American Citizens and Political
Culture
K. Moylan
PowerPoint adapted from
Keeping the Republic: 4th edition, Instructor’s Resource
Guide
http://college.cqpress.com/instructors-resources/republic
Who are Americans?
• You are an American citizen if you are
– Born in the United States, whether or not parents are
citizens (jus soli – “the right of the soil”)
– Born to American parents abroad (jus sanguinis – “the
right by blood”)
• Immigrants: citizens or subjects of other countries who
move to another country to live or work
• Naturalization: the legal process of acquiring citizenship
for someone who has not acquired it by birth
Sample naturalization exam questions
• Who elects the president of the United States?
• Who said “Give me liberty, or give me death?”
• In what year was the Constitution written?
• In what month is the new president inaugurated?
What Americans believe:
the ideas that unite us
• Political culture: the broad patterns of ideas, beliefs, and
values about citizens and government held by the citizens
of a country
– Values: central ideas, principles, or standards that most
people agree are important
– Often take them for granted or aren’t aware of them
– Shared and handed down
Faith in rules and individuals
• Focus on fair rules and processes rather than results, and
on individuals being responsible for their own success
• Procedural guarantees: government assurance that the
rules will work smoothly and treat everyone fairly, with no
promise of particular outcomes
• Other democracies concentrate on substantive
guarantees: assuring outcomes are fair
Faith in rules and individuals, cont’d.
• Individualism: belief that what is good for society is based
on what is good for individuals
• Individuals, not government, are responsible for their own
well-being
Do you believe that Americans respect the
responsibilities that come with citizenship as
much as they respect the rights that come
with citizenship?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Many people do not know what the
responsibilities of citizenship are
Core American values
•
Democracy: representative democracy is a fair way to
make decisions
•
Freedom: procedural view that no unfair restrictions will
be placed on you
•
Equality: Americans believe in equality of treatment,
access, and opportunity but not in equality of result
What we believe:
the ideas that divide us
• Ideologies: sets of beliefs about politics and society that
help people make sense of their world
• Our political culture means the range of ideological
debate is narrow compared to other democracies
• Big question: Why???
What we believe:
the ideas that divide us, cont’d.
• Conservatives: people who generally favor limited government and are
cautious about change
• Liberals: people who generally favor government action and view
change as progress
The economic dimension
– Conservatives prefer little government involvement in economy
– Liberals see a positive government role
The social order dimension
– concerned with quality-of-life and moral issues
– Division over limited versus more active government control of
individual lives
Different Economic Systems
Should the federal government have more or less
influence over the American economy?
A. Much more
B. Somewhat more
C. No more/no less
D. Somewhat less
E. Much less
F. No opinion/don’t know
The Big Question:
How do you know which one
you are??? Are there any
other labels?
Funny you should ask…
Take the quiz: Which label suits
you best?
Personal Issues
Agree Maybe Disagree
• Government should not censor speech, press, media, or internet.
• Military service should be voluntary. There should be no draft.
• There should be no laws regarding sex for consenting adults.
• Repeal laws prohibiting adult possession and use of drugs.
• There should be no National ID card.
Economic Issues
• End "corporate welfare." No government handouts to business.
• End government barriers to international free trade.
• Let people control their own retirement; privatize Social Security.
• Replace government welfare with private charity.
• Cut taxes and government spending by 50% or more
Quiz from: http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz
For Five Extra Points!
• Go to the website where The Quiz is found:
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz
• Take the quiz
• Report on your results on this handout!
• Was it accurate? Did it come out the way
you thought it would? Why or why not?