American Exceptionalism

American exceptionalism: A Double-Edged SwordSeymour Martin Lipset

LayoutINTRODUCTIONBackground: book & authorAmerican Exceptionalism: main pointBOOK ANALYSISAmerican exceptionalism explanation (Ideology, Politics, Economy, Religion, Welfare, Socialism)Exceptions on the margin Pacific divide American exceptionalism vs. Japanese uniquenessCONCLUSION AND QUESTIONS

Background: book & authorSeymour Martin Lipset (1922-2006)Political sociologistLeading theorist of democracy and American exceptionalismThe First New Nation (1963), Political Man(1960), American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword(1996)

American exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword (1996)What makes the United States unique?The United States as the outliner countryAmerican Creed: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, laissez faire determines and explains its exceptionalismConcept of the double-edged sword

Main pointLipset argues that the various contradictory aspects of American society are actually related. The lack of respect for authority, anti-elitism, and populism contribute to higher crime rates, school undiscipline, and low electoral turnouts. The emphasis on achievement, on meritocracy, is also tied to higher levels of deviant behavior and less support for the underprivileged."

BOOK ANALYSISAmerican exceptionalism - explanationWe, the People of the United States source of authorityThe American revolution weakened the hierarchically rooted, community values; it strengthened the individualistic, egalitarian and anti-statist values insteadRevolutionary libertarian tradition doesnt encourage the obedience to the state and the low - the highest crime rate and the lowest level of voting participation (critique: voter registration regulations as the reason)Being an American is a matter of ideology, not birthThe most religious country in the Christendom; prone to sectarianism

Welfare state?Low level of support for the poor through welfare, housing and medical care policies the highest proportion of people living in poverty among developed nationsLack of a group-linked sentiment and cultureCritiques: Lipset doesnt take into account the tax subventions in health care and other areas - an"invisible welfare state"

Absence of strong socialist or class-conscious movements?

US is a new society; the absence of a feudal tradition of class relationsAmericanism=egalitarianism and democracy; it is the ideology that comes as a surrogate to socialismIndividualism and anti-statism; derived from America's protestant sectarian past and revolutionary values opposition to a collectivist/welfare stateSteady rise of the standards of living, specially for the working class no fixed proletariatThe free gift of suffrage in the US

EXCEPTIONS ON THE MARGINIn order to stress (again) american individualism, faith in meritocracy and individual-linked sense of social responsibilityAmerican opposition to governmental enforcement of group rights for blacks is more a reflection of general principle than of racism.

PACIFIC DIVIDEAmerican exceptionalism Japanese uniqueness

America hadnt exprienced feudalism /All of the Europe and Japan was once feudal, organised in terms of monarchy, aristocracy and fixed hierarchy.Different organizing principles: The US follows the individualistic principle / Japan reflects the group-oriented norms of the postfeudal, aristocratic Meiji era. The US stresses equal respect across stratification lines/ Japan emphasizes hierarchy in interpersonal relations. The US continues to suspect the state / Japan places heavy reliance on its directing role. Japan will do better in the future?

The American Creed A double-edged sword?

CONCLUSION AND QUESTIONSCan we talk about the American exceptionalism today?The US is less exceptional as other nations develop and Americanize. Does development necessarily mean americanization?Can American exceptionalism be interpreted as an invention of the Cold War?

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SOURCESLIPSET, Seymour Martin. American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword. W. W. Norton & Company (April 17, 1997)http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jan/12/guardianobituaries.usahttp://www.seymourmartinlipset.org/http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/51853/michael-lind/the-american-creed-does-it-matter-should-it-change