2 Political Culture

Question 1

political culture

Answer 1

how a place leans on the spectrum

Question 2

macro-political culture

Answer 2

the US, as a whole, has a political culture

Question 3

micro-political culture

Answer 3

states themselves have distinct political cultures

Question 4

basic ideals that apply in both red and blue states

Answer 4

• freedom
• democracy

Question 5

freedom

Answer 5

when given a choice between order and freedom, Americans lean towards the latter

Question 6

line theory

Answer 6

in a context where Canadians are totally free, they line up out of choice, whereas Americans do so out of obligation; this applies to politics and social movements

Question 7

democracy

Answer 7

a voting mechanism for more trivial matters is more likely to be employed in the US than in Canada; more sensationalized and serious about democracy; different ways to defend democracy and freedom

Question 8

blue states

Answer 8

coastal states tend to be Democratic

Question 9

red states

Answer 9

the Midwest and South tend to be Republican

Question 10

purple states

Answer 10

states that swing between the two parties and decide the election

Question 11

problems with the red vs blue narrative

Answer 11

• the nature of the electoral college
• the perception of polarization being driven by social media and ‘bowling alone’

Question 12

nature of the electoral college

Answer 12

• to win the states, you need to win by 1 vote, so the state becomes ‘red’ or ‘blue’ no matter how big/small the gap is
• this generates a map of the electoral college that inaccurately depicts monocultures within states

Question 13

‘bowling alone’

Answer 13

the breakdown of areas where ppl can interact with strangers

Question 14

polarization as driven by social media and ‘bowling alone’

Answer 14

• diminished opportunities to meet ppl whose political orientation don’t matter have increased polarization
• having conversations cools polarization by humanizing both sides

Question 15

origins/theories of political culture

Answer 15

• Fragment Theory
• Formative Events Theory
• Frontier Thesis
• Marxist Interpretations

Question 16

Fragment Theory

Answer 16

• first colonists are the basis of political culture
• argues that the colony (fragment) is not a copy of the colonizer country (metropole)
• colonies have a different demographic than the metropole
• the 13 Colonies (founded by small groups) then developed a political culture unique to each colony
• the fragment is comprised of diff ppl groups that contribute to the development of a distinct culture
• helps explain why (1) the US values change and progress and (2) regional differences as founding fragments in diff areas formulating diff cultures

Question 17

Formative Events Theory

Answer 17

• argues that a political culture is created by a key historical event and defined further by several events
• the defining event is the American Revolution, which painted change and violence as positive, so it was more acceptable for violence to be used for progress
• the Civil War reinforced the notion of freedom, which also accounts for the North/South division

Question 18

Frontier Thesis

Answer 18

• argues that American political culture is and was created by the presence of a frontier
• the frontier embedded itself into the culture, being highly individualist, having limited laws, and where ppl preceded gov’t and emphasized freedom

Question 19

frontier

Answer 19

a place that exists at the edge of civilization, particularly during a period of expansion

Question 20

Marxist interpretation

Answer 20

• the imposition of the capitalist system, which perpetuates itself, marks the origin of American political cultures
• argues that all countries who adopted capitalism are oppressed and that political cultures are made to have ppl believe in free will
• the differences in political culture are irrelevant, as the basis is the same across them (i.e., built on the corruption of capitalism)

Question 21

internalized oppression

Answer 21

you don’t realize you’re being oppressed