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Essay on american political culture
The relationship between religion & politics
Political culture of USA
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Political culture is a method of how a country should execute its economic and political policies in its own manner. The four sources of American political culture are the struggle for liberty, widespread participation in government, religious diversity, and family instillation on morals. These four qualities affect how citizens interpret the laws of the Constitution as they come from various backgrounds, leading them to dispute over numerous controversial matters, such as abortion legalization, LGBTQ rights, religious policies, and racial equality. The struggle for morality on these issues has divided the citizens into two opposing parties, the Orthodox and the Progressives, that fight one nationwide battle: The Culture War.
The orthodox faction
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For example, many Orthodox individuals repudiate evolution and the big bang theory and believe that those subjects shouldn’t be taught in school because it contrasts their beliefs of “creationism”. But one thing to consider is that not everyone believes in the same religion or is affiliated with one, and those people believe that any traces of scientific evidence should be taught in school. Most schools also require their students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, which includes the phrase “under God”, yet not everyone believes in one God or even a divine ruler. Some individuals prefer that schools should preserve time for congressional prayer while others prefer that school should only focus on core-curriculum related matters. However, according to the Establishment Clause and the wall-of-separation principle, schools cannot prefer a religion over other beliefs, and Progressives interpret that banning the teachings of evolution and allowing school prayers would be considered as religious preference. Yet Orthodox individuals say that they have the freedom of religion, according to the First Amendment, and that no one can stop them from practicing
The book Culture Wars? The Myth of a Polarized America by Morris P. Fiorina, Samuel J. Abrams, and Jeremy C. Pope is a persuasive text regarding America and its division on political topics.
When looking at Daniel Elazar's typology of political cultures we see that each of them are very different and have distinctly different views on issues such as education or taxation. Furthermore, living in Texas we see two of the three typologies most frequently: Individualistic and Traditionalistic. An individualistic political culture can be defined by reference.com as a culture in which individual liberties and the right to pursue personal happiness are the dominant concerns and primary political virtues. Whereas, a traditionalistic society is. Furthermore, I would like to examine the political views of these two cultures on the issues of abortion and welfare.
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.
Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture. "West Texas A&M University. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html "THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MILIEU OF TEXAS POLITICS."
Elazar, Daniel. "Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture." Reading. West Texas A&M University. Political Culture Handout. Dr. Dave Rausch, Teel Bivins Professor of Political Science. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. < http://www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html.>
middle of paper ... ... The culture war in America is always in view for the population. So much time is focused on the issue at hand instead of the actual progress being made. Moral differences between parties take preference over solving the issue.
James Wilson’s article, “How Divided are We?”, attempts to convince the reader that there is polarization (a culture war) in the United States. Wilson does not define polarization by partisan disagreements solely, rather as “an intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival group” (Canon 205). This polarization stretches to the extent that one group’s set of beliefs is totally correct and the rival is wholly wrong (Canon 206). Wilson provides three chief factors for the growth of polarization...
In the text, “The American Cultural Configuration” the authors express the desire of anthropologists to study their own culture despite the difficulty that one faces attempting to subjectively analyze their own society. Holmes and Holmes (2002), use the adage “not being able to see the forest through the trees” (p. 5) to refer to how hard it is for someone to study something they have largely taken for granted. The Holmes' article focuses predominately on paradoxes within our own culture, many of which we don't notice. In a paradox, two contradicting statements can appear to be true at the same time. This essay looks at two paradoxes commonly found in everyday life: the individual versus the family and religion.
Political Divide in the United States The political divide in the United States is very bad. The two main political parties are the democrats and the republicans. The two parties dislike each other and each other's views. Abortion is something that has been talked about a lot, some people find it good and others find it as a bad thing. Health care is another issue that is controversial. Another big issue is illegal immigration. The death penalty and euthanasia are also reasons the government is divided. The topic of the right to bear arms is also very controversial, especially with all the murders and riots going on. Global warming, even though it does not seem very political, is a topic that comes up a lot in political speeches and events. And lastly, the separation of church and state is another topic that gets in heated discussions in politics. Not all of these seem like they are political, but they have been made into be, even though they should not have, the United States is divided over them. The political parties have caused the country to be divided. Democrats and Republicans, also known as liberals and conservatives, most people do
The conservative movement has played a crucial role in American politics in the post war era. Ronald Story and Bruce Laurie indentify various elements of the American conservatism. These elements include challenging authoritarian governments and modernist culture, upholding tradition, Christian religion and the rule of law, defending western civilization, and supporting republicanism. American conservatism has been characterized by competing ideologies and tension throughout history. The Americans who are politically liberal and economically conservative favor free trade, minimal state intervention, low taxes, and a small government. On the other hand, conservatives hold the view that American traditional values are normally undermined by secularism. Social conservatives have always opposed same-sex marriages and abortion, and instead have been supporting the idea of integrating prayer into the school curriculum (Story and Laurie 1).
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and souls of its people. Many countries have been influenced by various things such as immigration, media, news, as well as trends and fads from both in and out of the country. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, there was mainly news and word of mouth. Many had argued that Canada should establish its own culture to have an identity separate, later growing into a concern of the government. Most would think that the cultural influence was negative as the influences of other countries would take away from the country’s own culture and identity, but it was not the case. The influence of American culture in the 1950s and 1960s in Canada was positive. American music, Hippie culture, and the impact the American
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.
Ontario is a province that is near and dear to the nation of Canada, with flourishing aspects in terms of its rich culture, economic prosperity, and home not only to the nation’s capital Ottawa but also to one of the most popular cities in Canada, Toronto. Similarly, the provincial government of Ontario operates in a similar principle to the Federal Government of Canada in terms of the Westminster model and also the First Past the Post system (Single Member Plurality) which refers to the party that wins the majority of seats in the legislature becomes the party in power. However, Ontario sets itself apart from other provinces in two aspects that are related to one other which serve a significant purpose in understanding Ontario’s political
Political culture are broadly shared ideas about how the government should run and operate. Political culture is important because it establishes the backdrop against which politics unfolds. It establishes the outer limits of what is possible, or even probable, in the political realm. There are three main political culture categories which are traditionalistic, moralistic, and individualistic. These three cultures are different in many aspects such as how they developed, the focus of each culture, and how the government should run. Traditionalistic culture rooted in plantations which contain values of social hierarchy. The focus of a traditionalistic culture is focused on tradition and maintaining existing social order. Politics are engaged
The political culture of a country is the basic values, attitudes, beliefs, and ideas of the people t...