American Federal Government
• Introductory Themes
• American Political Culture
Introductory Themes and
American Political Culture
•Political Power
? Authority
? Legitimacy
Conceptions of Democracy
• Democratic Centralism
• Direct Democracy
• Representative Democracy
? popular sovereignty
? citizen demands and government action
? participation
? deliberation
? majority rule
Majority Rule: Good or Bad?
• No guarantee of good decisions
• Majority tyranny can threaten minorities
• Apathy toward politics
Who Really Governs?
• Different approaches
? Marxist
? Elitist
? Bureaucratic
? Pluralist
Political Culture
• Definition
A basic set of shared values, attitudes and
beliefs that differentiate Americans from
citizens of other countries
Myths about the Founding of the
American Republic
• British as tyrranical
• All the colonists favored independence
• Colonists were militarily superior
• American Revolution as a symbol of
freedom for the world
• Constitution was divinely inspired
Characteristics of American
Political Culture
Equality of opportunity, not outcome
Individual responsibility
Mistrust of government & governmental power
Limited government
Religion and faith
Providence, abundance, and Manifest Destiny
Associationalism and civic duty
Greater inclusion of “out-groups”?
American Political Culture
Compared
• High confidence in political institutions
• Lower confidence in people running
political institutions
• Religiosity
• Declining sense of political efficacy
Confidence in Institutions:
America and Europe Compared
83
86
84
85
77
69
US
Grea
Germ
Fran
Spain
Congress
(Parliament)
Courts
Press
Business
Armed
Forces
Church
Confidence in People Running
American Institutions
55
50
42
41
29 29 28
29
23
19 20
19
18
16
16
18 18
12
10
Congress
22
Supreme
Court
Federal
Bureaucracy
Press
Major
Companies
Religiosity:
The United States Compared
Respondents who say they are a religious person
29
Sweden
48
France
Germany
54
55
UK
64
Spain
69
Canada
Mexico
72
US
82
0
10
20
30
40
Percent
50
60
70
80
90
opulation of the US by Race and Ethnicity, 200
(Census Bureau)
Latino
10%
Native
Asian
American American
1%
4%
African
American
12%
White
73%
Population Change in the US
1980-2000
Changes in U.S.
Occupational Structure
Race & Ethnicity
• Blacks/African-Americans
– migration, political protest, civil rights
– issue divisions
• Latinos/Hispanics
– diversity as a group
– low political mobilization
• exception? South Florida
Race & Ethnicity
• Asian Americans
– recent immigration
– considerably diverse group
– issue foci
• Native Americans
– scattering of distinct cultures
– conquered nations, poverty, and protest
– new economic devlopment: casino gambling
Ideology: Moderates Carry the Day