AMERICAN POLITICAL-CULTURE IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

In order to formulate a comparative model of political cultures, a the ory that integrates psychological, sociological and economic variables is developed. Within societies dominant political cultural themes str ess particular patterns of right and obligation. These patterns simult aneously undergird social solidarity and justify an unequal distributi on of rewards. Differences among political cultures exist vertically o n an historical dimension of increasing moral comprehensiveness and ho rizontally on a dimension of moral content. Internal tensions deriving from technological development and from social discourse about the mo ral adequacy of norms stimulate change. A case study of American polit ical culture, with its contrasting emphases on egalitarianism and indi vidualism, assesses the theoretical claims.