Aim: What is Political Culture?

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Aim What is Political Culture?

• Do Now Who are you? What are you?

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Culture

• The way of life of a group of people
• Subculture A culture that is part of the
  mainstream culture, but differs in certain ways.
• What are the characteristics of American culture?

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Political Culture

• A distinctive and patterned way of thinking about
  how political and economic life ought to be
  carried out.
• What is the difference between political culture
  and political ideology?

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• Ideology refers to policies government ought to
  pursue, but culture refers to a common belief
  about government and how it should operate.
• However, some ideologies are so far off the
  spectrum that they may embody a different culture
  entirely a political counterculture.
• Counterculture A type of subculture which
  opposes the mainstream culture and may advocate
  its destruction or elimination

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What are the Characteristics of American
Political Culture?

• Liberty the protecting of rights
• Equality equal vote and equal opportunity
• Democracy govt. officials should be accountable
  to the people
• Civic Duty people are part of a community and
  have a responsibility to it
• Individual Responsibility Individuals are
  responsible for their own actions and well-being.

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• Issues and Events in American History
• The Civil War
• Slavery
• Segregation
• Labor Riots
• Poverty
• How can our tumultuous history be reconciled with
  American values?

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Religion

• According to polls, The United States is a
  religious nation
• Although we have separation of church and state,
  religion plays a major role in our political
  culture and political decision making

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Polling Data Do you agree or disagree with this
statement? - Religion is very important to me in
my daily life.
Agree Disagree
World 48 52
Saudi Arabia 96 4
Egypt 89 11
South Africa 70 30
Mexico 65 35
Lebanon 65 35
United States 63 37
India 55 45
Italy 51 49
Russia 51 49
Turkey 51 49
South Korea 42 58
Israel 41 59
Australia 41 59
Canada 39 61
Spain 31 69
China 26 74
Germany 24 76
Japan 24 76
Britain 23 77
France 17 83
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Religiosity in The United States
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Importance of Religion by State
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Where does our Political Culture come from?

• The American Revolution
• Desires for balance of personal liberty and
  social control
• Mistrust of authority
• The Constitution and Federalism
• Thwarting the depraved nature of man
• Trust in political change
• Religious Diversity
• Lack of an established religion
• Competing moral and ethical standards
• Protestant Work Ethic Based on the works of Max
  Weber People should serve God through hard
  work, diligence, and restraint.
• - Lack of Class Consciousness belief that you
  belong to an economic group opposed to others in
  other groups (i.e. workers v. management)
• - Horatio Alger
• The Family
• - The vehicle by which culture is transmitted
  characteristics of the American family promote
  American values

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Conclusion

• What does it mean to be a real American?