost anyone else?
French writer ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, an early observer
of the American political culture, gave some answers during
the 1830s.
• Tocqueville came to the United States primarily to answer
the question, "Why are the Americans doing so well with
democracy, while France is having so much trouble with
it?" France was in turmoil at the time, swinging back and
forth between absolutism and radical democracy, and
Tocqueville thought that France could learn a thing or two
from the Americans. Tocqueville's observations remain
today a classic study of American political culture.
• He identified several factors that influenced
America's success — abundant and fertile land,
countless opportunities for people to acquire land
and make a living, lack of a feudal aristocracy that
blocked the ambitious, and the independent spirit
encouraged by frontier living.
The American View

• The American political culture that Tocqueville

described in the 1830s has changed over the years,
but in many ways, it has remained remarkably the
same, even after the continent was settled coast to
coast. The American view has been characterized by
several familiar elements:

-Liberty -The Rule of Law

-Equality -Nationalism
-Democracy -Capitalism
-Individualism
Liberty

LIBERTY: Most people believe in the right to be free,

as long as another's rights aren't abused.
A limited government is a government that places
relatively few restrictions on its citizens’ freedom. There
are some things that the government cannot do, such
as limit freedom of speech or impose a single religion on
its citizens. A limited government usually has a
constitution that defines the limits of governmental
power. In the United States, the Constitution outlines
the structure of government, whereas the Bill of Rights
guarantees some of the citizens’ specific liberties.
Economic Liberty
• For many Americans, liberty includes economic
liberty. People should be free to do as they see fit
in the economic sphere without government
interference. Throughout most of the nineteenth
century, the American economy was based on
laissez-faire capitalism, an economic system in
which the government plays almost no role in
producing, distributing, or regulating the
production and distribution of goods.
Equality

EQUALITY: This generally translates as "equality of

opportunity," not absolute equality.
• Equality is especially important in our laws. All
people, regardless of race, gender or religion, are
expected to obey the laws of this country.
Throughout history, constitutional amendments
and new laws have been added in hopes of
bringing better equality to the citizens of the U.S.
For example, the 13th Amendment abolished
slavery, and the 19th Amendment granted women
the right to vote.
• Political equality means that everyone is treated in the same
way in the political sphere. This means, among other things, that
everyone has the same status under the law (everyone is
entitled to legal representation, for example, and every citizen
gets one vote) and that everyone gets equal treatment under
the law. Everybody must obey the laws, regardless of race,
creed, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, and in return,
everyone enjoys the same rights.
In American political culture, political equality also
commonly means equality of opportunity: All people get the
same opportunities to compete and achieve in the world. Some
people will succeed and some will fail, but most Americans believe
that everyone, no matter what, is entitled to the opportunity to
succeed.
Democracy

Democracy: Elected officials are accountable to the

people. Citizens have the responsibility to choose their
officials thoughtfully and wisely.
A democracy is a government run by the people,
through elected representatives. It's not exactly a
'majority rules' or 'winner takes all' system. The citizens
of the U.S. elect the government officials, and the
officials then exercise the governmental power. If the
officials don't exercise the power the way the people
want, then the people can impeach the officials or
choose not to re-elect the officials.
• Most Americans believe that democracy is the best
form of government and therefore tend to support
policies that protect and expand democracy. The
importance placed on democracy in American
political culture usually appears in domestic
politics, but sometimes a desire to spread
democracy to other countries drives American
foreign policy.
Individualism
• INDIVIDUALISM: The individual's rights are valued
above those of the state (government); individual
initiative and responsibility are strongly encouraged.
According to the concept of
individualism, humans are fundamentally individuals
who have the freedom to make choices and join (or not
join) groups as they wish. An individual’s life belongs to
no one but that individual, so people should make
choices that are right for them regardless of what other
people think. A true individual is unlike anyone else.
Americans value individualism and respect people who
make independent choices.
Individual Rights in American
History
The protection of individual rights had been a
hallmark of American politics even before the American
Revolution. Many colonial governments had bills of
rights that, to some extent, granted freedoms of
speech, religion, and assembly. At the start of the
revolution, states wrote new constitutions for
themselves and listed rights that the government could
not take away. The first ten amendments to the
Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were added as
soon as the new government took office in 1789.
The Rule of Law
• THE RULE OF LAW: Government is based on a
body of law applied equally and fairly, not on the
whims of a ruler.

Rule of law refers to an end state in which all

individuals and institutions, public and private, and
the state itself are held accountable to the law, which
is supreme. Laws must be consistent with
international human rights norms and standards,
legally certain, legally transparent, drafted with
procedural transparency, and publicly promulgated.
 This end state requires equal enforcement and
equality before the law, independent adjudication of
the law, fairness in the application of the law, and
avoidance of arbitrariness. Access to justice—the
ability of people to seek and obtain a remedy
through informal or formal institutions of justice—is
a mutually reinforcing component of rule of law. The
rule of law requires the separation of powers and
participation in decision-making. Rule of law is
the ideal that states strive for; stabilization requires
urgent focus toward this end.
Nationalism
NATIONALISM: Despite some current
negative attitudes toward the government,
most Americans are proud of our past and
tend to de-emphasize problems, such as
intolerance or military setbacks. This value
includes the belief that they are stronger and
more virtuous than other nations.
Capitalism

CAPITALISM: At the heart of the American

Dream are beliefs in the rights to own private
property and compete freely in OPEN
MARKETS with as little government
involvement as possible.
 Famous events from American history — the
movement West, the Civil War, the INDUSTRIAL
REVOLUTION, involvement in World Wars I and II,
the New Deal and the Great Society — have been
expressions of American political culture. Many
events have questioned and answered various
interpretations of American values and beliefs. But
most of all, the political culture defines political
attitudes, institutions, and activities that are most
cherished in American political life.
 The END
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