From The American Partnership: State and Local Political Culture

For both 2305 and 2306

A look at political culture across the US

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What is political culture: "the particular pattern of orientation to political action"

There are three types

- Individualistic
- Moralistic
- Traditionalistic

The individualistic political culture sees politics as a marketplace of competing individual interests who use the political system to better their own causes. Politicians and citizens are not interested in achieving a “good society” or furthering the common good, rather they are focused on private concerns. Political innovation is only undertaken if there is a public demand for services, at which point politicians will advocate for new policies to achieve electoral success and reap the spoils of office. Consequently the individualistic political culture is not issue driven, rather it is based on strong parties built on patronage and constituent service. Since the goal of politics is to distribute payoffs to supporters, there is a high tolerance for corruption in the individualistic culture. Politics in the individualistic political culture is a dirty business that is best left to the professionals and citizens are not encouraged to participate in governmental activities except to vote.

The moralistic culture believes that collective action through politics is the highest calling and that participation in politics and the betterment of the greater good are the objectives of government. Political activities revolve around the community as opposed to individual enrichment and as a consequence, intervention into private activities is acceptable if it furthers a public good. Issues take precedence in the moralistic culture. Consequently, politicians are willing to initiate new solutions to policy problems even if there is no immediate electoral payoff. Political parties are secondary and there is a proclivity towards non-partisan solutions. Further, the emphasis on creating a good society precludes patronage politics and eschews corruption. Politics is clean and discourse is on the merits of issues rather than who will receive the spoils of office. Finally, participation in politics is both widespread and expected as a duty of citizenship. Moralistic states are more likely than others to offer citizens the opportunity to participate in politics through direct democracy.

Finally, governments in the traditionalistic culture are designed to preserve the status quo and benefit elites. Power within this political culture is held by a limited group of wealthy landholders and business families that rule through their own elitist conceptions of the common good. Political participation by non-elites is discouraged and voter turnout is low in traditionalistic states. Only those who belong to the privileged classes through their social status are welcomed into the political realm. Party competition is generally non-existent in the traditionalist system. However, the dominant political party typically has a number of intra-party factions that compete with each other for power. The competition is rarely based on issues since elected officials are immune to electoral pressure and the elites have a consensual position on public policy.