Noteworthy is the fact that every country of the world has its political values, which go to define what political scientists refer to as political culture, and America is no exception. Political culture has been defined as ‘a set of extensively joint beliefs, standards, and norms concerning the ways that political and economic life should be run’’ (Wood, 2010).
Arguably, therefore, this culture charts and sets the association between the government and the governed, the relationship between citizens and the economy as well. America, even though shares basic belief system as well as political norms, it is nevertheless unique in its own right, seen in the light that it operates in a consensual political culture; a culture which experiences little variance (Wood, 2010).
The political system in the US encompasses a number of political values. These include Liberty, Equality, Individualism, Democracy, Rule of Law, Self-governance, and Civic duty. Liberty, which is widely seen by many as the greatest motivation of all to Americans, remains one of the key values today. It is captured in the American National Anthem: ‘’that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’’ (wood, 2010).
Equality features very prominently at the declaration of the American independence and it is captured in the following phrase: ‘’…. we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’’ (Patterson, 2008). This is perhaps the most controversial of these values because most Americans do not buy the idea that they are equal. Regardless, perhaps the spirit behind this value is the philosophy of equality in availing opportunity and treatment in same manner before the eye of the law (Patterson, 2008).
Individualism entails the fact that, in American system of governance, people as individuals are entitled to rights and responsibilities. This means that Americans appreciate common sense and people to chart their own destiny.
Democracy, regarded by Americans as the centre of these values, is largely anchored on the belief that governance legitimacy lies in the hands of the governed, the people. It is the belief that majority rules, while the views of the minority is also taken into consideration (wood, 2010).
The Rule of law, which is the fifth of these values, tailors predominantly on the conviction that government is formed on the cradle of law executed without discrimination and thus gives credit to justice.
Patterson (2008) notes that the rule of law ‘’stands in opposition to the rule by an individual, which to many Americans implies following the whims of a dictator’’. The last one is civic duty, which deals with a sense of communal duty (Patterson, 2008). For the sake of this people, the paper will zero on self-governance in relation to democracy, and equality in America.
The Ideal of Self-governance and democracy
Democracy, as one of the American political values, is like many others based on the realization that the existence of the government is for the sole purpose of serving the people who are the electorate. This means that the centrality of governance is on the people and not the government. Self-governance implies that ‘the people are the ultimate source and proper beneficiary of governing authority, in practice, a government based on majority rule’ (Patterson, 2008).
Patterson (2008) asserts using the declaration of independence, which connotes ‘’Governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed.” This point to assertions by Abraham Lincoln address when he said that a government should be formed and controlled by the people and for the people.
This ideal of self-governance goes back to the foundation of America at independence, and predominately even when America was still a colony of the British. Great writers like Thomas Paine often brushed shoulders with the authorities for a revolution America, a revolution of democacarcy and self-governance. They had no option but to give Americans a leaf of self-governance (Patterson, 2008).
In order to get a clear picture of these ideals (Self Governance and democracy), it is important to review the recent elections and the events prior to the election itself.
In February 2009, the Democrat-saturated congress passed an economic stimulus bill, which was largely divergent by their republican counterparts. This bill was valued at US$ 787; later in March the same year, a health reform bill was voted for. The reform bill focused on the expansion of medical cover of 30 million uninsured people by 2014 (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011). Beyond this, it forbids insurers from refusing coverage to persons with medical problems.
This was opposed again by the republican representatives and interestingly some democrats. Regardless, because it had been passed, President Obama signed it into law in the same month. Evidently, the democrats largely praised the law as a major come through. The republicans on the other hand alluded that the act meant that the government took over private health care systems and that this would lead to increased insurance premiums and more taxes (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011).
This development (the Obama’s Health Care Bill), together with other tenets such as the economy and federal deficit, were to be the predominant centrality in the recent elections of 2010. At the campaigns, both camps of the political divide, the democrats and the republicans rode on a rider during the campaigns, of more job creation, and uplifting the economy to greater heights. Indeed, a number of politicians waxed their political lyrics based upon the aforementioned.
For instance, the republican leader of the house, John Boehner, aspiring to become the speaker, campaigned for reducing government spending and ensuring that taxes remained at the present levels. More pronounced was Eric Canto (the republican whip) who launched the programme, ‘’YouCut’’. This was a programme aimed at determining what the citizenry wanted to see cut in terms of cost, by the house by reviewing the accruing online responses (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011).
The opinion polls revealed that the democrats were ceding ground on these issues on economic challenges as the republicans were profoundly asserting that they would reduce the size of the federal government significantly and thereby cut its spending. They also promised to recall and change government policy on ‘taking over health’ (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011).
Interestingly, as pundits have put it, election campaigns espoused even dissent in the democrat’s political camp. This was more revealing as many democrats choose to remain silent and only a few stood tall in defending Obama’s health care reform agenda, with a few others categorically stating their earlier opposition to the bill.
This bill made voters to be hostile even to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, since it was viewed that she was significantly liable for the passage of the health care bill and her support in spreading out of the national government spending. Obama, on his part, reasoned that allowing the congress to get back into the hands of the republicans was largely disastrous and urged people to vote in favor of the Democratic Party (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011).
Even more intriguing and worthy mentioning before the 2010 elections was the emergence of the ‘Tea Party’, which contained political big wigs including among others Sarah Palin, Senator Jim Demmint, Dick Armey, and Michelle Bachman. Bachman aided the establishment of the tea party Congressional Conclave that included 52 republican members of the house.
Even though, the tea party was not yet registered, it was a big influence to the election that followed; (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011) and as the results revealed, gave a swing victory to the Republicans.
Equality as an ideal in American Political system
Even though equality is a term, which has not been clearly defined in American political culture, it remains of the core ideal. It originates from the words captured at the declaration of independence ‘’we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’’ (Patterson, 2008). In spite of the lack of uniformity in what equality actually means, efforts such as President Obama’s health care plan has been riding more on the need to reinforce equality (Inter-parliamentary Union, 2011).
Conclusion
The cornerstone of American political culture and its ideals are centered on the belief that government subsist to serve the people of America.
Whether you are talking about democracy, equality, self-governance, or any other of its value, the zero sum evidence is that they are all tailored around the people. Ideally, this is what makes America unique from other countries, whether they are democratic or autocratic.
The political culture in America is so pronounced and deep seated in every citizen’s mindset and psyche that even dissent within a party is often tolerated. They are the habits of our political mind.
References
Inter-parliamentary Union. (2011). Last Elections. IPU PARLINE database. Web.
Patterson, T. (2008). The American Democracy. Dallas: McGraw-Hill Education.
Wood, E. (2010). Political Culture. Federal Government. Web.