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1) What is political culture? What is the makeup of the political culture in the United States? Give two examples of how the political culture of the United States helps to unite Americans, even in disagreement. A Political Culture is a set of beliefs and practices held by how a person shapes their political behavior, and a person’s attitude about how the government should function. This includes moral judgment, political myths, beliefs, and ideas about what makes a good society.
American political culture emphasizes the values of liberty, equality, and democracy. Most of America’s debating is not over whether these issues are important, but how to best go about achieving these ideas. American’s define liberty as freedom, but America believes that liberty should be contained on some levels so they can create a stable society. The definition of freedom is that we can do whatever we want, as long as we do not affect another person’s freedom. American’s want to be able to do what they want, while not affecting someone else. So some rules are set to protect people and create a stable society.
Under American law everyone is considered equal, the term equal refers to the many different ways people are treated the same in American society; even if they are not truly equal with each other. Everyone ranges from being poor to rich; they also range in
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There was no Executive, Legislative, or Judicial branch to help separate powers in the government. There was no president; Congress was the only form of government. The members elected into congress were not voted by individuals but by state. States were allowed to coin their own money, and States could declare war on foreign nations with the consent of congress. The congress could also not tax the states or the people; they could only ask for funds to run the
Increasingly over the past two decades and in part thanks to the publication of James Davison Hunter’s book, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, the idea of a culture war in American politics has been gaining attention. While the tension between conservatives and liberals is palpable, it’s intensity has proven hard to measure. However, it doesn’t seem that many Americans are polarized on the topic of polarization as most would agree that the culture war is real (Fiorina, 2005). This thinking is what prompted Morris Fiorina to write the book Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America. In it, Fiorina outlines an argument against the idea of a culture war by looking at party affiliation by states, how public opinion on hot button issues changed over time and various explanations for why Americans are so hung up on the topic of polarization. While Fiorina makes a good argument, the evidence supporting the culture war is too powerful to explain away.
Historically, the United States has prided itself as the most egalitarian and autonomous nation in the world. Political figures and institutions have attempted to uphold the theoretical ideals of the nation, while in practice often fail to fulfill their promises to the people. This gap between our fundamental values as delineated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and our discriminatory practices such as slavery and gender discrimination can be found in competing political ideologies which purposefully exclude marginalized peoples. The framers built the United States for the white man; every other person’s rights came, and continue to come afterwards. Once one people’s freedom is postponed, the same oppressive strategies
There wasn’t any judicial branch, but Congress had the authority to arbitrate disputes between states. Congress was responsible for conducting foreign affairs, declaring war or peace, maintaining an army and navy and a variety of other lesser functions. But the articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws. Because of this, the central government had to request donations from the states to finance its operations and raise armed forces. The states attempted to limit the power of the national government because they feared that it would become a monarchy.
During the articles, the national government consisted of a single house of congress. There was no judicial branch of government, only authority to mediate. The government, formed by the articles, was more of a friendship between the states; this government was also very dependent on the states. The Articles of Confederation left great concerns with the people of th...
The Articles of Confederation set up a government that consisted of a one house body of delegates, with each state having a single vote, acting collectively, could make decisions on certain issues that affected all states. There was no president or judiciary so any decision required nine of the thirteen states’ votes. At this point in time the United States of America ... ... middle of paper ... ... o consider the charms of liberty as imaginary and delusive.”
After seeing that a government under the Articles of Confederation clearly wouldn’t work, government officials ratified the Constitution. In this new government, George Washington was chosen as the first president. Washington new that he faced many hard tasks and that whatever he did would set a precedent. Congress set up three departments and two offices within the executive branch. Washington chose leading political figures to head them. He picked Thomas Jefferson to head the State Department, which handles relations with other nations. He named Alexander Hamilton to manage the nation's money at the Department of the Treasury. Henry Knox was the choice to look after the nation's defense as the secretary of the Department of War. To address
According to Daniel Elazer, there are three separate manifestations of the American political culture. Daniel states that there wasn’t just one political culture that there was three, these being moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. Daniel states that each individual state has a culture type of the three that were named above. He shows that the southern states are more of the traditionalistic type. Elazer goes on to explain that migration in the 19th century gave pattern to the dominant cultures, and that migration was happening from east to west. As these people migrated throughout the United States not only did they move to get a new life or so to say a fresh start, these people also took their values with them. Dominant culture
Soon after the Revolutionary War in America, a new government was started when the Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental Congress. The Articles set up a democratic government that gave the States the power to make their own laws and to enforce them. However, the Articles were ineffective and failed to provide a strong government. During this critical period in the history of the United States, pandemonium and anarchy were growing due to: controlled public, nothing in the Articles that gave Congress the power to enforce laws, no solid monetary system, and also the country lacked unity and strength
A culture is the beliefs and interests of a particular group of people. About 150 years ago, a proud and noble culture was created in the Southern portion of the United States. It was created by Southerners from all walks of life, ranging from the gentry to the "good ol' boys." They loved their culture so much that they created a country. It was a country of blue skies, green hills, beautiful meadows and forests, and old-fashioned Southern hospitality. There were large plantations that grew some of the finest crops in the world. Though this country seemed Utopian, its creation soon instituted the bloodiest war in American history, the War For Southern Independence. The beautiful countryside suddenly became a battlefield. The blue skies turned gray with the smoke of rifles and cannons. The blood of Rebels and Yankees stained the grass as the meadows and forests became overwhelmed with the foul stench of death. Johnny Reb fought hard for what he believed in and what he thought to be right. Though the "boys in gray" lost the greatest battle of their lives, they and their ancestors still hold a special place in their hearts for this short-lived nation. This nation was independent for roughly four years, but the legacy of the Confederate States of America will not be forgotten.
The idea of political culture is found within the state’s history. The history of the state is impacted by the people settled in the region, religious backgrounds, and geography. The history of the state influences the attitudes and beliefs that people hold regarding their political system. Daniel Elazar theorized a connection between the states’ history and attitude towards government by explaining differences in government between states. Every state is different with some common ground. Elazar’s theory divides states into three types: moralistic, traditionalistic and individualistic. The state’s constitution defines the powers of government with political culture bias. Because of the state constitution, the political culture influences the power and limitations of governors, legislative, and judiciaries.
The political culture of the United States of America was founded on foundation beliefs that make democracy successful including liberty, equality, democracy, individualism, rule of law, and capitalism (ushistory.org, 2015). These are the common beliefs that shape our political behavior and are the reason why the United States has succeeded at democracy when other countries have failed. Equality is defined by Oxford Dictionary as the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
member of a society. The classical definition of political culture is provided by Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba in their book the Civil Culture. According to them, political culture is people’s predominant beliefs, attitudes, values, ideas, sentiments, and evaluation about the political system.” As Eric Rowe (1979: 12) states it, it is “a pattern of individual values, beliefs and emotional
In American history, the elements of the American liberal democratic tradition that were most relevant in the society were individual freedom, economic freedom, equality, and democracy. Liberal democracy refers to the people being the rulers with guarantees of individual freedom and equality and that it focuses on individual liberty as an essential to protecting that liberty. The two biggest challenges that liberal democracy faces are one balancing equality and liberty and the other is balancing the government’s needs for individual freedom and legitimacy. Liberal democracy plays a major role in our society to limit government power in interfering with liberty while as it ensures that the government protects liberties. The elements of
“The term cultural politics refers to the way that culture—including people’s attitudes, opinions, beliefs and perspectives, as well as the media and arts—shapes society and political opinion, and gives rise to social, economic and legal realities”
The political culture of a country is the basic values, attitudes, beliefs, and ideas of the people t...