9780130833433

Designed to introduce readers to the ways that American culture structures the outcomes of political life, Wray's book addresses American culture and politics with a three-phase approach. First it provides readers with a careful analysis of what cultureis,as well as its political significance. The text then offers four distinctive American cultural characteristics and encourages readers to consider how these values influence modern political life.Provides a complete analysis of American cultural characteristics and political culture.For individuals interested in the US political system.

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments

xv

Culture and Politics

1

(19)

``What a Piece of Work Is Man!''

3

(3)

People and Culture

6

(4)

Culture and Diversity

10

(5)

Enter Politics

15

(3)

Notes

18

(2)

Political Curiosities

20

(21)

Politics and Democracy

21

(4)

Political Participation

25

(2)

Foreign Aid

27

(1)

Social Welfare

28

(3)

Income Inequality

31

(2)

Crime and Punishment

33

(4)

Summary

37

(1)

Notes

38

(3)

Making It Alone

41

(20)

Individualism and the U.S. Religious Tradition

45

(4)

Individualism and the U.S. Revolution

49

(2)

Individualism, Social Movement, and Social Myth

51

(2)

Technological Adaptation: The Example of TV

53

(2)

Political and Social Consequences of Individualism

55

(4)

Notes

59

(2)

The Game of Life

61

(20)

Competition and the Conventional Wisdom

63

(4)

The Conventional Wisdom Assessed

67

(12)

Notes

79

(2)

On the Road Again: Mobility and American Life

81

(20)

The Machine in the Garden

85

(1)

Mobility and Popular Culture

86

(3)

The Car

89

(3)

The Social Costs of Automobility

92

(3)

The Automobile and Suburbia

95

(2)

Mobility and Politics

97

(2)

Notes

99

(2)

Material Girls (and Boys)

101

(19)

Materialism and the American Religious Tradition

104

(3)

The Sympathetic Culture

107

(1)

The Transformation of Work

108

(5)

Television

113

(5)

Notes

118

(2)

The Imperialism of Consumption Values

120

(20)

Growing Number of Ads

121

(1)

Commercialization of New Spheres

122

(1)

Holidays and Leisure Time

123

(1)

Growing into the Consumer Culture

124

(3)

Sport and the Body Politic

127

(3)

The Advertised Life

130

(1)

Social and Political Relevance

131

(7)

Notes

138

(2)

Culture and Politics Again

140

(21)

The Car and Americana

142

(2)

Culture Strain

144

(3)

Cultural Persistence

147

(3)

Cultural Evolution

150

(1)

Individual Choice and Cultural Change

151

(3)

Changing Social Rules, Changing Culture

154

(4)

Notes

158

(3)

Index

161

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

PrefaceA fundamental task of political science is to shed light on how political systems in various societies work. In pursuit of this goal, one important guiding question is, "How does one account for the distributive decisions that are generated by a political system?" There are a number of ways those interested in the political system of the United States seek to answer this question. One explanatory mode that I believe is underutilized is the assessment of political culture. The intent of this book is therefore to introduce students to the ways that American culture structures the outcomes of political life.To place the argument of this book in context, it is useful first to identify other ways in which political scientists account for policy outcomes. The kinds of explanation typically used by those seeking to describe American politics may be framed by considering one of the most important domestic policy initiatives in recent years: The Clinton Administration's attempt to establish a comprehensive health care system for the United States. National health care is an interesting political issue, in part because of the wealth of this country, in part because of the significance most of us give to the importance of health to a good life, and in part because the United States stands alone among the industrialized nations of the world in its reluctance to implement a national health care plan.Perhaps the most common way to answer distributive questions of this sort is to treat each idiosyncratically, without reference to any connections or underlying commonalities among policies. This "case study" approach is useful. Each policy pattern is, after all, complex and to some degree distinctive. Case studies are edifying because they highlight these distinctions. A case study of the attempt by the Clinton Administration's health care initiative might suggest, for example, that it failed for idiosyncratic reasons--because of underlying resentment of Mrs. Clinton's leadership role, inappropriate for a "first lady," or because policy guru Ira Magaziner was politically inept. Or, perhaps Clinton's plan failed simply because it was too complex for average Americans to understand. Each of these possibilities is plausible. As explanations, they are relevant only to health care policy. Mrs. Clinton was far less involved in other policies; other Clinton proposals might have been more straightforward, and so forth.A second way to understand policy patterns is to look for things that bind them, to consider whether they are part of a larger pattern that reveals important properties of the political system. This approach is also useful. It may miss nuance, but it directs attention to the whole, to theoretical issues. One such explanation locates policy within the matrix of distinctive political institutions. Institutional analysis, for example, might suggest that we do not have national health care because of the uncertainties of this nation's Founders who, living at the dawn of a democratic age, were also fearful of what this age might portend. Health care was doomed by those timid souls who fragmented the political systempreciselyto make political accomplishment difficult. Because the U.S. political system disburses power across an array of institutions, policy accomplishment is problematic. In this case, the Congress, always responsive to a different array of interests than the Presidency, could not be rallied to support Clinton's plan. In this sense, health care failure might well be viewed as simply business as usual.A differing explanation of this general type ties political outcomes to more fundamental economic forces. Scratch the surface of a given political pattern and one will find the forces of raw economic power at work. Political outcomes are controlled by economic elites. In this understanding, national health care was whipsawed between the Scylla of a media campaign fu

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Sense and Non-Sense American Culture and Politics

Sense and Non-Sense American Culture and Politics

0130833436

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Excerpts

Write a Review