POLS 207 2nd Edition Lecture 1 Outline of Current Lecture I Description of Political Culture II Daniel Elazar s Three Subcultures of Political Culture a Moralistic Political Subculture b Individualistic Political Subculture c Traditionalistic Political Subculture III IV V VI How Do Political Cultures Impact What We See in Government and Politics Criticisms Weakening of Political Cultures Argument Texas Political Culture a Traditionalistic Individualistic Political Culture Party Change vs Political Culture Current Lecture STATE POLITICAL CULTURES Political Culture the shared beliefs among people about the role government and citizens should play in the political system states have different views about the role of government aka different political cultures o What role should government play How should the government spend money What programs should the government support o What role should citizens play in the political system Is everyone expected to participate Is everyone expected to vote For example if a state shares the belief that citizens should be active in their government then that state will have higher participation by its citizens o Based on political culture how are the political officials evaluated Do citizens expect them to serve the public good Do citizens expect them to have self oriented intentions Daniel Elazar important political scientist that wrote about political cultures came up with 3 types his central argument early migration patterns in the US and the resulting ethnic and religious concentrations led to wide variations across the states concerning the proper role of government and citizenship o in other words migration patterns drive the different patterns of religious ethnic concentrations and thus the different attitudes about government Daniel Elazar s Three Cultures Subculture 1 Moralistic Political Subculture What areas are dominated by the Moralistic Political Subculture o Elazar says this subculture originates from areas with heavy Scandinavian Northern European and German Protestant populations o mostly in New England states states further North and states in upper Midwest What is the role of government o government is a positive instrument for change a means to promote the general welfare government should work for the greater societal good government should achieve moral goals in the public interest o typically results in more government spending spending on programs such as health care to benefit the public welfare o government has the right and obligation to intervene in the private sector to promote the public good How are political officials evaluated o officials are held in high regard because they are achieving a greater good for society o being a political official is seen as an honorable profession o society does not tolerate self serving politicians What is the role of citizens o political participation is seen as the obligation of everybody o everybody should vote and be actively involved supporting campaigns running for office etc 2 Individualistic Political Subculture What areas are dominated by the Individualistic Political Subculture o Elazar says this subculture originates from European migration in 1900s 2000s of Catholics and Southern Europeans into the mid Atlantic states o This later wave of immigration consists of less elite and more working class citizens o mostly in Mid Atlantic states states in the West and states in the Southwest What is the role of government o government is not concerned with the creation of a good society o instead the best society is one that pursues its own self interest o role of private sector should be limited only interfere to distribute favors to government supporters only regulate economic marketplace enough to make sure everyone can pursue their own self interest o government is like a market place people bring money resources and goods to exchange to shape government for themselves not for greater good How are political officials evaluated o officials are in it for themselves chosen career to get something out of it looking to control government benefits What is the role of citizens o mostly expects people to vote and nothing else o participation is a necessary evil o a democracy that is competing for government control and benefits 3 Traditionalistic Political Subculture What areas are dominated by the Traditionalist Political Subculture o Elazar says this subculture is the legacy left by the plantation economy of the South which was a society largely dominated by fundamentalist white Protestants and characterized by extreme racial class division o mostly in former Confederate states and the Deep South What is the role of government o maintenance of the status quo keep things the way they are o keep elites in power and social hierarchy stratified o new policies added typically only if they solidify the place of the ruling elite How are political officials evaluated o the political officials are the ruling elite What is the role of citizens o masses are discouraged from participation o participation is limited to the small elite who already have the economic and political power How Do The Political Cultures Impact What We See In Government Politics Citizen participation is affected by these subcultures o states with moralistic subculture have higher voting rates o states with traditionalist subculture that discouraged voting today still have lowest voting rates Size of the government is impact o states with moralistic subculture will be the higher spending states o states with traditionalist subculture will be the lower spending states Criticisms Weakening of Political Cultures Argument Elazar developed his typology over 50 years again so some elements have changed Keep in mind that when talking about a state s subculture NOT EVERYONE shares the ideas of that subculture It is just the dominate culture Today there has been a nationalizing of political culture o subcultures are not as strong as they were half a century ago o United States is more of a mobile culture people have moved around a lot waves of migration from one part of the country to another o almost everyone has access to national news through TV and internet instead of only local news sources o federalism expansion of federal government by enacting national programs that affect everyone such as Social Security On the whole there are still some differences between states and these differences can be explained by the political
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