Having read the chapter, the students should be able to do each of the following:
Identify the core principles that constitute the American political culture. Discuss the influence of these conflicting, inexact, and mythic beliefs on American politics.
Discuss and define America's core political ideals.
Explain why politics is a struggle for power and advantage.
Delineate the evolution of the social contract.
Discuss the major rules of American politics: democracy, constitutionalism, and capitalism, and why rules are necessary in politics.
Explain differing theories of political power, including majoritarianism, pluralism, elitism, and bureaucratic rule.
Define and explain the importance of the political system model.
Explain the five encompassing tendencies of American politics.
The United States is a nation that was formed on a set of ideals that include liberty, equality, and self-government. These ideals were rooted in the country's European heritage, and early America's vast open lands and abundant natural resources influenced their growth. They became America's common bond and today are the basis of American political culture. Although they are mythic, inexact, and conflicting, these ideals have had a powerful effect on what generation after generation of Americans has tried to achieve politically for themselves and others.
Politics in the United States plays out through rules of the game that include democracy, constitutionalism, and capitalism. Democracy is rule by the people, which, in practice, refers to a representative system of government in which people rule through their elected officials. Constitutionalism refers to the rules that limit the rightful power of government over citizens. Capitalism is an economic system based on a free market principle that allows the government only a limited role in determining how economic costs and benefits will be allocated.
Politics is the process by which it is determined whose values will prevail in society. The basis of politics is conflict over scarce resources and competing values. Those who have power win out in this conflict and are able to control governing authority and policy choices. The related question as to who governs America can be connected to the theories of majoritarianism, pluralism, elitism, or bureaucratic rule.
