...American Political Culture & Values According to the text book, political culture is a set of beliefs broadly shared, value, and norms regarding on how the political and economic life should be done. The political cultures determine the relationship of citizens to government, to one another, and to the economy. American political culture may share beliefs, values and norms, with other countries, but the amount of configuration of each political culture is unique. No matter how extensive the consensus organization, culture contains values that overlap and conflict; the American political culture is no exception. The values of American political culture are based in the XVIII century philosophy that should heavily influence the founders. In recent years, the values has also been added, some support the original, some conflicts: Liberty is the value of freedom can be the most important source of stimulation for the American Revolution, and it is still a core value today. Freedom is one of the natural rights first cited by John Locke and later by Thomas Jefferson “that among these rights are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”; Equality- once again, Thomas Jefferson refers to the basic values of the Declaration of Independence “We hold these truth to be self-evident, that all people are created equal” Although most Americans do not believe that people are equal in every sense of the word, the fundamental belief in equality of opportunity and equal treatment...
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...Political culture is defined as the "broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes about how government should function and politics should operate." The American political culture strongly emphasizes the values of liberty, equality and democracy. There are three types of political culture, as defined by political scientist Daniel Elazer; moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic cultures. Moralistic political culture focuses on the promotion of the public good and advancement of public welfare. Everyone is expected to participate in the political process and are encouraged to pursue civic activities that further promote the public good. In this culture the government is perceived as good and is relied on to further the interests of the people. Individualistic political culture captured those who valued material wealth and personal freedoms. This political culture holds a low value on citizen participation in politics; political matters are to be left to the professionals. The role of the government is extremely limited, their only true responsibility is to ensure stability for the state so that individuals can continue to pursue self-economic interests. Traditionalistic political culture originated...
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...define political cultural and it will also discuss three major influences on political culture in Ireland. To demonstrate this, this paper will explain political culture in a simple way and it will discuss the civic culture theory and Marxist tradition which will illustrate different views on the role and nature of political culture. The three major influences that this paper will discuss are socio-economic development, cultural evolution political experience in Ireland. The notion of political culture is how people view the political system as a whole. It is the way in which people respond and act towards the political system. Pye (1995 p.965) defines political culture as “the sum of the fundamental values, sentiments and knowledge that give form and substance to political processes”. Heywood’s view on political culture is that it is ‘the pattern of orientations to political objects such as parties, government, the constitution, expressed beliefs, symbols and values. Political culture differs from public opinion in that it is fashioned out of long-term values rather than simply people’s reactions to specific policies and problems’ (Heywood, 2002: 200). The process through which we learn about politics and how our political attitudes and values can be influenced is through political socialization. The main agents of political socialization are the family, education, mass media and the government. Two American scholars, Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, studied political culture...
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...Define individualism and explain its implications for the state. Individualism is the belief in the supreme importance of the individual over any collective body or social group. It stems from the liberal belief on human nature that humans are of a self-reliant and uphold a rational nature. Therefore, human beings within society should acquire freedom. Methodological individualism is the idea that with any policy that the government creates, it should be created with the individual’s wellbeing at the heart of it. The government should only make policies that would benefit the individual. This goes against Bentham’s idea of ‘the greater good for the greatest number’ as it highlights the belief of the individual themselves rather than society on a whole. Egoistical individualism which is favoured by Classical Liberals, upholds the belief that the government should have a ‘minimum role’ within society. It underpins the idea that the individual should be left alone to flourish their talents with only the ‘night watchmen’ overlooking small factors within society such as defence. Opposing this would be a Modern Liberal’s view who favour developmental individualism. This idea promotes self-flourishing which could lead on the self-realisation upon the individual’s talents. This would happen through the welfare state which would provide a means for the poor or socials disadvantaged to be empowered and realise their full potential allowing them to become experts within their...
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...of different cultures as being collective or individualist. Collectivism and individualism are proposed as the possible underlying variables for countries from the West and the East (Triandis, 1995). Collectivism is described as the theory and actions that makes some sort of people rather than the individual the essential unit of social, political, and economic concern. Individualism on the other hand holds that a person should think and make decisions independently, with respect to nothing more than the dominion of his or her mind; thus, it is closely connected with the theory of autonomy. In this case the countries in consideration are the individualistic USA and the collectivistic Korea. The first observation made is that in the individualist culture of USA tends to be economically rich while the one of Korea is poor due to collectivism. This goes to the personal level where one culture has got its members as individualists which enhances personal competition while the other has its members being collectivists which enhances cooperation among them. In Korea parents treat children as equals while in USA parents teach children obedience (Daun, 1991). Hierarchy in Korean organizations is established from practical lessons while in USA organizations show existence of inequality between the different levels. Power distance is the scope of equality, or inequality, among people in a particular society or country. In a country that embraces the individualist culture like USA, there...
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...trees and reducing the amount of carbon in the air digital newspapers and magazines also became a big success for mass media and global news. Today events that take place half way around the world are in local newspapers or on broadcasting stations within minutes of their occurrence. The 20th century gift to mass media is speed and advertisement. Businesses can introduce themselves and their services to a wider scale of consumers instead of only their local based customers. There were also a number of visual improvements to mass media during the 20th century. Movies were made in 3D, green screens were used to insert false backgrounds, and clarity was improved by creating high definition lenses. | How did each development influence American culture? | With all the...
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...accommodation and assimilation to mainstream American culture You might want to reflect on how the historical times in which they came of age influenced their experiences Consider differences and/or similarities in their attitudes towards --parents --traditional Chinese culture --Education --American values Matthew Munet Pardee and Jade; Similar Yet Different Family and class backgrounds have a major influence on the way humans create our perceptions and beliefs. I for one come from a Hispanic middle class family. My beliefs may have some similarities to other middle class Hispanics but may be completely opposite compared to a female who comes from a wealthy Hispanic family. This can be seen if we compare Pardee Lowe and Jade Snow Wong. These two prominent Asian American authors depict The Chinese authors Pardee Lowe and Jade Snow Wong display how assimilation differ with social class, gender, and ethnic background through their stories Nisei Daughter and Father and Glorious Descendent. There experiences defy the many anti-Asian prejudice that was established upon the Chinese people during that time. Coming from an Americanized home and wealthy family Pardee Lowe epitomized the ideal situation of growing up as a Chinese child. His father being a wealthy merchant differentiated from a typical Chinese kid growing up in American society. In addition, having an Americanized dad relieved Pardee of the many contrasting cultures that other Chinese kids such as Jade...
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...psychology of desperation and deep meanings of struggle to many of Arthur Miller’s poems. “The Crucible” deals with extraordinary tragedy in lives of normal people due to the witch-hunts. “All My Sons” probes with the idea of dissatisfaction and unrest within the greater American population, influenced from the desperation and paternal responsibility put on people. Lastly, “Death of a Salesman” a work based on the American dream and national values, was influenced greatly by his hatred relationship with his uncle. The historical and personal events that occurred during Arthur Miller’s early life greatly influenced his writings of “The Crucible”, “Death of a Salesman”, and “All My Sons”. “The Crucible” was historically influenced by those trying to cleanse American culture of anyone who persisted in seeing the Soviet Union as a source of good in the world. This disgusted Miller so much that he based “The Crucible” on the anti-communist hysteria that pervaded the 1950s America, and the witch-hunts of the late 17th century He hated the idea of tragedy in ordinary lives and had much concern for the physical wellbeing of the working class. The outburst of these ideas caused him to be called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and was convicted of contempt of Congress for not cooperating (this conviction however was later appealed). The unraveling of his troubled and turbulent marriage with Marilyn Monroe was the main personal event that influenced Miller’s writing of this...
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...American Culture of Consumerism Present day American culture is heavily influenced by consumerism. American’s are focused on material possessions, instead of working for their status in society they would rather project a desired status with the use of material possessions. The rest of the world views Americans as a more materialistic society than majority of the other countries. Americans love to eat, work, party, and spend money all in excess. This means that they value and collect more material objects than most people would ever dream of owning. The American people are so focused on maintaining their material possessions to show off their status, that they focus less on building relationships and developing a sense of self and a sense of appreciation. The marketing world only takes this materialism higher, it focuses on this insatiable “hunger” for the newest trends and thus advertises their products to appeal to a wide variety of consumers. Tom Horton, a writer for The Baltimore Sun, helps put it in perspective in his article The Toll of American Materialism stating “For the record, Americans are five percent of Earth's population, consuming about thirty percent of the Earth's nonrenewable natural resources. If global trade actually enabled the other ninety five percent of the world to live the American dream, we'd need another five or so Earths to support it.” For Americans it is more important to obtain, maintain, and protect their material objects than it is to focus...
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...soon realizes that it’s not all she imagined it to be. Hungry Hearts seems to suggest that America can bring success and joy to everyone, including immigrants, but it will come at a cost of integrating into a new world and nation different from their own. Instead of making the easy transition into this new society, the characters come to the realization that there will be some give and take with adjusting to this new world. She implies that cultural traditions and heritages may have to be forfeited or lessened in this new world to make room for what is socially acceptable in America. This is only if one wants to be successful and take full advantage of the American dream and all this country has to offer. For immigrants who seem to be able to merge the various aspects of each culture successfully, they learn that American society doesn’t really view them equally, but instead looks upon them as a lower class citizen compared to naturalized citizens. In “Wings”, Shenah Pessah, the protagonist is on adolescent immigrant who looks forward to making something of herself, brimming with joy and aspiration to improve her life. In the new world her life seemingly becomes better when she meets a young professor, John Barnes, who represents everything she wanted to be in America. Unknown to her are his true motives of his interests in her. When she says she’s from Russia, the first thing he thinks of is: “So he was in their midst, the people he came to study. The girl with her hungry eyes...
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...Time is money – understanding US business culture The US, the world’s third largest country both in size and population, is a multicultural mosaic of 300 million people of mixed race and heritage. Yet, despite this ethnic and cultural diversity the US still exhibits a distinct business culture. If you are planning business ventures in the US, a basic understanding of this business culture is essential to your success. Here are some insights that help you avoid common mistakes. Basic concepts An important aspect of US culture is the American Dream: the widespread belief that every individual can succeed and prosper financially by working hard. This idea contributes to a strong work ethic. In addition to a strong work ethic American business culture is also characterized by a heavy emphasis on individual initiative and achievement. Personal competence, professionalism and accountability for individual performance are highly valued Another striking character trait of US business culture is its well-known informality. Thus, titles are seldom used in business environments and most US business partners will offer to use first names almost immediately. Although this casual style can be misleading for people from other cultures. Communication style In their business communication Americans use a very direct style. The primary purpose of communication is to exchange information, facts, and opinions. Typical phrases are “let’s get to the point” and “what’s the bottom line”. If silent...
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...whether it is a place of upbringing, ethnicity, religion or family. We all have our own unique image that one sends out to the world. When immigrants come to the land of promise, prospect, and new beginnings they all have one thing in mind, to identify themselves with the American culture. Although the struggle to make it was not easy for immigrants they still found a way to survive. A huge factor that plays in finding ones identity is culture. In America, we have a set of ideals and attitudes that we call American. Individuals come here to work, grow businesses, and to appreciate the freedom they did not have in their countries. Our identity is not really about food, religious views, or cultural traditions. The US...
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...Studentereksamen The texts in section A focus on the American Dream. Write a paper (700-1000 words) in which your answer the following questions. Answer the questions separately. Give an outline of how the American Dream is interpreted in texts 2, 3 and 4. Text 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger's view on the American Dream is; that it is something you have to make yourself worthy for. This is characterized by three things. To truly succeed as an American citizen you have to learn the English language. This is a necessity to blend in to the American culture. Another factor that weighs in high according to Schwarzenegger about the American Dream is the right to vote. In Austria, you do not have the right to vote, so he exaggerates the fact that the right to vote should not be taken for granted. He also says that 'democracy is not a spectator’s sport', so you should participate as much as possible. Thirdly, he emphasizes that giving back to your country should be important. According to Schwarzenegger you should give back as much and as possible. He ends the text paying tribute to all the great immigrants who have performed service for The United States. Text 3: The third text epitomizes the opinion that the American Dream is money-oriented. Since the economy was at a downfall in 2008, the American Dream had been, metaphorically speaking, been killed or at least wounded. Beyond that, the text is angled in a much more negative way, but maybe a more realistic way. The writer, Anya...
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...The American Dream Has Been Reborn Immigrants flee from their home countries for what? A piece of a dream that seems too good to be true. No more poverty, no more suffering, no more days gone hungry. A certain hope and dream that has driven many to become obsessed with power and success. But most don’t know, as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, so is happiness and prosperity. A happy family isn’t determined by how many cars they drive or the size of their wallets, rather the size of their heart. The American dream is the hope to achieve the pursuit of happiness, one thing this country may never lose. The true feeling of doing what you love is what it feels like to have happiness. Whether its providing for your family so your offspring has a bright future or having a career in which you are satisfied. Satisfaction. Thats the problem… Todays society has become so consumed with advancing, making more money, and gaining influence they don’t take the time to look up and see the beauty around them. When individuals place promotions ahead of family they lose sight of what the ‘Dream’ is. Take Oscar Carlos Acosta as example, he was a stud baseball pitcher who let his obsession get the better of him, leading to the loss of his family and pitching career. He let his obsession with making it to the majors destroy him. But all was not lost. The American Dream is a hope of a second chance, a new start. And in the end Acosta reconciled with his wife and children and went...
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...you’re considered “non- american” or “not a part of an american culture”. This can make you feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable especially when you try to learn to grow accustomed to the american way of life. You try to feel normal like everybody else, but it’s hard to when you’re not treated fairly because all in all, we are all the same. Brent Staples in “Black Men And Public Space” and Firoozeh Dumas “The F Word” both discuss the transitioning of where they came from until they moved to a different place. In “Black Men And Public Space” that first appeared in 1986 in Ms. magazine, Staples explains that even walking down the street, he was given certain looks; worried looks. He explains that he came across a young woman who kept her distance. He states “To her, the youngish black man-a broad six feet two inches with a beard and billowing hair, both hands shoved into the pockets of a bulky military jacket- seemed menacingly close”(Staples 346). The young woman picked up her pace and was soon running. Staples had began to suspect people take him to be as dangerous as a hazard in itself. When he had worked as a journalist in Chicago he was mistaken for a burglar. Firoozeh Dumas who was born in Abadan, Iran and then moving into the United States, discusses the troubles her and her family had faced with their ‘ethnic names’; she had dealt with the prejudice remarks and discusses the difficulties of the transitioning from her home country to the great american homeland. In this text...
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