Unit II Module 1 Political Culture and Ideology

AP GovMiller

Objectives• By the end of this module SWBAT– Compare and contrast the terms political culture and

political ideology– Define what the terms “liberal” and “conservative”

mean– Describe which segments of the population fall into

each category– Explain what a moderate is and why more voters are

moderate in their ideology today than at any other point in US history

– Define the term “political socialization” and list the most powerful socializing institutions in America

Culture vs. Ideology

• The “idea” in ideology = the “what” of policy or what an American believes

• Whereas political culture is the “how” of policy or how an American pursues her or his ideology

• Essentially the American people are incredibly diverse but there are many common concepts of political ideology and culture that bind them

Common Bonds

• In his book Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville makes the following observations about US political culture (in 1830)– Americans are obsessed with money and wealth.– Americans would settle almost every dispute in

court if they could.– Americans join many clubs and interest groups in

their lifetimes. – The American is one of the most deeply devout

religious adherents on the planet.

Common Bonds

• Are his observations still true after nearly 180 years of American history?

Common Bonds

• Yes, in America wealth not only gives financial status but also a sort of celebrity status

• Yes, we are the most litigious culture on Earth• Yes, and these interest groups have grown so

much in stature and resources that they have used the courts to supplant the position of the political party in our representative democracy

• Yes, we are still the largest “Christian” nation on Earth and even those who are atheistic or agnostic are vehement about their beliefs

The “Big Tents”

• America is large and diverse enough to have two distinct, unique political cultures will help create the foundation for two fundamentally different political parties

• Each of them will refine the aspects of their political culture over time and gradually move “toward the center” into a more moderate position until a major historical event or crisis forces them apart again

Conservative Political Culture

• Focus on tradition, duplicating the greatness of classic America

• Maximize state power, minimize national power

• Base policy initiatives on religious faith• Allow corporations to govern themselves

Liberal Political Culture

• Focus on change and the future• Maximize national power, minimize state

power• Base policy initiatives on science and reason• Check the power of corporations with more

government regulation

Prominent Members of Each Team

Liberals• Younger people• Professional women • Bureaucrats & Media• People of color (except a large

number of Asians & Cubans)• People living on the coasts and

mountain cities• Urban, blue collar• Jewish, Atheists & Agnostics• Intelligentsia• Service union workers

Conservatives• Senior citizens• Middle aged people working

for corporations (white collar)• Homemakers• Law enforcement

officers/military• People living in the South and

Midwest• Churchgoers• Parents• Business owners• Industrial union workers

Overall Trends

• Everyone’s ideology is in flux – only analyze in the retrospective

• Population in general is “moderating”• Don’t over-generalize – don’t confuse

correlation with causation

Birth of the Moderates

• Most of the 20th Century was polarized – strong liberal and conservative camps

• Situation changed in 1960s, 1970s– Liberal brain trust died – JKF, RFK, MLK all assassinated – Nixon was a respectable conservative president at first but

then utterly collapses after Watergate

• Mid-seventies Americans turning away from both sides – since then more Americans have rejected both sides and called themselves “independent” or “moderate”

Conservative Renaissance

• During the campaign of and election of Reagan, more Americans declare themselves to be “conservative” again

• To this day, Reagan is the poster boy of American conservatism

Today’s Ideological Landscape

• The term “liberal” is a pejorative – less than 25% of Americans describe themselves as liberals

• More people have begun to call themselves conservative again – Backlash against Obamacare– Meteoric rise and fall of the T.E.A. Party (Taxed Enough

Already)• Still a plurality of Americans (over 40%) describe

their political ideology as moderate – still much consternation among voters for the left AND right wing of American politics