Political culture, on a large scale, determines how politics play out in real life. It influences not only what citizens think are legitimate actions, but also how they perceive political events. Meanwhile, political culture is indispensable to understanding the dynamics of American government and its foreign policies. This article is an effort to demonstrate how three notable but distinct approaches interpret American political culture: Elazar’s subcultural account, Huntington’s ideals-institutions tension, and Hartz’s liberal-consensus thesis. Combined, these three theoretical strands help broaden and deepen our understanding of American political culture.
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