lecture five: political cultures

what is political culture?

a shared framework of values, beliefs, and habits of behavior in regard to gov and politics

why does texas have a distinctive political culture?

• size

• relative geographic isolation

• a long held, ferocious dislike for being told what to do (mexico, itself, fed gov)

• mixture of “wild west” attitudes and influences

• unmistakable conservatism (civil war)

• extreme individualism

• separation of some texans along race, ethnicity, and economic lines from dominant white political culture

• intense state-centric “patriotism

who is daniel elazer?

published theory for why diff geographic regions of the u.s. hold largely uniform political ideologies

what is a theory and why are they important?

• theories aren’t proofs

• ideas that elegant (short) and offer a lot of explanatory power (explain) while often ignoring unexplained aspects

• one theory can be explained by another

what was the one casual force elazar described?

clusters of immigrants with distinct cultures and values moved from specific homelands into certain areas of the u.s.

what was elazar’s individuali$tic classification?

• “gov shouldn’t get in the way”

• marketplace and individual initiative is primary, NOT government (gov role is limited, primarily to make way fro private initiative and protect individual rights)

• material self interest is key motivator of individuals (politicians run for office due to self interests, corruption is tolerated, political competition is partisan, elections orientated towards gaining office and not issues, civil service bureaucracy viewed negative bc hinders patronage)

what is elazar’s moralistic classification?

• “gov is a positive force for good”

• gov advances the public interest and is a positive force: intervenes when necessary (child labor/slavery)

• emphasizes common wealth (good of many not few)

• politics revolves around issues

• citizen’s duty to serve in politics (politicians run to advance issues, corruption not tolerated bc gov is public service, civil service bureaucracy is viewed favorably)

what is elazar’s traditionalistic classification?

• “elite lineage is all that matters”

• gov purpose is utilitarian: serve the elite who created it to serve them (maintain existing social order/economic hierarchy)

• ambivalent towards the common good

• politicians come from societies elite (ordinary citizens not expected to vote/politics between rival factions within the elite)

• civil service bureaucracy viewed with suspicion as it interferes with system

what is texas a hybrid of?

• traditionalistic (long history of one party rule/low levels of party turn out/ social and economic conservatism

• individualistic (strong support of private business/opposition of big government interference/.faith in ind initiatives over gov programs

why is elazar’s approach useful?

• focuses on the values of state’s early residents as important factors influencing politics and policy

• gives an “elegant” explanation to why Americans can differ so much in how they view very important ideas