American political culture refers to long-standing patterns in how people view government, politics, and the economy.
Key contrasts:
Political culture vs. political ideology:
Culture: broad patterns about how government should function and what principles guide politics.
Ideology: specific views about which programs and policies government should pursue.
Is the United States politically unique among advanced industrialized democracies? Surveys suggest Americans view government, politics, religion, and economics differently than citizens of other democracies, though there is overlap and shared commitments.
Learning Objectives (What You Need to Know)
What is American political culture?
How does political culture differ from political ideology?
Does the United States have a unique political culture compared to other advanced democracies?
GV: Who GOverns?
1) Do Americans trust their government?
2) Why do we accept significant wealth and income differences?
TO WHAT ENDS?
1) Why does our government behave differently than governments in countries with similar constitutions?
The Political System: Five Core Elements
Liberty: Americans are preoccupied with rights and personal freedoms, within the bounds of not harming others.
Equality: Americans want equal voting rights and equal opportunity to participate and succeed.
Democracy: Government officials should be accountable to the people.
Civic duty: Americans feel people should engage in community affairs and help when possible.
Individual responsibility: A belief in personal responsibility; people should be responsible for their own actions and well-being, barring disability.
Broad implications:
Most citizens believe all should have an equal chance to influence policy and hold office.
A sizable minority supports voting rights for individuals who cannot read or write or vote intelligently.
Important questions about these values:
How do we know these beliefs are shared? Historical proxies include reading, speeches, slogans, foreign observations, and opinion polls; yet no definitive proof exists.
How to explain behavior that appears inconsistent with professed values (e.g., equality of opportunity vs. long-standing racial inequities)?
If universal beliefs exist, why do political conflicts arise? Conflicts often center on specific policies where abstract values may clash (e.g., equality of opportunity vs. personal liberty).
Tocqueville’s observation: The United States thrived due to moral and intellectual characteristics and expansive land opportunities—culture matters beyond geography and institutions.
Cross-National and Domestic Differences in Culture
Cross-national differences among democracies tend to be most pronounced in cultural domains and endure over time.
Demographic differences shape political culture: language, religion, and population composition.
Key comparative points:
Americans emphasize political equality more than the French or British but emphasize economic equality less; they favor government taking care of the very poor less than the French/British.
A classic study shows American children, when imagining a president speeding, would expect the president to be ticketed like any citizen; French and British children anticipated no punishment for the leader. This suggests deeper differences in how democracy and equality are internalized.
Tocqueville’s broader point: Democracy survived in the U.S. and thrived with large-scale immigration, in contrast to some Latin American countries with abundant resources but weaker democratic persistence.
The themes of liberty, equality, and a suspicion of concentrated power shape the American view of the political system, and religious and cultural diversity contributed to a pluralistic political culture.
The Political System in America: Key Differences
Constitutional differences vs. demographic and cultural differences:
The United States has a written constitution with separation of powers into three branches; the U.K. has a parliamentary system; France has a semi-presidential structure with a prime minister from the majority in the lower house.
These structures interact with culture and demographics to shape governance and political behavior.
Demographic contrasts:
United States: large population (~300 million during the text’s context), English-speaking with a sizeable Spanish-speaking community; diverse religious landscape with majority identifying as Christians but many denominations; immigrant population contributes to demographic dynamism.
France and the United Kingdom: smaller populations (~60 million) with immigrant subpopulations growing; religious composition differs (France: Catholic majority; UK: Church of England and Church of Scotland).
Despite differences, all three countries share certain political-culture elements: belief in democracy, majority rule with minority rights protections, and a reflexive respect for constitutional order.
Cross-national differences in attitudes toward equality and government responsibility reflect cultural divergence.
The Political System: Core Beliefs in the American View of Politics
The five elements reiterated with emphasis on action and rights:
Common beliefs in practice: broad support for equal political influence and opportunities, support for a political system that limits the power of rulers through accountability and elections.
Contested areas: debates over how much equality (economic) should be pursued; whether government should guarantee basic needs; and how to balance liberty with social welfare.
The Persistence of Conflict in American Politics
Even with shared broad values, there is persistent conflict over policy issues (abortion, immigration, civil rights, welfare).
Reasons for conflict:
Competing interpretations of shared values.
Specific policy tradeoffs where pursuing one value may constrain another (e.g., equality of opportunity vs. personal liberty).
The Civil War as a salient example: a conflict over race and rights within a shared constitutional framework, illustrating that core beliefs can persist even amid intense conflict over policies.
The southern states’ secession reflected an attempt to preserve a political order modeled on the U.S. Constitution, underscoring continuity of constitutional principle, even in tension with sectional conflict.
Americanism and the American Dream as cultural anchors demonstrably enduring across centuries, contrasting with other countries where specific ideological vocabularies differ.
The Persistence of the Culture War: Orthodox vs. Progressive
The Culture War framework (James Davison Hunter): two broad cultural camps within a shared democracy:
Orthodox: moral rules grounded in God or natural law; prioritizes morality, traditional religious beliefs; emphasizes religion as a central guide to life.
Progressive: values personal freedom; prioritizes solving social problems and adapting morality to modern life; tends to view morality through the lens of secular humanism.
The culture war is not solely about religion; it concerns how different groups interpret morality, legality, and social norms.
Examples of contentious issues: abortion, gay rights, school prayer, drug policy, pornography, and art/media controversies (e.g., National Endowment for the Arts funding debates).
The tension is not only about policy but about what kind of country the U.S. ought to be; it is a struggle over private vs. public morality and the appropriate balance of religious and secular influences.
The Sources of Political Culture in America
The American Revolution focused on liberty and rights, influencing the design of the Constitution and checks on power.
The Constitution was designed to reconcile personal liberty with social order via a federal system and checks and balances, enabling broad political participation without collapse into chaos.
Religious diversity and the absence of an established church prevented a single political orthodoxy from dominating public life.
Protestantism and the Protestant ethic contributed to a work ethic and civic engagement:
Protestant congregational structures created opportunities for participation in local governance and civic life.
The religious tradition helped foster an ethic of achievement, saving, and obedience to secular law.
Family as a primary transmitter of political culture: Erik Erikson notes distinctively American family traits (greater child freedom, more egalitarian relations) that promote confidence in rights and pluralism.
The absence of a large, cohesive class consciousness contributed to the relative robustness of middle-class identification and the relative lack of a socialist party in the U.S.
The culture of religious and ethnic diversity, individualism, fragmented political authority, and egalitarian family life collectively shape the American political character and contribute to a relatively permissive, rights-centered political culture.
The Culture War (Expanded): Orthodox vs. Progressive Revisited
Orthodox believers emphasize moral rules that are seen as fixed and divinely or naturally grounded; related to deficit in tolerance for certain behaviors.
Progressive proponents emphasize personal freedom, tolerance, and adaptability of morality to contemporary circumstances; commonly associated with secular or liberal religious or non-religious viewpoints.
Both sides may include people who are not zealously ideological but have strong views on particular issues (drugs, sexuality, school prayer, etc.).
The culture war is fought not only in policy debates but in disputes over the boundaries of religious liberty, morality, and the role of religion in public life.
Mistrust of Government
Since the late 1950s, trust in government to do the right thing has generally declined, from high levels in the 1950s to lower levels today, with episodic spikes (e.g., post-9/11, Reagan era).
Past triggers for distrust include:
Vietnam War
Watergate
Clinton-era scandals
Iraq War under George W. Bush
The 9/11 era briefly boosted national trust in federal leadership, but that trust receded over time.
Public confidence varies by institution:
Newspapers, public schools, television news, and labor unions declined since the 1970s-1980s.
The military maintained relatively high confidence.
Public opinion distinguishes between trust in government as an institution versus trust in government officials; the system remains relatively popular, even if confidence in leaders wanes.
The relationship between trust and political behavior is complex; lower trust correlates with increased willingness to support non-incumbent or third-party candidates in some cases, but does not straightforwardly predict turnout.
Civil Society and Social Capital
Civil society = private, voluntary groups that operate independently of the government and market, enabling cooperation and accountability.
The American political culture values civil society as a means to engage citizens, build social capital, and provide check on government power.
Robert Putnam’s concern: social capital may be in decline as people join fewer voluntary associations (Bowling Alone).
Three qualifications to Putnam’s argument:
Americans still join more groups than people in many other democracies.
Civic health measures show strong engagement by group leaders even if overall participation varies.
Ethnically diverse communities may show lower social trust (hunkering down) even as general participation remains robust in other contexts.
Social capital and trust facilitate cooperation to achieve community goals beyond government action.
Political Tolerance
Democratic politics depends on tolerance of diverse opinions and peaceful dispute resolution.
Surveys show broad support for freedom of speech, majority rule, and petition rights in the abstract; actual tolerance varies by group and context.
Americans are more tolerant of some groups (public expression by communists, atheists, and homosexuals) than in the past, but levels of tolerance are not uniform across all groups.
Public concern about morality and social standards sometimes leads to support for restricting certain behaviors even when civil liberties are broadly endorsed.
Limits to tolerance persist: people are often willing to deny rights to groups they dislike, and the courts sometimes safeguard rights regardless of public opinion.
Liberty must be learned and protected; U.S. history shows fluctuating tolerance but a durable commitment to civil liberties.
The Civic Health Index and Public Engagement
Civic health indicators show that Americans engage through group memberships, volunteer work, and local participation; generational and demographic differences affect levels of engagement.
Despite concerns about declines in some forms of social capital, Americans maintain higher group membership than many other democracies and show resilience in civic life.
The balance between individual rights and collective responsibility remains central to American political culture.
Do Hispanics Embrace American Political Culture?
Hispanics are a growing, diverse population in the U.S. with predictions that acculturation will lead to greater embrace of American political culture.
Research findings by Citrin et al. indicate:
Linguistic adaptation: Spanish-to-English language shift over generations; English-dominant by the third generation in many cases.
Hyphenated-American identity: Most Hispanics identify as American and Hispanic; citizenship often strengthens this dual identity.
Religiosity: Similar levels of religiosity compared to non-Hispanic whites.
Patriotism: High levels of love for America and pride in the American flag among Hispanic Americans.
Work ethic: Higher presence of Hispanic workers correlates with perceptions of hard work among others.
Overall prediction: Most Hispanic immigrant families will adapt to American political culture and develop hyphenated identities similar to other European immigrant groups in the 19th-20th centuries.
Policy implications: Understanding immigration debates and their impact on political culture requires recognizing acculturation patterns and bilingual/multilingual dynamics.
Economic System and Values
Americans evaluate the economy with values similar to the political system: liberty and opportunity dominate.
Attitudes toward the market:
Support for free enterprise; view the economy as generally fair and efficient; distrust that it survives by keeping the poor down.
Preference for government regulation to prevent abuses and curb power of dominant firms.
Equality preferences in the economy:
Strong support for equality of opportunity, but less support for equality of results.
People justify earnings differentials via merit and effort, not necessarily economic need.
Opposition to quotas or preferential treatment in hiring; liberals and civil rights advocates are more likely to support targeted interventions for minority groups, while the broader public tends to resist quotas.
Welfare and civil rights debates:
A divide exists between the general public (favoring limited assistance to those truly in need) and civil rights/liberal groups (supporting broader measures to address structural inequalities).
The symbolic race debate:
Some scholars interpret economic individualism as masking racial attitudes (symbolic racism).
Others argue that beliefs reflect a genuine ethic of self-reliance rather than prejudice.
The overall culture emphasizes economic individualism and personal responsibility; this shapes attitudes toward welfare and civil rights.
Economic policy attitudes have shifted over time; people may support government aid for the needy while opposing broad-based affirmative action or strict quotas.
Research Frontiers: Do Immigrants Assimilate?
Hispanics: The largest growing minority with significant regional concentrations (e.g., California, New Mexico, Texas).
Huntington’s concerns about the potential for ethnic/linguistic loyalty to clash with core American values have been tested by empirical research.
Citrin et al. concluded that Hispanics tend to embrace American political culture and develop a hyphenated American identity; acculturation trends suggest assimilation rather than cultural replacement.
Policy prompts for examining immigration and assimilation:
Size and ethnic composition of local Hispanic populations.
Debates about immigration's impact on politics and public policy in elections and local governance.
Overall takeaway: Immigrant groups tend to develop American political culture, with generation-by-generation assimilation patterns similar to other immigrant groups in U.S. history.
What Is the American Political Culture REALLY Like Compared to Others?
Americans historically express greater pride in their country than many Europeans express about theirs (e.g., Table 4.2 shows higher pride in USA among Americans vs. lower pride among other nations).
Beliefs about causation of life outcomes differ: Americans are less likely to believe success is determined by external forces compared to many Western Europeans.
Core differences in attitudes about work, morality, and religion persist across nations:
U.S. emphasizes hard work and the necessity of God for morality; many Western European countries emphasize different bases for moral life.
Cross-national contrasts extend to political systems and civic engagement:
Sweden vs. United States: Sweden is more deferential and harmony-oriented; Americans are more participatory and rights-focused.
Japan vs. United States: Americans emphasize individualism and equality; Japanese emphasize group harmony and hierarchical respect.
A classic cross-national study found Americans and Britons to have stronger senses of civic duty and perceived ability to influence unjust laws than Germans, Italians, or Mexicans.
Contemporary studies show American citizenship often features more active public engagement in campaigns, meetings, and local activism relative to some international peers, despite lower voter participation in some comparisons.
Religion and Civic Life in America
The United States has long been one of the most religious western democracies, with high reported belief in God, daily prayer, and a strong sense of moral norms.
Religious involvement correlates with charitable giving, volunteering, and nonreligious civic engagement, regardless of regular church attendance.
Religion has shaped American political life historically:
First Great Awakening helped fuel colonial resistance to British rule and framed moral arguments around independence.
Religious leadership drove civil rights movements and social reforms.
Modern conservative religious movements (e.g., Moral Majority, Christian Coalition) have influenced public policy and electoral politics.
The Pledge of Allegiance controversy illustrates ongoing debates about religion in public life; Supreme Court decisions have upheld ceremonial prayer as traditional, though not necessarily constitutional endorsement of a state religion.
The Sources of Political Culture (Synthesis)
The American Revolution and War for Independence highlighted liberty and rights.
The Constitution sought to balance individual liberty with social order via federalism and separation of powers, enabling broad political participation without chaos.
Religious diversity prevented a unified political orthodoxy from dominating public life; a pluralistic religious landscape supported a pluralistic political culture.
Protestant ethic and congregational church structures fostered civic engagement and a habit of participation in political life.
The family as a primary transmitter of cultural values helps explain individual rights consciousness and respect for diverse interests in political life.
The culture of distrust toward authority (rooted in religious beliefs and colonial experiences) conditioned the design of political institutions to limit power and preserve rights.
The Culture War in Practice: Orthodox vs. Progressive (Expanded)
Orthodox: emphasizes traditional morality, religiously grounded rules, and a desire for moral clarity in public life.
Progressive: emphasizes individual freedom, social problem-solving, and a willingness to reframe or reinterpret moral rules.
Practical implications: policy debates over abortion, drug laws, education, and public morality often reflect deeper cultural divides beyond mere policy preferences.
The culture war is not monolithic; it includes diverse actors with varying degrees of religiosity and political ideology, and its effects on public policy can be profound but not uniform.
The Mistrust of Government: A Closer Look
Trust in government has declined since the mid-20th century but remains higher than in many other democracies in terms of confidence in public institutions and the system.
The decline in trust is linked to major national events and perceived government inefficiency, corruption, or mismanagement.
Specific data (illustrative):
Trust in government to do the right thing has declined since the 1950s; spikes occurred after Reagan’s election and post-9/11, but long-term decline persisted.
The 1950s had higher trust, the 1960s–1980s experienced turbulence due to civil rights movements, Vietnam, Watergate, and economic challenges.
In crisis moments (e.g., after 9/11), trust spiked temporarily (e.g., 57% in November 2001), but fell again in subsequent years.
Institutions vs. officials: people may distrust officials even if they endorse the system; trust in the system itself remains relatively robust in comparison to some other democracies.
Civil Society and Social Capital (Putnam’s Thesis)
Civil society comprises voluntary associations and private groups that operate independently of government and markets.
Social capital refers to networks of relationships, trust, and norms that facilitate cooperation and collective action.
Putnam’s claim: higher social capital correlates with higher trust and better civic outcomes; decline in group membership may reduce social capital (Bowling Alone).
Caveats:
Americans still join more groups than many other democracies.
Civic-health metrics show strong leadership engagement despite overall declines in some forms of participation.
Ethnic and racial diversity can produce local “hunkering down,” reducing trust among neighbors, even as broader civic participation remains active.
Political Tolerance: What We Allow in Public Life
Public endorsement of civil liberties (speech, protest) depends on tolerance of groups with whom people disagree.
Surveys show broad abstract support for core liberties, but concrete judgments about which groups should be allowed to speak or organize can vary widely.
The balance between liberty and social order can lead to selective restrictions: some groups are tolerated in public discourse, others are not; the courts help protect minority rights even in the face of public opposition.
The overarching lesson: liberty must be learned, protected, and actively defended; political culture can be imperfect, but it sustains democratic institutions.
Public Education, Knowledge, and Civic Life
A 2012–era memo on civics education highlights concerns about declining political knowledge among Americans.
Arguments for federal civics education initiatives include:
Many citizens cannot name the Vice President; widespread misperceptions about the Constitution and world religions persist.
Civics education supports constitutional literacy, federalism, and church-state separation.
Federal leadership could harmonize standards across states, while allowing states to tailor content.
Critics argue for integrating civics into existing courses and emphasizing personal responsibility rather than federal mandates.
A real-world data point: only about 24% of twelfth-graders scored proficient or higher in civics in a recent survey.
What Would You Do? A Practical View of Civic Education
A case-like memorandum challenges readers to consider policy proposals for civics education, weighing arguments for and against federal action vs. state control and integration with other subjects.
Summary: Reconsidering Who Governs and Why It Matters
Do Americans trust their government?
Trust in institutions remains higher in the U.S. than in many other democracies, but trust in government officials has declined since the 1960s.
Patriotism remains relatively high, though expressed patriotism can wax and wane with national events.
Why do we accept wealth and income differences?
A strong commitment to equality of opportunity over equality of results dominates public opinion, with a tolerance for income inequality when earnings reflect effort and merit.
How does American political culture compare to others?
Despite differences in religious life, civic engagement, and political institutions, there is a core set of shared democratic values that binds American political life to a broader international context.
Core conclusions:
American political culture is characterized by a strong emphasis on rights, a belief in equality of opportunity, a pragmatic acceptance of unequal outcomes, and a robust, but often contentious, culture of civic participation.
The culture war reveals deep tensions about morality, religion, and private life in public policy, reflecting ongoing negotiation about the country’s fundamental values.
Civil society and social capital play a crucial role in maintaining democratic vitality, even as trust in official institutions declines.
Questions to Consider (Key Takeaways)
How do people in other nations view American democracy?
How have Americans’ meanings of liberty and equality evolved over time?
With population growth, what are Americans’ expectations for representative democracy and federalism today?
What are the central principles of American political culture, and how are they reflected in foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution?
How do Americans differ from citizens of other democracies in their views about government and politics, and what factors explain these differences?
How can Americans differ in political ideology yet share a common political culture? What risks does increasing polarization pose for American political culture?
Data and Figures Referenced
Table 4.1: Patriotism by Race and Ethnicity (2004 National Election Survey)
White: 91%
Black: 80%
Hispanic: 91%
Table 4.2: Attitudes in the USA and Other Democracies (Columns: Pride; Outside Control; Teach Value of Work; God and Morality)
USA: Pride 71%; Outside Control 32%; Teach Value of Work 60%; God and Morality 58%
Canada: Pride 66%; Outside Control 35%; Teach Value of Work 51%; God and Morality 30%
Britain: Pride 45%; Outside Control 48%; Teach Value of Work 38%; God and Morality 25%
France: Pride 38%; Outside Control 54%; Teach Value of Work 50%; God and Morality 13%
Germany: Pride 21%; Outside Control 68%; Teach Value of Work 22%; God and Morality 33%
Italy: Pride 38%; Outside Control 66%; Teach Value of Work Na; God and Morality 27%
Table 4.3: Confidence in American Institutions (1973 vs. 2010)
Churches: 66% → 48%
Public schools: 58% → 34%
Newspapers: 39% → 25%
Labor unions: 30% → 20%
Big business: 26% → 19%
Congress: 42% → 11%
The military: 58% → 76%
Figure 4.1: Political Culture in America and Other Democracies (cross-national comparisons of civic duty and competence, etc.)
Figure 4.2: Trust in the Federal Government, 1958–2008 (long-term trend)
Figure 4.3: The American Civic Health Index, 2009 (Involvement by group membership, volunteers, etc.)
Formula examples:
Ratio of executive to worker income (illustrative):
In Sweden: a little over 2:1, i.e., extratio≈2.1≈2.0−2.2
In the U.S.: executives earning between 2260 and 3040 per week while a dishwasher earns 200 per week gives a ratio of approximately Income</em>dishIncome<em>exec∈[2002260,2003040]=[11.3,15.2]
General ratio: Ratio=Income</em>workerIncome<em>exec
These data illustrate how cultural values intersect with empirical measures to shape political life.