Download Slide 1 - Introduction to National Government

Political Culture
 Definitions
 "people's orientation to politics“
 "how a society understands and misunderstands itself“
 i.e. attitudinal, not behavioral
 Textbook (p. 80): “a patterned and sustained way of thinking about how political
and economic life ought to be carried out”
 Alternate definition: “the underlying set of values and beliefs about politics and
the system of meaning for interpreting politics among a given population”
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Set of values
System of meaning
 Characteristics and components
 Homogeneity v. heterogeneity of the political culture
 Greater emphasis on individuals or the collective (community)
 Greater emphasis on liberty or security
 Degree of acceptance of elite authority (not just in politics, but in society)
 How legitimate is the political system and its leaders?
 What is the focus (level, unit) of political identity (neighborhood, state, nation,
ethnicity, religion)
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Comparative Politics
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U.S. Political Culture
 American view of the political system
 Liberty (free to do whatever, as long as others not hurt)
 Equality (of voting, participation)
 Democracy (government accountable to the people)
 Civic duty (take community affairs seriously, help out)
 Individual responsibility (individuals responsible for own actions and wellbeing)
 Evidence?
 Surveys/polls
 Infer from books, speeches, slogans, political choices, observations of foreign
visitors
 Counter-evidence?
 Behaviors inconsistent with values
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e.g. racial segregation and discrimination
Self-interest and social circumstances shape behavior too
“American dilemma” (Myrdal)
“America is not a lie, it is a disappointment” (Huntington)
 Persistence of political conflict
 Specific policy disagreements v. universally-held values
 Values may be too general apply to specific disputes
Comparing U.S. Political Culture
 Patriotism: Greater pride in being a member of this country
 Individual responsibility
 Less likely to believe that “success in life is determined by forces
outside our control” (32% v. 68% in Germany)
 More likely to teach the “value of hard work” (60% v. 38% in Britain)
 Religion: more likely to link belief in God and morality (58% v.
13% in France)
 Participation in voting v. deference to politicians
 Americans less likely to vote and to defer (consider Sweden, Japan)
 Stronger sense of civic duty
 Greater confidence in political institutions (though not in policies
or politicians)
 Views of economic system
 Equality of results more favored in other systems
 Consider Sweden: more income redistribution, less support for
large gaps in pay between chief executives and lowest-paid workers
The “Civic Culture”
 Almond and Verba (1963, 1980)
 Tried to explain broad similarities in political culture in advanced industrial democracies
 Tried to explain how this was not the classic model of civic political engagement
 Three types of political culture
 Parochial (barely aware of government)
 Subject (aware and obedient)
 Participant (aware and involved)
 Civic Culture
 Primarily participant with holdovers of parochial and subject
 This combination underlies stable democracy
 U.K. good example of this mix
 Criticisms of “Civic Culture”
 Reflection of the political/governmental system rather than determinant of it
 Not especially democratic
 Ignores political subcultures, especially as shaped by class
 Seems to apply to narrow slice of time (1950s and 1960s in Western Europe)
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Introduction to Political Science
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Key Issue I: Religion and Politics
 America is a religious country with a secular government
 Americans more likely to believe in God, pray daily, go to church, etc.
 Religious people more likely to be involved civically and politically
 Constitution is basically secular
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God not mentioned in the Preamble (as source of legitimacy)
prohibits a “religious test” to hold office
First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”
 Religion important in political movements
 e.g. abolitionism, temperance, civil rights
 Moral Majority, Christian Coalition
 “culture war” between “orthodox” and “progressive” cultural classes (89-90)
 Religion acknowledged in politics
 Pledge of Allegiance
 “In God We Trust” on currency
 “God bless America” in politicians’ speeches
Key Issue 2: Distrust in Politics
 Prior to 1960s, high levels of trust in government institutions,
policies and politicians
 All have eroded, especially trust in federal government “to do what
is right” (chart, 91)
 Confidence in Congress dropped from 42% in 1973 to 11% in 2010
 Consider effect of events
 1950s: height of “American century” (U.S. military, economic and
cultural influence at peak)
 1960s: civil rights movement, anti-war movement, urban riots
 1970s: Watergate, oil crisis
 Brief resurgence of confidence after 9/11
 Are Americans “alienated” from politics?
Ideological Hegemony
 Marxists assumed that political cultures reflected class differences
"the ruling ideas of every age have always been the ideas of the ruling class"
 Implication was that working class would develop political subculture contrary to dominant
"political culture“ (because of its different material circumstances)
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 However, the (European) working class didn't develop proletarian
consciousness (especially in politics)
state coercion couldn't explain all this; ideas played a role
 Gramsci focused on development of ideological hegemony as the major barrier to socialism
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 “Hegemony” v. “political culture”
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Gramsci’s theories try to explain the dominant political culture in liberal democracies
Liberal democracies emphasize values which divide the working class, e.g. individualism
Or, they emphasize spurious cross-class unity, e.g. religion, nationalism, racism
This accomplished not simply by “indoctrination” and explicit political lessons, but by media,
social institutions, cultural experiences
“political culture” then not simply values and systems about politics, but impact of culture
broadly on politics
Context (implicit) constitutes and reinforces content (explicit)
Comparative Politics
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