Fanessa Martinez
Gary Sokolow
Political Science 10
March 2, 2016 Exam 1
Question One
Political culture refers to believes, feeling and how people think they should act about government. In the US political culture lays some core ideals and values which are of course not shared by all the Americans. However, the two shared political values in the US by vast majority the regardless of race, creed, national origin are liberty and democracy. In most political debates, there is a tendency to come up with the best framework on how best to achieve these ideals and values assert (Schudson, 271).
As the freedom for people to do what they want, liberty does not only ensure and allow personal fulfillment but also happiness. An example of liberty is through a limited government that exercises restrictions of liberty on its citizens just to keep in check that individuals do not impinge on other people’s freedom. However, according to Schudson (272), there are some specific items that a limited government cannot impose on the citizens such as limiting the freedom of speech and imposing a single religion as there is a constitution that stipulates the limits of the powers of the government. As in the case of the US, the constitution clearly outlines the government structure with the Bill of Rights providing a guarantee of specific liberties to citizens.
Second to a limited government is the economic liberty which frees people to do their wish in the economic sphere without
One important tool for establishing freedom is a strong government to establish those freedoms. Without a strong central government we wouldn't be able to be provided with freedoms such as those in the bill of rights. That power of the government comes from the people. A government by the people means we have the rights to overthrow a government when it becomes to destructive and make a new government. When the governments were established they did not give all the power to just one group of the government, they separated the power by three branches so it wouldn't be abused by one. The three branches are Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. They have there powers and different thing they have to control. “The right of the people to be secure in their
My rights as a citizen that I have are to be treated equal to everyone else, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness (to live the way that makes me happy). The best government is one that protects those rights and allows me to rebel against them if they try to take those rights away from me. In this essay, I’ll explain which governments allows me the following things above.
Daniel Elazar’s three categories of state political cultures are moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic (Smith & Greenblatt , 2016). Moralistic culture is defined in the textbook, a political culture that views politics and government as the means to achieve the collective good (Smith & Greenblatt , 2016). Individualist culture is described as a political culture that views politics and government as just another way to achieve individual goals (Smith & Greenblatt , 2016). Traditionalistic culture is explained as a political culture that views politics and government as the means of maintaining the existing social order (Smith & Greenblatt , 2016). I believe the states can have mixed features of all three of Elazar’s types of
And as we have highlighted the conceptions of liberty for both Locke and Tocqueville, it becomes apparent that each author’s theory results in a different concept of the ideal governmental role and structure, as well as the corresponding role of liberty within each structure. For Locke, government holds an extensive role in the life of the citizenry. Locke argues that the central government should (due to the citizenry granting it the powers to act via the commonwealth) exercise power and authority, allowing it to fulfill its raison d’être to protect citizen’s life, liberty, and property. Though, it is important to note that Locke does not grant government an infallible role in society, or one that is without boundaries. Locke argues that “whenever the legislators endeavor [my italics] to take away, and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any farther obedience, and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence.”
Another right that should be extended to human beings is that of liberty. Liberty entails the freedom extended to individuals that enable them to make choices that they prefer in regards to how they live their life. Liberty involves individual choices being respected by the different stakeholders involved in the life of such an individual. As long as the choice does infringe on the rights of other citizens then individuals are free to decide on whatever is best for them. As such, the government should not interfere with the choices made by private citizens (Jefferson & Fink, 2002).
The United States of America uses different methods of keeping the government in order without going out of their powers boundaries. Two different methods that were created were civil liberties and civil rights. This paper will cover what civil liberties and rights are, and why they are both necessary to curb the powers of government.
Throughout the world there are many diverse political cultures. A political culture is the attitudes, beliefs or practices among a group of likeminded individuals. (Giardino pg. 27) There are different categories that embrace a political culture like an Individualistic, traditionalistic and moralistic. An individualistic culture is one that prefers less government involvement. The traditionalists’ culture maintains government as the social and economic hierarchy and does not like change. The moralistic culture favors public good and it revolves around social issues. In shaping a political culture demographics such as population size, growth, distribution and diversity are essential to determine how a state is in any of the three categories. Society is strongly affected by decisions of who, what and when does an individual receive any types of goods or services. Government is the structure, buildings and institutions that are held within politics.
Private interests are things that are best for an individual while public interests are “things that are good for a community as a community” (Stone 2012: 24). The conflict between the two interests introduces the question of how much the government can and should make decisions about citizen’s private liberties and choices. John Stuart Mill believed “government should interfere with individual choice as little as possible” because choices equate to freedom (Stone 2012: 108). Nozick agreed that the “minimal state is the most extensive state that can be justified” (Nozick 1974: 149). The role of government should be limited to ensuring the equal rights of its citizens. If government becomes more involved, it may end up obstructing liberty, even if it was trying to protect
As demonstrated in excerpts of John Locke’s Of Civil Government, the reason men needs government is for the assurance to their rights to life and property, which are otherwise not guaranteed. Based upon the needs of men, such a government will be structured to contain a legislative body, a judicial system, and an executive authority. As noted within an editorial by Fareed Zakaria entitled “Stop being afraid of more government. It’s exactly what we need”, the size of government will shift to address temporal issues which address the nation. However, the basic structure of government will remain the same. The position of government as a legislative, judicial, and executive authority allows it to address the needs of men, who require government to guarantee them their rights and freedoms.
The United States of America is a relatively young nation and its conception was the beginning of something new, an experiment that continues on to the present day and will likely continue on for quite some time. In the last two hundred plus years the demographics of the nation evolved with it to become even more and more into what it is considered to be today, a nation of immigrants founded by immigrants. Regardless of the changing faces of the United States, one factor of American democracy that has not changed too much is the “political culture”, as argued by George C. Edwards. The American Creed, as identified by Seymour Martin Lipsett, is what holds this political culture together; the Creed is made up of the shared values of the
Many believe that order should be applied by the government; though it should be allowed to a certain limit and should not interfere in a citizen’s personal life. However others believe that full freedom should be given to individuals and that nothing should be enforced as it brings along many differences between citizens. This
Limited Government (but only for unalienable rights)- The protection of unalienable rights is the legitimate purpose and limit of government requires the government to be strong enough to fulfill its purpose yet limited to that purpose
Nearly all Americans identify themselves with ideologies that don’t discount another existing ideology. Most people are Liberals or Conservatives because they have their own attitude regarding our society. Liberalism and conservatism handle their issues with entirely different philosophies. Liberals and Conservatives beliefs cover a wide range of issues that are influenced or established by the kind of principles they embrace. The two most common ideologies in American politics are Liberalism and Conservatism.
The United Kingdom and the United States ideologies are in no way the same! Or are they? If one were to ask a stranger off the street to compare the United Kingdom to that of the United States, you would hear “it’s no way the same”. Although there are many different stances each disagree upon, there are just as many beliefs the United States shares with its motherland. In this essay, we will cross-examine the ideology and political culture in the United States and United Kingdom and compare on how they coincide and differ from each other in hopes to shed light that perhaps we’re not so different from one another.
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