WEEK 1 LECTURE
American Political Culture
What is Political Culture?
• Political culture is defined as broadly shared
values, beliefs, and attitudes about how the
government should function.
• American political culture emphasizes the
values of liberty, equality, and democracy.
• Americans actively embraced these values and
made them part of the national identity.
Liberty, Equality, and Democracy
• Liberty is a central American value defined as
freedom from governmental control.
• Equality is generally defined in the U.S. as greater
support for equality of opportunity (the notion that
all people should be free to use their talents and
industry to their fullest potential). In addition,
Americans tend to support political equality than
social equality.
• Democracy in the United States emphasizes popular
sovereignty (the notion that political authority
ultimately rests in the hands of the people).
American Political Values in Practice
• Historically, Americans have struggled with limiting personal
freedom and liberty in the name of protecting workers, prohibiting
discrimination, and upholding standards of conduct (such as by
prohibiting drug use).
• The problem of equality in practice falls into three categories: The
debate over equal access to public institutions , debate over the
public role in ensuring equal opportunity , and debate over
economic equality deals with the large income and wealth gap
between rich and poor citizens.
• Democracy’s practice in the United States has been controversial.
Historically, the right to vote did not extend to all citizens.
Evolution of American Personal Liberty
• Buy and use illegal drugs (Cocaine, Heroin, etc.)
• Expanding the legal use of recreational and medicinal
marijuana
• Purchasing and using any weapons that an individual may
wish to have(handguns, automatic weapons, etc.) Open carry
laws in effect.
• Soliciting prostitutes and other adult services.
• Expanding the definition of marriage to including gay
Americans.
• Being able to get an abortion.
• Allowed to do unlimited campaign contributions under the
protection of the 1st amendment’s freedom of speech.
• Practice religious freedoms even it means discriminating
against someone else for their lifestyle.
Summary of Introduced and Pending Restrictive
Voting Legislation
• Identification laws
• Photo ID laws. At least 22 states have introduced legislation either
requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls or making existing photo ID
laws more restrictive.
• Proof of citizenship laws. At least eight states have introduced legislation
requiring proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, to register or
vote.
• Making voter registration harder. At least seven states have introduced
bills to end Election Day or same-day voter registration, limit voter
registration mobilization efforts, and reduce other registration
opportunities.
• Reducing early voting opportunities. At least seven states have introduced
bills that limit existing opportunities to vote early in person.
• Making it harder to restore voting rights. At least two states have
introduced legislation that would further restrict the right to vote to
persons with criminal convictions.
• Making it harder for students to vote. At least two states have proposed
legislation that would make it harder for students to register and vote.
What Americans Think About
Government
• Americans trust in government overall has declined. Citizens
feel they can do little to influence government action.
Declining public trust in government is a matter of concern
because prolonged distrust makes it harder for the
government to raise taxes to support necessary programs and
makes it more difficult to attract talented individuals to
government service.
• The belief that government is responsive to ordinary citizens
has declined. Many Americans think the government does
not listen and is not responsive to ordinary citizens
What Americans Think About
Government (Cont.)
• In a poll taken by CNN in August 2014 stated that
Just 13% of Americans say the government can
be trusted to do what is right always or most of
the time, with just over three-quarters saying
only some of the time and one in 10 saying they
never trust the government, according to the
poll.
• Meaning 87% of Americans did not trust in the
government at all. Current approval of Congress
is just 5% and Obama’s approval rating is only
currently 39%.
Citizenship: Knowledge and
Participation
• Surveys show that the majority of Americans are
ill informed about government.
• Apathy is the result of a lack of knowledge about
how the individual and politics are related.
Therefore, if the individual feels unable to be
politically effective, the individual will never try.
• On the other hand, politically active individuals
have a tendency to participate often in the
system, because they believe they can affect it.
The Necessity of Political Knowledge
Forms Of Government
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Governments vary in structure, size, and operation. Who governs and what
limits are placed on government.
Governments range from autocracies (governments in which a single
individual – a king, queen, or dictator, rules) to oligarchies (governments in
which a small group – landowners, military officers, or wealthy merchants –
makes most of the governing decisions) to democracies (systems of rule that
permit citizens to play a significant part in the governmental process, usually
through the election of key public officials.)
Governments also range from constitutional (or liberal) governments (systems
of rule in which formal and effective limits are placed on governmental power)
to authoritarian governments (system of rule in which the government
recognizes no formal limits but may be restrained by the power of other
institutions) to totalitarian governments (systems of rule in which the
government recognizes no formal limits on its power and seeks to absorb or
eliminate other institutions that challenge it).
Limiting the Power of Government
• Beginning in the seventeenth century, two important changes in the
character and conduct of government began to take place:
• 1. Governments began to acknowledge formal limits on their power and
• 2. Governments began to grant ordinary citizens the vote as a formal voice
in public affairs.
• In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the upper classes of European
society attempted to control government by changing the social order,
seeking to transform aristocratic institutions (parliaments) into
instruments for political participation.
• The upper classes’s growing numbers and economic advantage over the
aristocracy helped it to place constitutional limits on governmental power.
The upper class also advanced individual liberty principles for all –
freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of conscience, and
freedom from arbitrary search and seizure.
Expanding Political Participation
• Participation expansion means more people have the right to participate
in politics. Politics is defined as the conflict over the leadership, structure,
and policies of government.
• Power is defined as having influence over a government’s leadership,
organization, or policies. Political participation that includes all citizens is
called democracy. It can manifest itself in many ways, such as voting,
lobbying or demonstrating.
• Among the other ways that political participation has expanded has been
through the introduction of representative democracy and direct
democracy.
• In addition, political participation among the populace has increased
through the active membership and activities of organized interest groups.
Who Are Americans?
• Since the founding of the nation, waves of immigrants (from
Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa) have contributed to
increasing ethnic and religious diversity in the United States.
• From at least the 1900s, immigration has caused political
strife as people expressed concern that immigrants would
bring disease, antidemocratic values, unfamiliar religious
beliefs, and different languages.
• Political struggles over immigration and citizenship have
always involved race.
• Recently, the United States has also become more religiously
diverse, and more urbanized.