Daniel Elazar, Bogus or Brilliant: A Study of Political Culture Across the American States :: Politics Political Science Essays

Daniel Elazar, Bogus or Brilliant A Study of Political Culture across the American States American advances each have individual policy-making cultures which are important to our understanding of their political environments, behavior, and responses to particular issues. While voters probably do non consciously think about political culture and conform to that culture on election day, they seem to form cohesive clusters in different areas of the state, creating similar group political ideologies. Because of these similarities, it is possible to measure the dominant allele political culture within states or areas of a state, gaining insight into the mind-set of state residents. Whatever the state culture, whether liberal or conservative, participatory or exclusive, political culture identifies dominant, state-wide trends. The question remains whether there is an accurate way to measure this political culture phenomenon in the United States.Many studies try to measure political cu lture within states, but some political scientists are wary of assigning state political cultures because such measurements may be of dubious empirical grounding. While the process may not be entirely empirically sound, different state political cultures seem to exist and demand further analysis. In 1966, Daniel Elazar published his now famous assessment of United States political cultures. His evaluation of state cultures has been the focus of oftentimes study and criticism over the past three decades. Elazar proposes that the political culture in the United States developed in different regions due to east to westsideern hemisphere migratory patterns moving across the continent. Patterns of political culture were established during the Western frontier migration, as individuals followed lines of least resistance which generally led them due west from the immediately previous area of settlement (Elazar, 1966 99). As a result, like-minded individuals migrated together and stayed t ogether, causing similar political ideology to transform into a dominant political culture (Elazar, 1994).Political cultures are dominant in certain areas of the country due to westward expansion. Moralism characterizes communitarian-agrarian New England and the far northern states, while the agrarianism of the snapper states is individualistic. Traditionalism dominates the South and its plantation agrarianism structure. Typically, moralistic political cultures focus on agrarianism, individualism on commerce, and traditionalism on aristocratic legitimacy. These differing foci help to categorize Elazars political cultures in the United States (Elazar 1984 119, 122).Elazars political culture typology divides state political culture into three dominant categories moralist, individualist, and traditionalist. Moralists measure government by its cargo to the public good and concern for public welfare.