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The Political Culture of The United States
939 Words2 Pages
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 northeast, northern Midwest and northwest part of the country tend to be moralistic states. The citizens of these states believe that the role of government should promote the interest and policy innovation that benefit the public. The expectations for government are that politicians make changes within the state with public services. The government tends to have higher budget, opposed to traditionalistic and individualistic, government spending is praised to promote for the greater good. The citizens are highly active with participation, dictating the laws and policies of their state. The competition is expected in these states, because popularity is essential for the politician. However, in traditionalistic states these characteristics vary.
Traditionalistic states are located in southern states and rural areas like Texas. Unlike in moralistic states, the citizens are not expected to be participants in politics ...
... middle of paper ...
...ies. Depending on the states’ political culture, the judge is elected through popular election either with partisan or nonpartisan elections. The political culture of the state affects the judges’ capabilities to make decisions. Judges are to uphold strict interpretation based on past precedent but it is difficult with social pressure. For example, moralistic Massachusetts passed civic unions for gays, however, in traditionalistic state Georgia would likely deny gay rights.
Works Cited
Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, and John Buntin, Governing states and localities: First Edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), 2005, 95.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 100.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 100.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 100-101.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 177.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 223-235.
Kevin B. Smith, Governing, 257-271.
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