Chapter 4 - American Political Culture

Compared with the average European, the average American is MORE likely to

Believe in God, pray daily, and acknowledge clear standards of right and wrong are all true.

Research finds that religious persons are MORE likely than secular persons to

Donate money, volunteer their time, and give money to nonreligious organizations are all true.

The notion that individuals should work hard, save their money, and avoid dependence on the state is sometimes referred to as the

Protestant (work) ethic.

There is, in fact, less income inequality in Sweden than in America because

Swedish political cultural strongly believes that government should guarantee citizens a basic standard of living.

The MOST important source of political values in the United States is probably

the family.

Putnam worried that Americans might be losing social capital because

they are less and less likely to join voluntary associations.

Although the proportion of people who say they trust the government in Washington to do the right thing has steadily declined since the 1950s, it should be remembered that

they are talking about government officials, not the system of government.

In the culture wars, a progressive is more likely to

value personal freedom as much as traditional rules.

The culture war is about

what kind of country we ought to live in.

According to Table 4.1 in the text, ___ percent of Americans are proud to be an American, compared to only ___ percent of Germans who are proud to be Germans.

71; 21

This author wrote Democracy in America based on his observations of America from his two years of traveling across the country to research its prison systems.

Alexis de Tocqueville

According to the text, the persistence in our political vocabulary of the term ___ is evidence of Americans' common hopes and values.

Americanism

In America, more than 80% of adults identify as

Christian

This basic element of U.S. political culture holds that people ought to take community affairs seriously and help out when they can.

Civic duty

According to polls, which of the groups below are Americans most willing to help?

Civil rights groups seeking preferential hiring programs

This sociologist, who was the first to formulate our current understanding of the culture war, defined the United States has having two culture classes: orthodox and progressive.

James D. Hunter

The culture war differs from other political disputes in that

Money is not at stake, compromises are impossible to arrange, and conflict is more profound are all true.

Which of the following statements about economic equality applies most accurately to Americans?

Most Americans believe that everyone has the right to get ahead: "equality of opportunity."

The dominant religious tradition in the early United States was

Protestantism, especially Puritanism.

What was the Swedish sociologist Gunnar Myrdal referring to when he spoke of "America's dilemma''?

Race relations

Who explained the rise of capitalism in terms of religious beliefs and the community involvement of individuals?

Weber

In this 1952 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a New York City policy permitting public school students to be released during the school day to receive religious instruction off school grounds was constitutional.

Zorach v. Clauson

During the 1730s and 1740s, the political life of the American colonies were transformed by

a religious revivalist movement, called the First Great Awakening.

What are political differences among nations?

a. Constitutional b. Demographic c. Cultural

Which of the following statements concerning attitudes and opinions expressed by Americans in surveys is CORRECT

a. They have greater faith in political institutions than citizens of other nations. b. They are more likely to be patriotic than citizens of other nations. c. They have greater faith in private institutions than citizens of other nations. d. Their trust in government has declined in recent years.

de Tocqueville argued that American democracy endured as the byproduct of

a. geography. b. laws. c. customs. d. manners.

The text argues that the democratic political culture of Sweden differs from that of the United States because the Swedes

are more deferential than participatory in their politics

Over the last three decades, public trust has declined for all of the following EXCEPT a. newspapers. b. public schools. c. the military. d. churches. e. labor unions.

c. the military.

Americans have a comparatively low degree of

class consciousness.

Early competition between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans ended by establishing the principle that

democracy could survive a change of ruling parties.

In our society, government officials should be accountable to the people. This principle is known as

democracy.

All of the following are basic elements of the U.S. political culture EXCEPT

economic equality.

Americans are more willing to tolerate ___ than ___

economic inequality; political inequality

Religious diversity flourished in the United States due to the absence of a(n)

established religion.

Social policy in the United States is dominated by a common belief among Americans in the

ethic of self-reliance.

The percentage of Americans who say that they have a lot of confidence in Congress is typically

fairly low.

In a classic study of the political beliefs and attitude of children, American children were more likely to argue that a president who was pulled over for speeding would be

fined or ticketed.

Most conspicuous among the orthodox are

fundamentalist Protestants.

In American political culture, this view of social policy is by far the most popular.

individualist

Alan Abramowitz suggests that the culture war might be more real than imagined because people are increasingly choosing their party affiliation on the basis of

issues.

A classic study of American and Swedish trade-union and political-party leaders found that Americans were

less likely to favor equal pay for workers.

In thinking about trends in popular trust of government, it is important to consider that

levels of trust may have been abnormally high in the 1950s.

In the culture war, the progressive side often includes

liberal Protestant denominations and people with no strong religious beliefs.

The text suggests that Americans have a "preoccupation" with

order.

The text argues that the U.S. Constitution had to reconcile

personal liberty with the need for social control.

Civil society is used to describe

private, voluntary groups.

In the 1830s, de Tocqueville was amazed how ___ Americans were in comparison to his fellow Europeans.

religious

The distrust of political authority so evident in American political culture has its basis in

religious beliefs.

Compared with Americans, Japanese are MORE likely to

stress social harmony and group cohesion in their social relations.

Which religious group or leader advocated constitutional amendments that would require prayer in public schools and ban abortion?

the Moral Majority

The relevance and potential impact of religion in American politics were evident in 2002 when a federal court issued a controversial ruling regarding

the Pledge of Allegiance.

A classic study of America, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Mexico found that citizens of this country had the highest sense of civic duty and civic competence

the United States

The citizens of this country are MOST likely to say that teaching children the value of hard work is important.

the United States

The citizens of this country do not agree that success in life is determined by forces outside an individual's control.

the United States

Some have argued that democracy flourished early in America because of

the availability of land.

Based on research, Morris Fiorina argues that the culture war is more of a myth and is only a reflection of the fact that

the media publicize the polarization that exists among political leaders and not that most Americans occupy the middle position of many issues.

A political culture exists where

there is a distinctive and patterned way of thinking about political and economic life.

Churches in the United States were important in the development of a sense of civic duty and civic competence because they

were organized much like a political system.