Is there a distinct American political culture?

Résumé du document

We often assess that some behaviours are "American" and some "European". Doing this, we mean there is a distinct American culture. Does it match for political culture? Political culture could be defined as a set of behaviours and habits towards the political system of one's country. Brian Farrell defines it as the "Values, believes and attitudes" of one population toward its government . It is partly inspired by the type of government, and it partly determinates the type of government. That's why political culture is the explanation for many phenomena. At first sight, the European democracies and the American one have many common features. They are liberal and democratic regimes, in which the fundamental liberties are promoted. The difference lies in the American liberal political culture. The first part of this essay will focus on the common believes of American people which are the basis of their political culture. Then I will try to give explanations for a liberal culture. The last part will be devoted to the political habits which reveal the specificity of the American culture.

Extraits

[...] Jefferson, in American culture. An anthology of civilization texts. Brian Farrell, Chairman or Chief? (Studies in Irish Political Culture) George Mosse, Fallen soldiers. Reshaping the memory of the world wars Montesquieu, The spirit of the laws Thomas Jefferson, The roots of democracy Morris P. Fiorina, Paul E. Peterson, The new American democracy Ibid This survey is quoted in Evertt Carl Ladd, The American ideology This survey is quoted in The new American democracy, Ibid Candidate Kerry was put in minority after the news papers had revealed a so called scoop about his behaviour during the Vietnam War, which has actually not true. [...]

[...] Is there a distinct American political culture? We often assess that some behaviours are “American” and some “European”. Doing this, we mean there is a distinct American culture. Does it match for political culture? Political culture could be defined as a set of behaviours and habits towards the political system of one's country. Brian Farrell defines it as the “Values, believes and attitudes” of one population toward its government[1]. It is partly inspired by the type of government, and it partly determinates the type of government. [...]

[...] Instead of God, they put the human being at the centre of his own system. The individuals are for them, the basis of the government. For these thinkers, the individual has basic rights which cannot be denied by any power: freedom of religion, thoughts, expression and property and equality under law. To be sure that these rights will be respected, the government must have limited powers. The French philosopher Montesquieu theorised the distribution of powers, which is translated in the American democracy by the check and balances system[3]. [...]

[...] The role of the media is also a good expression of the American culture. The American press is prolific, and the mass media phenomena occurred very early. In 1833, there were already 1200 news-papers in the United States, three times more than in England or France at the same time. Nowadays though, American media focus more on entertainment than politics. Neil Postman, a media analyst, explains: “Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other. They do not exchange ideas; they exchange images.”[10] However, the media have an incredible power over politics. [...]

[...] social aid, and the American is very eager to get information. This doesn't mean either people have no opinion. But most of time, American citizens don't follow an ideology but have various points of view about each situation. This can lead to vast contradictions, for instance Americans strongly believe in freedom of mind but it didn't prevent the McCarthyist phenomena. All of this data can be observed in the voting pattern. The first fact to notice about electoral behaviours is the enormous rate of abstention, generally around 50%. [...]