American Political Culture

American Political Culture

How would you describe American political culture?

What is political culture?

• Political culture: A distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.• General set of attitudes, beliefs, and ideas

• Political culture differs even between countries that have the same type of government.• American political culture differs from the

political culture in other countries. Can you think of examples?

Swedes

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

Japanese

a) Value good relations with colleagues b) Emphasize group decisions and social

harmony c) Respect authority

“Success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside of your control.”

• India, 14% disagree• Japan, 52% disagree• Egypt, 42% disagree• Jordan, 39% disagree• Turkey, 17% disagree• Uzbekistan, 36% disagree• China, 25% disagree

“Success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside of your control.”

• Great Britain, 48% disagree• France, 44% disagree• Germany, 31% disagree• Poland, 29% disagree• Ukraine, 35% disagree• Russia, 36% disagree• United States, 65% disagree

“It is the responsibility of the (state or government) to take care of very poor people who can’t take care of themselves.”

% completely agree• Great Britain, 59%• Germany, 45%• Poland, 59%• Ukraine, 57%• Russia, 70%• United States, 29%

“Politics in the United States is characterized by a number

of major patterns.”

• Political culture that binds people together

• Extreme fragmentation of authority• Diversity and competing interests• Strong emphasis on individual rights• Sharp separation of political and

economic spheres

Five Elements in American Political Culture

• Liberty• Focus on individual rights and freedoms

• Equality• Fundamental belief in equality of all people

• Democracy• Government is accountable to the people

• Civic Duty• People should be involved in the

government• Individual Responsibility

• People are responsible for themselves above all

American Political Culture

• Where do these core beliefs come through in our government’s founding documents?• The Constitution• The Declaration of Independence• The Federalist Papers

• How do we know that Americans share these core political beliefs?

• Why is American political behavior so often inconsistent with these core beliefs?

• If we have such agreement in core values, why is our government fraught with political conflict?

American Economic v. Political System

Economic System• Americans are more

willing to tolerate inequality• Equality of opportunity• Inequality of results

• American Dream and individualism shapes economic policies

Political System• Americans insist on

equality• Sense of civic duty• Sense of civic

competence• Belief that people can

affect government policy

• Confidence and trust in American government

• Influence of religion

American Mistrust of Government

American Mistrust of Government

• Why the growing mistrust?• Political Efficacy: The belief that an

individual can take part in politics and influence events• Internal Efficacy: The ability to understanding

and participate in political affairs• Generally high in America

• External Efficacy: The ability and willingness of the system to respond to the citizenry’s demands

• Declining steadily in America

Political Ideology

Political Culture• A set of general

attitudes, ideas, and beliefs

• Broadly informs and shapes a region’s politics

Political Ideology• A set of specific

attitudes, ideas, and beliefs• Liberal and

Conservative• Provides a coherent

plan for social, political, and economic action

• Can, but doesn’t necessarily, overlap with political party affiliation

Examples of ideologies

• Political ideologies• Libertarianism• Liberalism• Conservatism• Anarchism• Socialism• Fascism• Communism

• Economic ideologies– Capitalism– Communism– Globalism– Protectionism– Socialism

• Social ideologies– Ethnocentrism– Nationalism– Feminism– Multiculturalism– Supremacism

American Political Ideologies

• Modern Liberalism• Expanded

government• Favors using

government to:• Reduce

economic inequality

• Champion the rights of the disadvantaged

• Tolerate diversity in social behavior

• Conservatism• Distrust of the

government• Greater faith in

private business and the free market

• Enforce traditional moral standards

American Political Ideologies

Issue Liberals Conservatives

Abortion A fetus is not a human life

Human life begins at conception

Affirmative Action Minorities still have unequal

opportunities that should be remedied

People should be hired and

accepted to school based

solely on ability

Death Penalty The death penalty is inhumane

The death penalty is an appropriate penalty for

murder

American Political Ideologies

Issue Liberals Conservatives

Economy The government should protect people from

private business

The free market leads to the

highest standard of living for all

The Environment Unchecked industrial growth

harms our environment

Environmental policies destroy

jobs and hurt our economy

Taxes Higher taxes and larger

government best provides for our

people

Lower taxes and smaller

government best supports our

economy

American Political Ideologies

Development of Political Ideology

• How do you think individuals develop their political ideologies?• Political culture• Political socialization

• The process by which background traits influence one’s political views

• Family: Only 9% HS seniors identify with OPPOSITE party of their parents

• Age• Religion• Gender• Education• Social Class• Race and Ethnicity• Region

American Political Parties

• Political Party: A group that seeks to elect candidates to public office• Label• Organization• Set of leaders

• Democrats v. Republicans• SNL Parody:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDqSvJ6aHc&feature=share&list=PL99F4825947BE2903

Why Political Parties?

• Purposes of political parties:• Nominate candidates for office• Raise and spend campaign funds• Register voters• Simplify decisions for and influence voters• Unify diverse interests• Inform the public via the party platform• Link the people to the government

Weaknesses of the American Political Party

• American political affiliation is weak and not a serious commitment

• Laws have stripped away some of the power of political parties

• Decentralized government leads to decentralized political parties

• We allow split-ticket voting, which creates divided government

• Party delegate opinions often differ greatly from (and are more extreme than) the opinions of the voters

National Party Structure

• National Convention• Meets every 4 years to nominate an official

party candidate for President• National Committee

• Manages party affairs• Made up of party delegates from each state

• Congressional Campaign Committee• Assists Congressional campaigns

• National Chairman• Day-to-day party manager, elected by the

National Committee

National Conventions

• Democrats and Republicans use different systems to apportion delegates to the national conventions• Many are chosen now by primary elections

and caucuses (used to be chosen by party leaders)

• Superdelegates: Party leaders and elected officials who serve as delegates to the national convention without running on a ballot or pledging support to one candidate• Differ from pledged delegates and are

“wildcards” at the national conventions

Types of Political Parties• Machines

• Recruit members with tangible incentives (jobs, money, favors)

• High degree of leadership control over members

• Ideological Parties• Value principle and

issues above all• Many third parties are

ideological parties

• Solidary Groups• Attract members who

participate in politics for social rewards (fun)

• May not work as hard

• Sponsored Parties• Supported by another

organization or business in the community

America’s Two Party System• Plurality and winner-take all system

discourages third parties. Why?• Winners are those with MOST (not majority

of) votes, and the winners earn all the votes/seats, so there is little reward for parties that lose

• Example: Electoral College System

Minor Parties

• Ideological parties• Offer radical view of American society

(Socialists, Green Party, Libertarians)• One-issue parties

• Focus on a single policy issue (Women’s Party)

• Economic-protest parties• Argue against depressed economic

conditions (Populist Party)• Factional parties

• Breakaway parties that form from a faction of a major party (Tea Party)

TOK and American Political Culture

• How does knowledge intersect with American political culture and political parties?

• Write a KQ based on American political culture as you see it.

• Is bias avoidable in politics? Is bias positive or negative?

• What role should emotion play as a way of knowing our political culture?