American Cynicism

1
American Cynicism

• Do Americans participate in government?
• Do Americans participate in social groups?
• How do the American people feel towards their
  government?
• What are some common explanations for American
  cynicism towards and disinterest in their own
  government?

2
Do Americans participate in government?

• Voting
• On average, voter turnout has been on the decline
  since the 1960s
• Other forms of political participation
• Most evidence suggest that Americans still engage
  in forms of participation other than voting
• Volunteering
• Monetary donations
• Protesting
• Letter writing

3
Explanations for Low Voter Turnout

• Voter apathy (people do not believe that their
  vote matters)
• Candidates are increasingly similar (Venturas
  argument)
• Voter registration difficult
• Too many elections
• Election day is problematic (especially with two
  income families)

4
Do Americans participate in social groups?

• Putnam No
• Bowling Alone
• Social capital is on the decline
• Ladd Yes
• Ladd Report
• Putnams evidence is not showing the entire
  picture
• Which of them is correct?

5
Putnams Findings

• Decline of Social Capital?
• Putnam finds that in terms of social groups,
  Americans are participating at much lower rates
• For example
• Bowling leagues, bridge clubs
• PTAs
• Labor unions
• Church groups
• Local branches of interest groups

6
Putnams Explanations

• Putnams explanations for the decline in group
  membership
• Pressures of time and money (lt10)
• Especially for two income families
• Suburban sprawl (10)
• People no longer live as close to each other, and
  no longer have the same neighborhood bonds
• Television and other electronic entertainment
  (25)
• Television and the internet have provided people
  with alternatives to group participation
• Generational change (50)
• Differences between the Greatest Generation and
  younger generations

7
Ladd Report

• Group membership is not on the decline
• While Putnam provides evidence that seems to show
  that Americans are not participating as much as
  in previous decades, this is not an accurate
  picture
• While membership in some groups are on the
  decline, membership in similar groups is on the
  rise (PTA vs. PTO)

8
Public Opinion Polls

• Conducting large, national surveys/polls allows
  us to gauge what Americans think about a variety
  of issues
• What is the most important problem facing the
  nation?
• Presidential approval
• Support for specific issues (war, tax cuts, etc.)
• Levels of trust in government
• Some polls are unscientific
• What makes a poll legitimate?

9
Trends in Political Trust
10
Trends in Political Trust

• NES Index
• "How much of the time do you think you can trust
  the government in Washington to do what is
  right-- just about always, most of the time or
  only some of the time?"
• "Do you think that quite a few of the people
  running the government are crooked, not very many
  are, or do you think hardly any of them are
  crooked?
• "Would you say the government is pretty much run
  by a few big interests looking out for themselves
  or that it is run for the benefit of all the
  people?"

11
Explaining Declining Levels of Trust

• National events have shattered the image of a
  perfect government
• U2 Incident
• Vietnam
• Watergate
• Iran-Contra
• Clinton scandals

12
Other Explanations

• Mills The Power Elite
• Many have the perception that regardless of what
  they do, most of the power is held by a select
  few
• Stealth Democracy
• Americans do not want to be bothered with the
  happenings of government
• Citizens only want to know that they have the
  power to voice their disapproval if things get
  out of hand