American Exceptionalism - Essay Example

American Exceptionalism

Introduction

American Exceptionalism, as a widely embraced concept in the United States, strives to be a demonstration of the uniqueness that people and the country possesses. According to Cameron (96), the American Exceptionalism may be judged by the country’s orphic ability to adapt, evolve and revise hence making the country exceptional. Understanding American Exceptionalism inculcates comparing the exclusive aspects within the United States with the manner they perform in other countries. It is through the global perspective that one is able to judge and to conclude of US being a country that defies the odds and has become successful and stood out from other countries. It is vital to look into the specific paths that the country has taken towards achieving its unique global status that other countries envy. American exceptionalism had its foremost discussion by Alexis de Tocqueville who penned down a masterwork entailed as Democracy in America (Jeter). In this work he pin pointed factors that actually made America an exceptional country. These include liberty, egalitarianism as well as individualism and laissez faire. Although his assertions have been under great criticism, they were not far from the truth as some of these factors that make America rather exceptional. This paper thus involves an assessment of the country’s uniqueness in the history of the world.

One factor that sets America apart is the political freedom in the country. The idea of politics of America standing out mainly revolves around the party system that it exercises as well as it efficiency. In spite of differing opinions of scholars, the two-party system exercised in America is a brilliant choice for the political system in the country (Jones 474). Other countries might have struggled to adopt the system with little success. Conversely, the two-party system continues to flourish in America, which makes one of the unique political identities known around the world. Not only is the two-party system famous in the United States for its implementation over the years, but also because of its efficacy. The country can boast of the efficiency in the political system, as it is an easier platform for decision making that happens under control as well. Less people are involved when it comes to agreeing upon policies that determine the well-being. As the two-party system consists of the republicans and the democrats, when the people elect a candidate from either of the two parties, that party automatically becomes the ruling party while the other takes the position of being the opposition (Kalandrakis and Spirling 414). Therefore, having two parties whose interests are well defined makes it easy to decide on matters rather than dealing with a huge multitude of parties, which might hinder the effectiveness of the political system. According to Jones (473), the two parties cater for the interests of majority of the citizens, with each party having different viewpoints on various issues. The citizens hence have a clear picture of what to expect by voting in either of the parties through their candidates. The system makes the country to be efficient in decision-making that is exceptional when compared to that of other countries around the world.

Another instance of American exceptionalism is the fact that democracy in the United States intertwines with the liberal tradition in the country. Liberty implies that its citizen’s stand as free and as such can without fear, engage in positive fruitful activities. Liberal tradition of the United States sets it apart from other countries in the world. According to Packenham (18), Americans stand to be at an advantage for reaching a state of democracy, whereby they believe that they are born equal instead of conforming to the idea that they become so afterwards. The liberal premises are best appropriate when put under utility in the United States as other countries, especially third world countries do not respond well to it. However, this has not hindered the efforts of the United States in dedicating herself to extend the liberal ideology to the rest of the world. Liberalism in the United States is far much different from that around the world. In a bid to ensure that there entails equality of all persons, there recently has been enactment into law of numerous bills including the privacy bill that ensures that a person’s privacy is of utmost observation. Another bill includes the Obama health care bill that subsidizes health care insurance.

Moreover, Egalitarianism factor in America further makes it unique. Egalitarianism

presupposes that all people stand equal in law and that discrimination of whatever kind is illegal (Jeter). America has been at the forefront in upholding this notion ever time immemorial through engraving this in their constitution. In connection to the country’s liberal tradition, the US government makes protection of human rights to be one of its top primary concerns. Human rights are highly upheld even when it involves controversial issues such as same sex marriage that not all people may be in support of (Blau 11). The United States is very keen on equality under the law, whereby the law does not bias even in terms of status of any citizens (Kugler, et al. 1076). The law subjects each person in the same way under the law, which further enhances ideals of equality in America. Moreover, the government through liberalism seeks to endorse the welfare of its people by ascertaining that all people gain access to proper national services such as health services.

Another aspect that set apart America from the rest of other countries is its history of technological advancement. The US has for a long time focused upon coming up since with innovations that continue to influence the world (Holmes). For instance, the year 1831 saw invention of a Reaping Machine by the renowned McCormick. It is also in record that Benjamin Franklin came as a renowned person in the year 1752 for inventing electricity. These entail just examples of the much diverse technological advancement that America prides itself in and that make the country unique from other segments in the world. Therefore, America’s passion in inventions clearly sets the state apart in from past to recent times.

In addition, the manner in which America fights or handles wars through combination of high-tech wizardry as well as overwhelming force sets it apart (Holmes). It goes to record that America’s military front as well as its war equipments is quite exceptional for instance compared to third world states. It is for this reason that America has fought in Iraq wars as well as those in Afghanistan tirelessly without becoming subdued or giving the enemy an upper hand. This thus sets America as an exceptional state that is rich in the way in handles wars.

Economic freedom also known as Laissez-faire is a common ideology that also sets America as unique (Jeter). Laissez-faire connotes an instance where markets are able to operate without government interferences and this has been the case with America. The government tries to alleviate barriers that may stand as a barricade to market operations by ensuring that they even give subsidies to corporations as well as reduce taxes imposed upon them. The economic freedom and economic status of America is another major aspect of the country that garners quite a significant amount of attention globally. Albeit having some countries that rank higher than the United States in economic freedom, it is still quite ahead of the rest of the world due to the economic freedom it exercises with its people. As economic freedom is positively related to political freedom that the country is steadfast in, the result is a robust economy that changes the face of the country in the world (Weber). According to Cebula, Hall, Mixon and Payne (45), economic freedom has a huge and positive impact on the well-being of the people due to their ability to earn, keep as well as spend as they choose.

It is also common since time immemorial for the American state to embrace individualism concept (Holmes). Individualism connotes that Americans have and continue to possess liberty to own property and even dispose of the same as they please (Holmes). Americans also can utilize their incomes as well as capital in the manner they think fit without state’s interference apart from when their actions harm other people. The economy of the country makes one of the best economies around the world and one that is highly envied.

America also depicts power and exceptionalism through its monuments, statues as well as governmental structures, hence portraying a lot of pride in the nation (Holmes). Some of these examples include the Romanic architectural designs that run all over Washington, DC as well as in government premises. Exceptionalism also comes about through such structures as the White House not forgetting the Capitol Building that stand out rather powerfully in the country.

The paper clearly brings out the different aspects that prove American Exceptionalism and provides insight on how each of those aspects makes the country to be exceptional. It is clear that the economic status of the country is a great contributor of the uniqueness that the United States exhibits. In addition, the country is different in how it exercises liberal tradition and democracy as well as through its efficacy. Eventually, political freedom and the fact that the US has practiced the two-party system effectively over the years display the country as exceptional and influential around the world not forgetting its monumental structures as well as technological advancements. However, the racist ideology that clouds America does not stand as a positive sort of exceptionalism and thus sets the nation apart rather negatively from the rest of the world.

Work cited

Blau, Judith. "Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism. Shareen Hertel & Kathryn Libal,(Eds). Reviewed by Judith Blau." The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare 39.3 (2015): 11.

Cameron, John. Narrative is the Essence of History. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012. Print.

Cebula, Richard , C. Hall, Franklin Mixon Jr. and James Payne. Economic Behavior, Economic Freedom, and Entrepreneurship. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2015. Print.

• Holmes K. R.. Is America Exceptional?. The Heritage foundation. Web. May 17, 2016. http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/2011/12/is-america-exceptional
• Jeter, D. What Truly Makes America Exceptional. Black sphere and liberty Association. Web. May 17, 2016. <http://theblacksphere.net/2013/09/makes-america-exceptional/>

Jones, David R. A More Responsible Two-Party System? Accountability for Majority and Minority Party Performance in a Polarized Congress. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014(46.3): 470-492.

Kalandrakis, Tasos & Arthur Spirling. Radical Moderation: Recapturing Power in Two-Party Parliamentary Systems. Midwest Political Science Association, 2012(68): 413-432.

Kugler, Matthew B., et al. "Differences in punitiveness across three cultures: A test of American exceptionalism in justice attitudes." Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 103.4 (2013).

Packenham, Robert. Liberal America and the Third World: Political Development Ideas in Foreign Aid and Social Science. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015. Print.

Weber, Cameron M. Dissertation Concerning a Political Economy of Art With Emphasis on the United States of America. Diss: The New School. 2015. Print.