AMERICAN CONTEXT

1. MULTI-FAITH RELIGIOUS CULTURE

1.1. Religion was a motive for migration to US

1.2. Strong religious belief and observance at ceremonies and church services

1.3. Diversity of faiths because of diversity of procedences

1.4. Desire to keep religion within the personal and outside politics

2. ECONOMIC CULTURE BASED ON INDIVIDUAL PROFIT AND CONSUMPTION

2.1. Competitive mindset for survival which leads to social en economic inequality

2.2. Important influence of charitable organizations, volunteerism, and public sector, often forgotten in debates about the US capitalist model

3. MEDIA CULTURE

3.1. Encuragement of "celebrity culture" and "dumbing down" of social and educational values

3.2. Watchdog rule under the First Amendment, quality products, instant news, public participation, widened knowledge

4. NATIONAL IDENTITY

4.1. Selection of general cultural symbols to define American identity: flag, pledge of allegiance, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights...

4.2. Abstract ideas coming from Puritan religion and the European Enlightment pervade the spirit of those signs

4.3. Attitudes towards inmigration have gone increasingly negative

4.4. Unity as opposed to diversity

4.5. Metaphores of salads and stews imply the acceptance of variety as an ingredient of Americanness

4.6. Assimilitation replaced by integration ("natural blending or mixing")

4.7. e pluribus unum

5. SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

5.1. Life in small towns is what defines American society

5.2. The federal framework is what gives a sense of identity, of Americannes

5.3. The American Way of life is what goes on at the local level, how people interacts wirh both local and national institutions

5.4. Institutions have evolved and reated to people's wills and needs, and to government requirements, changing from their original functions

6. DIVERSE ETHNIC CULTURE

6.1. MAINSTREAM CULTURE: COLONIAL PERIOD, NEW COMMERS FROM NORTH WESTERN EUROPE

6.1.1. INITIAL SETTLEMENTS (167): British, some French and Spanish

6.1.2. Until 1776 more than half of the population came from the British Isles: white/angloamerican/protestan dominant culture

6.1.3. Political principles based on: democracy, individualism, protestant work ethic and acceptance of the law

6.2. AFRICAN SLAVES FROM 1619

6.3. NINETEENTH CENTURY, SHIFT TOWARDS SOUTH AND EASTERN INMIGRATION, AND ALSO ASIAN/CHINESE

6.4. 20TH CENTURY MIGRATION: FROM EUROPE, SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

7. LAW-RESPECTFUL AND INDIVIDUALISTIC POLITICAL-LEGAL CULTURE

7.1. Relevance of the Constitution

7.2. US Supreme Court has to look after governmental compliance

7.3. Tension between materialistic everyday and idealistic image of the Nation, continuously revised - there is a worry over Americanness

7.4. THere is a process of political polarization going on, in relation to minorities, the economy, education, employment,etc.

7.5. Importan issues are: abortion, gay marriage, the death penalty, education, taxation and gun control.

8. CULTURAL EXPRESSION DIVERSITY

8.1. The complex composition of the population and their interests has a reflection on the diversity of cultural and leisure output (from theaters, opera companies, orchestras, film studios, dance companies, etc.), music styles available, museums and galleries, and the same can be said about leisure, and sports, targeting diferent public.

9. AMERICAN ATTITUDES TO US SOCIETY

9.1. Despite diversity of origins and values, they have many common concerns

9.2. Declining perception of US Administration action and country condition

9.3. General concerns: economy (including taxes and budgetary deficit), job/unemployment, education, foreign policies, homeland security, healthcare, abortion, same-sex marriage