Studied by 6 people
Covers Chapter 4 of American Government 16th Edition by James Wilson, John DeIulio, Meena Bose, and Matthew Levendusky.
What does Political Culture mean?
It is a way of thinking about how political and economic lift should be carried out.
Who was Alexis de Tocqueville and how was he influential in America?
He was a French aristocrat who came to the US to study our prison system. He wrote a booko called Democracy in American that described our political culture.
That are the five important elements in America’s political system?
Liberty, equality, democracy, civic duty, and individual responsibility.
What do American’s believe Liberty is?
They believe everyone is free to do anything they please, with some exceptions, as long as they don’t hurt others.
What do American’s believe Equality is?
They believe everyone should have equal vote and chance to participate and succeed.
What do American’s believe Democracy is?
They believe government officials should be accountable to the people.
What do American’s believe Civic Duty is?
They believe that people should take community affairs seriously and help when they can.
What do American’s believe Individual Responsibility is?
They believe individuals are responsible for their own actions and well-being.
How does religion affect Americans’ culture?
Since tons of people are religious in America, they usually can depict right from wrong and make donations to help others.
What is civic duty?
A belief that a person is obligated to participate in civic and political affairs.
What is civic competence?
A belief that a person can affect government policies.
Where does our political culture come from?
It somewhat comes from the Colonists and their ideas about humanity—that humans are inherently filled with sin (hence why they made the Constitution to stop this). It also came from religion, like Puritans and Protestants when they shaped our country.
What is class-consciousness?
A belief that one is a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to people in other groups. (EX: people usually think they’re in the middle class)
What are the two major sides that shape Americans’ political culture?
It is orthodox people and progressive people.
What are orthodox people?
People who believe that morality and religion should be involved in politics.
What are progressive people?
People that believe personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion.
Why is a growing number of Americans not trusting the government?
Mainly because of the events have unfolded throughout the years like the war in Vietnam, the Watergate Scandal, War in Iraq, impeachments, etc,.
When is it that Americans tend to trust the government?
Whenever major events happen to use and our government steps in like in 9/11 when we killed Osama bin Laden.
What do many people suggest Americans do to increase the achievement of common goals like improving neighborhoods?
They suggest that we increase the social capital in our communities, like creating voluntary groups (PTA, NAACP, Veterans of Foreign Wars).
Note 
Flashcard (21)