American political cultures
By: Richard J. Ellis.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1993
Place of publication: New York, USA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 251
Subjects: Political culture -- United States -- History; United States -- Politics and government
Description: This work challenges the thesis first formulated by de Tocqueville and later systematically developed by Louis Hartz, that American political culture is characterized by a consensus on liberal capitalist values. Ranging over three hundred years of history and drawing upon the seminal work anthropologist Mary Douglas, Richard Ellis demonstrates that American history is best understood as a contest between five rival political cultures: egalitarian community, competitive individualism, hierarchical collectivism, atomized fatalism, and autonomous hermitude.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-239) and index.