Biology Forums - Study Force

Briefly discuss theories of the roots and differences between Canadian and American political cultures with reference to both Louis Hartz and Seymour Lipset.

Hartz argues that while the political cultures of Western Europe are diverse, North American political cultures were formed from the liberal “fragments”  that were carried with colonial European settlers. Others have expanded on the differences between the United States and Canada political cultures noting that the United Empire Loyalists who came to Canada after the War of Independence brought traditional conservative values (Tory touch). Lipset argues that the different political cultures of the US and Canada can be explained through different historical experiences as the United States was founded through revolution, while Canada’s historical experience was counter-revolutionary. Lipset notes that Canadians had become more liberal than Americans in their views on social and moral issues and attributes this to the growing strength of conservative fundamentalist groups.

makes sense