POLI 410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Seymour Martin Lipset, Catholic Church, Meritocracy
15 Jun 2018
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POLI410 Ideology and Political Culture Part 2 Lecture Notes
Last class
- Political culture can be pan-national (Horowtiz) or sub-national
o Culture is much slower to change than ideology
o Political parties try to affect cultural change
Seymour Lipset
- Started as a socialist
- Formative events and organizing principles
o An organizing principle does not congeal, it is not unchanging
o Rather it is reproduced through variations in literature, religion, institutions,
and socio-economic structures
o Both Canada and the US have ben founded and shaped around the American
Revolution
▪ Whereas the American nation was a product of the American
Revolution and organized around this spirit, eg. Mythology of the
American dream or spirit of the west, but Canada coming out of
counter-revolution
o Canada has organized around a counter-revolutionary organizing principles
▪ Canada becomes a more conservative nation in its founding
o Organizing principle as providing a political rational, an ideology
▪ Where political behaviour is shaped
o Canadian political culture closer to European forms rather than American
o Fragment vs. organizing
▪ Lipset rejects the idea that culture and fragments can congeal
▪ Culture and institutions and ideology is much more fluid
▪ Through formative events to investigate ways that culture can change
▪ Forged around religion, socio-economic structures, institutions
o Unlike Horwitz, takes more contemporary events into account, a more
nuanced idea around culture
o This institution reinforcing new values
Lipset: the US vs. Canada
- Main differences between US and Canada:
o More elitist and less egalitarian
▪ Not in an absolute sense but in comparison
o More oriented to ascription and less to achievement
▪ More towards meritocracy
o More deferential to the state and religious authority (n the form of the
Anglican or Roman catholic church)
o More hierarchical
o Tend to treat people more as group embmres and in terms fo the position
they held than as individual subject to common community-wide standards
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
- Caada’s politial traditio or alue sste as deeed ore lieral tha Britai’s
but more conservative than the US
Lipset: take always
- Makes a connection between founding moment, organizing principles, the formation
of subsequent institutions, and Main differences between Us and Canada
o Clear delineation around these moments
o Not mutually exclusive hypothesis
- Moreoer, Lipset does ot thik that alues ad istitutioal eplaatios are
alternative or mutually hypotheses
Lipset: limits
- Macro-sociological
o National outlook
o Early work – lumped English and French Canada together
o Once again, does not account for regionalism
o about national political culture and ideology, but begs questions about cross-
provincial comparisons
- Limits to the ideas of founding moments
o asts a reak – moulds for political culture, but casts are subject to
modification and breaks
o creates a new formative moment – critique: too much of a top down
approah ad eeds to e otto up here it oes fro people’s ulture
- value and cultural vs. structural/institutional explanation
o is it smarter to look at institutions and see how they shape values?
▪ Senate and being appointed – trust in government
o Or is it smarter to look at values and see how they shape institutions?
▪ Eg. Regioalis, iligualis, ad Quee’s perspetie o federalis
o What comes first? Values or institutions?
▪ Institutionally change comes from values
▪ But institutions also limit the values that can exist
o In Canadian politics, discipline that looks at institutions first
▪ Values difficult to collectively define
Harold Innis
- Political economy approach
- Thesis: that Caada has deeloped aroud staple idustries
o Extraction, institution building around economic interest - that
Confederation was pragmatic exercise about consolidating the interest of the
Hudso’s Ba opa
▪ What about ideology? Colonial and racialized project?
o Development has been the successive exploitation of raw natural resources,
or staples, extracted from sea to land
o The pattern and pace of Canadian growth was dictated by both external and
internal control around these staples
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Poli410 ideology and political culture part 2 lecture notes. Political culture can be pan-national (horowtiz) or sub-national: culture is much slower to change than ideology, political parties try to affect cultural change. Revolution: whereas the american nation was a product of the american. Revolution and organized around this spirit, eg. mythology of the. Anglican or roman catholic church: more hierarchical, tend to treat people more as group embmres and in terms fo the position they held than as individual subject to common community-wide standards. Ca(cid:374)ada"s politi(cid:272)al traditio(cid:374) or (cid:448)alue s(cid:455)ste(cid:373) (cid:449)as dee(cid:373)ed (cid:373)ore li(cid:271)eral tha(cid:374) britai(cid:374)"s but more conservative than the us. Makes a connection between founding moment, organizing principles, the formation of subsequent institutions, and main differences between us and canada: clear delineation around these moments, not mutually exclusive hypothesis. Moreo(cid:448)er, lipset does (cid:374)ot thi(cid:374)k that (cid:862)(cid:448)alues(cid:863) a(cid:374)d (cid:862)i(cid:374)stitutio(cid:374)al(cid:863) e(cid:454)pla(cid:374)atio(cid:374)s are alternative or mutually hypotheses.
