Wilson Chapter 4 Political Culture

Objective Students will take notes and engage in a small group discussion in order to describe American Political Culture

Your First Political Memories What are your first political memories? Describe what you remember: How old were you? Who was responsible for influencing you politically? Was the memory positive? What political party do you identify with? What influenced that identification? What role does school/family have in your political socialization?

What is “Political Culture?” A patterned set of ways of thinking about how politics and government ought to be carried out It includes our fundamental assumptions about how the political process should operate

What’s the difference between Political Culture and Ideology? Political ideology refers to a more or less consistent set of views on the policies government ought to pursue While culture is a much broader concept

What fundamental elements make up American Political Culture? Liberty- Highly important. Let people do as they please as long as they don’t hurt others Equality- to vote and chance to participate Democracy- government is accountable to the people Civic duty- Ought to take community affairs seriously Individual Responsibility-

How do we know these are our values? They are inferred from looking at the books we read, films we watch, speeches and political choices we make Foreign observers (Like de Tocqueville) Opinion polls

If these values are important, how do we explain behavior inconsistent with them? Humans often behave in an inconsistent fashion with beliefs But belief acts as an agent of change, slowly forcing adherence to the value as people become aware of the inconsistency The “American dilemma”

Why is there so much conflict if we share a common culture? Values can be irrelevant to specific controversies Values can be inconsistent with one another – Equality of opportunity may mean curtailing personal liberty Americanisms

How does Political Culture affect our ideas about economics? We adopt the same five standards as with political systems. BUT: We are willing to tolerate more economic inequality WHY? Because we emphasize “Personal responsibility” and “Economic Individualism” we opt for “Equality of Opportunity” rather than “Equality of Results”

Who differs in this opinion? Civil Rights leaders and Women’s rights leaders often stress “Results” more than “Opportunity” WHY?

What role does Religion play in shaping Political Culture? Americans are more religious than other western democracies At least for non elites, Americans have become more religious over the last two decades Religion is attractive to Americans as much for civic significance as spiritual significance

Table 4.7: Religion in Industrialized Nations,

Table 4.8: American Beliefs about Faith-Based Programs

Where do we get our Political Culture? History: American Revolution as a fight over liberty Declaration of Independence enshrines certain values Thus Americans have a preoccupation with the assertion and maintenance of rights Americans also get from our history a suspicion and mistrust of government

Figure 4.1: Trust in the Federal Government, Source: University of Michigan, The National Election Studies, (September 1999), table 5A.1, updated by Los Angeles Times, poll taken November , 2001.

Where do we get our Political Culture? cont’d The Constitution The federal system with divided political authority provided opportunity for widespread participation in politics

Origins of Political Culture, cont’d Religious Diversity with a dominant Protestant tradition Led to and was a product of the Constitutional prohibition of a state sanctioned church Protestant churches provided members with organizational experience as they are often organized and controlled by the members “Protestant ethic” motivates civic engagement

How is Political Culture Transmitted? The process of transmitting political culture is called Political Socialization Primarily by the family Direct dissemination of values Structure of the family Equality among family members Greater freedom of children

Other means of Political Socialization Religious Institutions- Structure and transmission of values School- Through history and government classes and political perspectives of teachers and peers Media- TV, radio, newspapers and magazines Real Life Experiences- the primary influence on adults