MLA Example: American Political Culture

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The history of US political thought and consciousness attracts the attention of researchers from all over the world. This MLA paper will explain the reason for it. The formation and development of political consciousness had a direct impact on the formation of the national mentality and the specifics of intersocial relations in the modern United States, continuing to formalize certain features of the domestic and foreign policy. There are a lot of internal cultural backgrounds for it. The main aspects of the civil culture of the States are people's sovereignty, freedoms of a person, political involvement, and individualism.

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This sample research paper will deal with these concepts.

The main concept is people's sovereignty. Americans believe that the people are the source of administration power. The people of the USA went through a difficult historical path. A well-balanced harmony between independence and lasting integration is the most important factor of economic prosperity and stability. At the same time, the will of the people is prevailing.

The next characteristic is the political involvement. Americans consider the federal authorities and the state administration "close to the people" mainly because of their active involvement in social life. This concept is crucial for them.

The presidential power should be strong to avoid the possible influence of demagogic leaders.

There is an exaltation of freedoms of a person. Almost all Americans faithfully believe in their freedoms of a person. US laws guarantee the citizen an unhindered disposal of himself and his property. Exploitation, poverty, crime cause discontent on the part of citizens, and they are struggling with all this. However, everyone is free to live as much as he is free. Ownership rights in America give broad rights to owners to manage their enterprises, which allow the use of undemocratic methods of management. Nowhere else in the world do people protect private property so fiercely as in the US and capitalism there is perhaps more durable than in any other country.

There is individualism. Many researchers believe that individualism is the basic part of US political culture. The value of an individual person, the belief in his powers and abilities, are reflected in the works of Melville, Toro, and Whitman. They criticized the conformists. Others believe that a modern citizen should be enlightened and educated, and not a strict individual.

There is a political pluralism. Pluralism is understood as the multiplicity of mechanisms for the separation of state power. American community in a market democracy is truly pluralistic. The community is perceived as a set of groups united by one or another interest. Competitive interaction is carried out by these groups. The balance of favors, to which the "interested groups" ultimately come, ensures the balance of the entire political system of the community. The role of the state in such conditions is minimized. It acts as an uninterested arbitrator and record in its decisions the balance of favors achieved. This theory was called the "theory of factions."

There is an importance of political parties. The parties serve as an intermediary between the people and the authorities, involving activists and candidates in the electoral process and offering the electorate various programs.

They play a key role in the civil life of the country. Federal political parties are free confederations of local party organizations that join together to support their candidate in the presidential elections or to win the majority of places in the Congress. There are two main parties. The system of federalism helps to strengthen party organizations in the states by distributing many elected posts at the state level and providing support on the local level.

References

American Political Culture, available at
American political culture : an encyclopedia
Daniel Judah Elazar, The study of American political culture, Temple University. State Political Cultures Project