{"id":493,"date":"2015-07-17T19:37:37","date_gmt":"2015-07-17T19:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/masteryusgovernment1x6xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=493"},"modified":"2015-07-29T22:42:21","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T22:42:21","slug":"why-it-matters-6","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/chapter\/why-it-matters-6\/","title":{"raw":"Why It Matters","rendered":"Why It Matters"},"content":{"raw":"<h2><span data-sheets-value=\"[null,2,&quot;Explain the relationship between political culture, public opinion and citizen participation in politics&quot;]\" data-sheets-userformat=\"[null,null,25345,[null,0],null,null,null,null,null,null,null,1,0,null,null,null,10,1]\">Explain the relationship between political culture, public opinion, and citizen participation in politics<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k.jpg\"><img class=\"  wp-image-494 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a sign that reads, &quot;Polling Station.&quot; A view of blue sky and clouds in the background\" width=\"350\" height=\"197\" \/><\/a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nWhat are the core beliefs that drive American political behavior? Equality? Democracy? Individualism? No doubt these are important, but do these commitments explain all that we see in American political history, or what we hear in our contemporary political debates? What other attitudes or beliefs do we need to add that might be said to make up the \u201cAmerican creed\u201d?\r\n\r\nAs you work through this module\u00a0you will think about the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that make Americans tick. That is, you will consider the enduring and evolving tendencies of American political culture.\r\n\r\nYou will also consider public opinion as it relates to specific issues and events. Furthermore, we will investigate\u00a0the relationship between public attitudes and preferences and public policy. Understand that this is a very important relationship if we believe in democracy.\r\n\r\nYou will also consider a problematic fact of life for committed democrats: We the People are not particularly well informed about political issues or history. Can democracy work in such a context? Then again, are the preferences of elite decision-makers any better?\r\n\r\nThere's a lot to think about as you work through this module\u00a0focused on political culture and public opinion.","rendered":"<h2><span data-sheets-value=\"[null,2,&quot;Explain the relationship between political culture, public opinion and citizen participation in politics&quot;]\" data-sheets-userformat=\"[null,null,25345,[null,0],null,null,null,null,null,null,null,1,0,null,null,null,10,1]\">Explain the relationship between political culture, public opinion, and citizen participation in politics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-494 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Photo of a sign that reads, &quot;Polling Station.&quot; A view of blue sky and clouds in the background\" width=\"350\" height=\"197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-65x37.jpg 65w, https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-225x127.jpg 225w, https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k-350x197.jpg 350w, https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3858\/2015\/07\/17246052428_3a79fe29d7_k.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>What are the core beliefs that drive American political behavior? Equality? Democracy? Individualism? No doubt these are important, but do these commitments explain all that we see in American political history, or what we hear in our contemporary political debates? What other attitudes or beliefs do we need to add that might be said to make up the \u201cAmerican creed\u201d?<\/p>\n<p>As you work through this module\u00a0you will think about the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs that make Americans tick. That is, you will consider the enduring and evolving tendencies of American political culture.<\/p>\n<p>You will also consider public opinion as it relates to specific issues and events. Furthermore, we will investigate\u00a0the relationship between public attitudes and preferences and public policy. Understand that this is a very important relationship if we believe in democracy.<\/p>\n<p>You will also consider a problematic fact of life for committed democrats: We the People are not particularly well informed about political issues or history. Can democracy work in such a context? Then again, are the preferences of elite decision-makers any better?<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s a lot to think about as you work through this module\u00a0focused on political culture and public opinion.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-493\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Why It Matters: Political Culture and Public Opinion. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Steven Horn. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Everett Community College. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Polling Station - Beacon Road, Lewisham Deptford. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: RachelH_. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bagelmouse\/17246052428\/\">https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bagelmouse\/17246052428\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":923,"menu_order":1,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Polling Station - Beacon Road, Lewisham Deptford\",\"author\":\"RachelH_\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/bagelmouse\/17246052428\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Why It Matters: Political Culture and Public Opinion\",\"author\":\"Steven Horn\",\"organization\":\"Everett Community College\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-493","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":490,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/923"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":496,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/493\/revisions\/496"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/490"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/493\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}