Chapter 1
American Political
Culture
Key Terms
• Government- institutions and procedures
through which a territory and its people are
ruled
• Politics- conflict over the leadership,
structure, and policies of governments
What Americans Think About Government
Do you trust government to do the right thing?
What Americans Think About Government
• Americans expect a lot from their
government.
– Keep us safe and yet protect
individual liberty and privacy.
– Support the weakest and yet keep
taxes low.
– Sustain a healthy environment and
still promote business growth.
– Keep government small, yet handle
each crisis quickly and effectively.
Trust in Government
What Americans Think About Government
• Does it matter if Americans trust their government?
– Yes
• American government is predicated on a citizenry
that:
– is informed and active,
– keeps leaders aware of their preferences, and
– holds elected officials accountable at elections.
• Trust is a prerequisite to engaged democracy.
What Americans Think About Government
• Efficacy: perception that one has the ability to
influence government and politics
– 1960: 25 percent of those polled said elected officials
didn’t care what citizens like themselves thought
– 2009: 59 percent thought the same
Political Efficacy
Citizenship: Knowledge and Participation
• Political Knowledge
– People will not believe they can affect government if
they don’t know much about it.
• Americans are not very knowledgeable about
their government.
– Just 48 percent know that only U.S. citizens can vote
in a national election.
Citizenship: Knowledge and Participation
• Citizenship: in theory, refers to “enlightened
political engagement”
– Citizens must be aware of the facts and what can be
done about a situation.
– Citizens must be willing to take action to solve
community problems.
– Not to be confused with formal definitions (native
born, naturalized)
Citizenship: Knowledge and Participation
• Necessity of Political Knowledge
– Citizens must understand how politics works if they
are to shape outcomes.
– Knowledge of process required extends far beyond
names and dates
• Citizens need political knowledge to understand
what they can expect of their government.
Citizenship: Knowledge and Participation
What Americans Know about Government
Government
• Government: institutions and procedures
through which a territory and its people are ruled
• Two defining features of government:
1. Who governs?
2. How much power is granted to the government?
Government Types
• Autocracy: government by a single, nonelected
leader.
• Oligarchy: government by a small group that is
not accountable to the citizens.
• Democracy: a system that allows the citizens to
select their leaders.
Government Types
• Totalitarian governments recognize no limits on
their authority.
• Authoritarian governments recognize no limits
on their authority, but they are constrained by
other institutions, such as business or a church.
• Constitutional governments are limited both in
what they can do (substantive limits) and the
methods they can employ (procedural limits).
Forms of Government
Forms of Government
Politics
• Politics: conflict over the leadership, structure,
and policies of governments.
– Representative democracy (republic)
• Governments are run by elected officials who
represent the interests of their constituents.
– Direct democracy
• Citizens themselves vote on all legislation.
– town meetings, referenda
Politics
• Pluralism
– Although we vote and engage in many other activities
as individuals, much of American politics involves
groups.
– Groups help disparate individuals link together and
pool resources to express common interests.
– Many of the ways Americans connect to their
government is through groups.
• Political parties, professional associations, etc.
Who Are Americans?
• America is an immigrant nation, which means
that the government sets policy to determine
whom it allows in and who is eligible for
citizenship.
• This decision is highly political.
• Has changed many times over the course of
American history
WHO ARE AMERICANS?
An Increasingly Diverse Nation
CHAPTER 1
WHO ARE AMERICANS?
Race
TOTAL
POPULATION =
1790 *
1900*
2010
3,929,214
75,994,575
308,745,538
White 81%
Black 19%
White 88%
Black 12%
Other 0.5%
= 1 million people
* The 1790 census does not accurately reflect the population because it only
counted blacks and whites. It did not include Native American or other groups.
The 1900 census did not count Hispanic Americans.
White
64%
Native American 1%
Black
13%
Other
Hispanic 16%
Asian
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov (accessed 8/16/12).
5%
1%
2 or more races 2%
WHO ARE AMERICANS?
Geography
1790*
1900*
50%
2010
28%
6%
36%
18%
23%
22%
50%
33%
Northeast 50%
South
50%
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov (accessed 8/16/12).
Northeast
South
Midwest
West
28%
33%
35%
6%
27%
Northeast
South
Midwest
West
18%
37%
22%
23%
WHO ARE AMERICANS?
Age
1900*
0 – 19
20 – 44
45 – 64
65 +
44%
38%
14%
4%
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, www.census.gov (accessed 8/16/12).
2010
0 – 19
20 – 44
45 – 64
65 +
27%
34%
26%
13%
Immigration and Ethnic Diversity
Who Are Americans?
• The first census did not count Native Americans.
• Until World War II, Americans saw biological
distinctions between people of different
ethnicities.
• Immigration policy was shaped to admit
“desirable” races.
– Until 1870, nonwhites could not naturalize.
– Chinese Exclusion Act 1882–1943
Who Are Americans?
Who Are Americans?
• Twenty-First Century Americans
– 1965, Congress lifted limitations on immigration set in
place in the 1920s
– Resulted in new waves of immigration from Asia and
Latin America
• 2010 Population (U.S. Census)
– White: 64%
– Asian: 5%
– Black: 13%
– Latino: 16%
Twenty-First Century Americans
Who Are Americans?
Immigration by Continent of Origin (1900–2008)
Who Are Americans?
• Age distribution of the population can have a
profound impact on politics.
– Different age groups have very different needs for
public services.
– Different age groups vote differently.
American Political Culture
• If Americans do not share a common blood line,
or religious or ethnic heritage, what unites the
nation?
– Liberty
– Equality
– Democracy
American Political Culture
• Liberty: freedom from
governmental control
– Personal freedom
– Economic freedom
American Political Culture
• Equality
– Equality of outcome
– Equality of opportunity
– Political equality
American Political Culture
• Democracy
– People choose their rulers and have some say over
what those rulers do.
– When ultimate power rests with the citizenry, this is
called “popular sovereignty.”
– In America, the people are sovereign, and majority
rules, but the individual rights of the minority are still
protected.
Liberty, Equality, and Democracy in Practice
• Liberty
–
–
–
–
People are typically not free to harm others.
Should they be free to harm themselves?
What about protecting minors?
Or protecting natural resources for future
generations?
– What values need to be protected, even at the
expense of freedom of speech or religion?
Liberty, Equality, and Democracy in Practice
• Equality
– Equality of access to public institutions
– Equality of opportunity in private life
• How do we rectify past official discrimination?
– Equality of outcomes
Liberty, Equality, and Democracy in Practice
• Democracy
– America’s history has been one of increasing
suffrage for more and more groups.
– This has meant large swaths of the polity did not have
the right to participate for most of the nation’s history.
– Even today, participation in American democratic
institutions is low.
Equality and Public Opinion
Public Opinion Poll
How much would you say the work and decisions of
the federal government affects what happens in your
life?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Not at all
A little
A moderate amount
A lot
A great deal
Public Opinion Poll
Do you believe our government should do more, the
same, or less for the citizens of our country?
a)
b)
c)
d)
More
About the same
Less
No opinion
Public Opinion Poll
How much of the time do you think you can trust
the federal government to do what is right and
fair?
a)
b)
c)
d)
Just about always
Most of the time
Only some of the time
Never
Public Opinion Poll
How much do you feel public officials care what
people like you think?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
A great deal
A lot
A moderate amount
A little
Not at all
Public Opinion Poll
How much do you feel people like you can affect
what the government does?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
A great deal
A lot
A moderate amount
A little
Not at all
Public Opinion Poll
How interested are you in information about what's
going on in government and politics?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Extremely interested
Very interested
Moderately interested
Slightly interested
Not interested at all
Public Opinion Poll
How often do you pay attention to what's going on
in government and politics?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Never
Once in a while
About half the time
Most of the time
All the time
Chapter 1: American Political Culture
• Quizzes
• Flashcards
• Outlines
• Exercises
wwnorton.com/we-the-people
Following this slide, you will find additional images,
figures, and tables from the textbook.
Presence of Government in Life of a Student at
“State University”
Presence of Government in Life of a Student at
“State University” (cont’d)
Digital Citizens
Immigration and Race
Equality
Equality
Should America Export Democracy?
Democracy