American Political Culture Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key concepts, theories, and scholars of American political culture based on the provided lecture notes.

Alexis de Tocqueville

A French political official who visited the United States in 1835 and wrote the 1835-1840 two-volume study, Democracy in America, analyzing the success of the American democratic system.

Democracy in America

A two-volume study by Alexis de Tocqueville that continues to be one of the defining texts of American political culture, arguing that democracy endured because of geography, laws, and the manners and customs of the people.

Political Culture

A patterned and sustained way of thinking about how political and economic life ought to be carried out.

Parliamentary System

A system of government, such as in the United Kingdom, in which the legislature chooses a prime minister from within its own ranks.

Semi-presidential or quasi-parliamentary system

The system used in France where the president selects a prime minister from the majority party in the lower house of the parliament.

Political Equality

The belief that everybody should be equal politically, a concept Americans are far more likely to support than economic equality.

Equality of Results

An economic concept favored more in countries like Sweden than the U.S., which suggests putting a top limit on incomes and giving workers equal pay regardless of ability.

Liberty

An element of the American political system where people believe they should be free to do as they please as long as they do not hurt others.

Equality (Political)

The American belief that everyone should have an equal vote and an equal chance to participate and succeed.

Democracy (Operational)

The American view that government officials should be accountable to the people.

Civic Duty

A belief that one has an obligation to participate in civic and political affairs.

Individual Responsibility

The characteristic American view that, barring disability, individuals are responsible for their own actions and well-being.

American Dilemma

A term coined by Gunnar Myrdal describing the conflict between the American creed of equality of opportunity and the historical behavior of denying African Americans full citizenship.

Americanism

A term used primarily in the U.S. to describe common values and hopes, for which there are no foreign equivalents like Britishism or Frenchism.

Civic Competence

A belief that one can affect government policies.

The First Great Awakening

A religious revivalist movement in the 1730s and 1740s that transformed political life in the colonies and fueled the eventual break with England.

Protestant Ethic

As defined by Max Weber, a set of values (also called the work ethic) involving personal achievement, obligation to work, saving money, and obeying secular law.

Class Consciousness

A belief that you are a member of an economic group whose interests are opposed to people in other such groups; this is notably low in the United States.

Orthodox

The cultural class that believes morality and religion ought to be of decisive importance and that moral rules are unchanging and derive from God or nature.

Progressive

The cultural class that believes personal freedom and solving social problems are more important than religion and that moral rules must be evaluated in light of modern circumstances.

Civil Society

The collection of private, voluntary groups that, independent of the government and the commercial market, make human cooperation easier.

Social Capital

The connections people have with each other through friendship, personal contact, and group efforts.

Political Tolerance

The willingness of citizens to allow the discussion of ideas and the selection of rulers in an atmosphere reasonably free of oppression.