POLI SCI 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Rogers Smith, Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma
27 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
Government derives its power from the people. Egalitarianism: people are endowed by the creator with certain unalienable rights. Roots of liberal political culture view: alexis de tocqueville. Democracy is not a form of government but a social order. Roots of liberal political culture view: gunnar myrdal. Diverse us society held together by american creed. Co-exists with unequal status of african americans, but progress is inevitable. No feudal past genuine revolutionary tradition (no socialist) Uniformly liberal in 20th century perhaps, but not in colonial and revolutionary period. Focus on community can produce an endemic suspicion of outsiders. Inegalitarian strain: race, gender, ethnic hierarchies pervasive throughout. Academic and belief in biological differences between races and sexes as natural. Wealth gap between white an black families driven by: Different homeownership rates, availability of finance through mainstream channels. Ta-nehisi coates (not directly responding to hartz) Material abundance of new world: land requires labor to create wealth.
