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POLS 2306
What is Sovereignty? What is the purpose of government? Explain the origins of
federalism as a part of American Democracy, and the role of states in decision-making in our
government.
The meaning of Sovereignty is for a state to have “power or authority over a specific territory”.
(Mitchell) One example of this is the United States: we are an independent nation, we control our
own affairs, and are govern ourselves through means of elected officials. These are all
characteristics of a successfully sovereign nation. As for most nations, a sense of sovereignty is
followed by the establishment of its own government, whose purpose is to maintain the rights of
its citizens, provide infrastructure, and to come full circle, protect their country’s sovereignty. In
a sense, each state is its own sovereign nation. They have their own governments, have their own
laws, and even neighboring states can hold views completely independent of the next, but at the
same time, work hand in hand with the Federal Government. This is the basic idea of federalism:
the Federal Government holds certain powers listed in the Constitution, but anything not listed in
the Constitution is reserved for any State Government to define in its own State Constitution.
This originates from the Revolutionary War era, where citizens of the new 13 Colonies not only
feared, but heavily opposed a powerful Central Government. (Mitchell) This opposition of a
powerful Central Government gave way to the founding fathers developing America’s
democracy under the guise of Federalist ideas; as giving each state (and by virtue, their citizens)
their own power keeps the Federal Government at bay. As for decision making at a national
level, each state has two Senators working in the Senate, and a presence in the House of
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Representatives proportional to a state’s population. These two work together as a part of the
Federal Government to pass laws and make decisions at a national level.
In Unit 3, you learned about political culture, and in Unit 4, you learned about political
representation. First, briefly define the types of political cultures outlined by Elazar. Then,
provide a few examples and explanations of representation types (such as, descriptive,
proportional, Party Voting, etc.). Finally, explain how a region’s political culture might affect the
type of political representation used.
Daniel Elazar was a political scientist, known for his identification of the different
political cultures of states into three separate “political subcultures”. These subcultures consist of
the Moralistic, Individual, and Traditional cultures, which come together to form what is known
as the “American Political Culture”. To begin, the Moralistic culture believes that the
“government advances the public interest and is a positive force in the lives of citizens”.
(Mitchell) Moralistic culture is interested in promoting public issues addressed by its respective
community, by way of being an active member of the citizen’s day to day life. One example
would be political participation: the Moralistic culture promotes participation as a duty of its
citizens. On the other hand, Individual culture believes that the government should be used as a
method of achieving one’s own individual goals and interests. In other words, the government
should play a limited role in people’s lives, and it should instead be left up to the individual to be
responsible for themself. One example of this is seen in the practice of Laissez-Faire economics,
where the market is driven by individual demand, with minimal government interference or
regulation. Finally, the Traditional political culture exists as a “middle ground between
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Individualistic and Moralistic” cultures. (Jrausch) They believe that the government should
regulate the economy, and maintain order only when necessary. They support a stronger local
government, and often resist social change, hence the name “Traditionalists”. One example is the
U.S Constitution, and though it has been amended several times, as it has been preserved as
America’s guiding document, and has mostly remained constant. These different cultures greatly
influence the type of political representation for a region. Moralistic culture may promote
descriptive representation, like electing a diverse group of representatives to represent a diverse
population. Traditional culture is likely to support a party voting representation, where citizens
adopt a political affiliation with a party, and identify with those beliefs. Whereas the Individual
culture is most likely to identify with proportional representation, where representation is allotted
based on the proportion of individuals who prefer certain characteristics.
Works Cited
Mitchell, Kristina M.W.
Texas Politics and Topics
. McGraw-Hill Education, 2017.
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Jrausch. “Explaining Policy Differences Using Political Culture.”
Political Culture Handout
,
www.wtamu.edu/~jrausch/polcul.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2023.