Political Culture: The Core Principles of American Government
Political culture refers to the characteristic and deep-seated beliefs of a particular people. These beliefs are the basis of national identity and political continuity in the United States.
America's core ideals such as liberty and equality have brought a diversity of settlers together.
European roots of the ideals of freedom and self-government were tailored to the American colonial experience as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
These ideals are general principles, not fixed rules of conduct, and thus are subject to conflict when putting them into practice.
Political ideals have a powerful influence on American politics by shaping what people expect from politics and helping to define the boundaries of acceptable action.
A defining characteristic of the American political system is its enduring and powerful set of cultural ideals.
America's Core Values: Liberty, Equality, and Self-Government
Government's role is to serve the people. The individual comes first. Government is secondary.
Liberty, Equality, and Self-government are the core values.
Liberty entails freedom to think and act without harming another. Initially, Americans focused on putting limits on government and later began to look to government for protection from powerful economic interests.
Equality of moral worth and treatment under law has acquired different meaning and application as America evolved socially, economically, and politically. The notion of equality inspired the abolition movement, the suffrage movement, and civil rights movements. These ideals are mythical in nature, and do not match reality. African Americans, Chinese, and other immigrants encountered barriers to equality.
Self-government places the people as the prime source of governing authority. The exercise of popular consent through the vote became the basis for federal and state constitutions.
Other important principles of the American creed are individualism, unity, and diversity. Difference and oneness are part of the American experience.
The six core ideals that constitute the "American Creed" are liberty, self-government, equality, individualism, diversity, and unity. These ideals are powerful. Americans' belief in individualism, for example, influences Americans' attitudes towards poverty and welfare policy. Their commitment to equal opportunity is manifested in an elaborate system of higher education to accommodate people.
Politics: The Process of Deciding Upon Society's Goals
Politics is the process through which a society makes its governing decisions.
Political conflict is rooted in two general conditions of society: scarcity and differences in values.
Competition for power among a great many interests of all kinds is a major characteristic of American politics.
Government consists of institutions, processes, and rules that are designed to facilitate control of a particular geographic area and its inhabitants. Those who decide political issues are said to have power, a term that refers to the ability of persons or institutions to control policy decisions. Power which is exercised through the laws and institutions of government is known as authority. Authority can be defined as the recognized right of an individual, organization or institution to make binding decisions.
Extreme fragmentation of governing authority such as occurs through the American system of checks and balances is a major characteristic of the American political system.
Public policy refers to a course of action undertaken by government to produce an intended outcome.
The rules of the game of politics establish the process by which power is exercised, define the legitimate uses of power, and establish the basis for allocating costs and benefits among the participants.
Democracy is the set of rules designed to promote self-government. It is based on the idea of the consent of the governed that has come to mean majority rule.
Rules of constitutionalism restrict the lawful uses of power, and relate specifically to the idea that there are limits on the rightful power of government over citizens. A defining characteristic of the American political system is its extraordinary emphasis on individual rights. Questions of rights are typically settled by judicial action.
Capitalism is a method for distributing economic costs and benefits. It holds that government should interfere with the economy as little as possible. It emphasizes free enterprise and individual self-reliance. A major characteristic of the American system is a sharp distinction between what is political, and therefore to be decided in the public arena, and what is economic, and therefore to be settled in the private realm.
The rules of the political game help decide who will exercise power and to what ends. The issue of who governs is approached by identifying four broad theories of power, no one of which describes every aspect of American political decision-making. Majoritarianism is the notion that the numerical majority prevails not only in counting votes but also in determining public policy. Pluralism holds that policies are effectively decided through power wielded by diverse interests that dominate particular policy areas. Elitism holds that policy is controlled by a small number of well-positioned, highly influential individuals. Bureaucratic rule holds that power resides in large government bureaucracies in the hands of career administrators. All four of these theories must be taken into account in any full explanation of politics and power in America.
The Concept of a Political System and this Book's Organization
The political system model can show how the various "parts" of American government are interdependent.
The political system operates against the backdrop of a constitutional framework that defines the exercise of power.
Political system inputs, institutions and outputs comprise the model.
Subsequent chapters discuss five encompassing patterns of American politics--cultural ideals, fragmentation, competing interests, individual rights, and the separation of the political and economic spheres.
