7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
1/25
Culture Shift?
A Reassessment of US Regional Political Culture through the 2007 SCHIP Debate
Paper prepared for the 2011 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Political Science Association
NOT FOR CITATION WITHOUT AUTHORS PERMISSION
Jason Kassel, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Political Science
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA
Bryan Williams, MEd, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Political ScienceMercer University
Macon, GA
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
2/25
1
More work, in our view, needs to be done, to ascertain whether the cultural clusters
that Elazar designates do indeed exist (either at the mass orelite level). This step and,
it seems to us, should precede attempts to link public policy outputs with political
cultures. Unfortunately most work has started with the second step and assumed the
first. (Thompson, Ellis, and Wildavsky 1990, 245)
Daniel Elazars Federalism: A view from the states provides the seminal treatment for the
relationship between regional political culture, state-level civic attitudes and federalism was.
However, few studies in the recent past have been conducted to assess the continued validity of
his cultural classifications. Despite the significant influence of Elazars work in the discipline,
subsequent studies by other authors center on the adequateness or appropriateness of his
typology of political culture in the US rather than assess the continued validity of his
classification of states into the various cultural types. Furthermore, despite Thompson, Ellis and
Wildavskys exhortation in 1990, such a study has not been conducted linking regional political
culture to national political elite using Elazar. This paper attempts to rectify this lacuna through
a test of Elazar's tri-partite classification by focusing on how state-level political culture is or is
not reflected in elite discourse. We focus our attention on the discourse in the United States
Senate throughout the debate that occurred during the first session of the 110 th Congress (2007)
over the State Children Health Initiative Program (SCHIP).
We ask two questions. First, can Elazars tri-partite classification scheme be identified
through discourse analysis? Second, should the classification schema prove useful, do the
cultural frames of Senate discourse correspond to the home-state culture of the politician?
Through the combination of qualitative content analysis with quantitative statistical analysis, we
find robust evidence in support of the first question, and significant support for the second, even
after controlling for the intervening effect of political party.
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
3/25
2
Elazars Cultural Theory
In his work, Elazar defines state-level political culture within the United States by creating
a typology of three distinct ideal-types, and classifying each state into a singular or mixed form.
These three ideal-types - individualistic, moralistic, and traditionalistic differ in terms of the
particular pattern of orientation to political action in which each [local and regional] political
system is embedded, and were rooted in the evolution and local adoption of two opposing views
of the American political system. On the one hand, American politics was designed for
individuals to bargain over self-interests (e.g. an economic marketplace) and on the other for
groups to cooperate to achieve shared goals rooted in moral principles (e.g. the classical
conception of a commonwealth).
For the individualistic culture, politics is "just another means by which individuals may
improve themselves socially and economically." Politics is utilitarian, without moral obligation,
and participation is a purely individual activity. For the moralistic culture, politics is "a public
activity centered on some notion of the public good, and properly devoted to the advancement of
the public interest." Moralist culture sees the political order as a commonwealth in which each
individual has a responsibility to participate for the public (not private) good. Far from both of
the preceding two, traditionalistic culture envisions government's function, while positive, is
limited "to securing the continued maintenance of the existing social order" and its dominating
hierarchy of elites who act as custodians of the traditional structures and norms.
Challenges to the Durability of Elazars Classifications
In his work classic publication, Elazar categorized states into specific ideal or mixed types
of political culture. At first blush, the high mobility rates in the US, as well as several episodes
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
4/25
3
of mass migration cast doubt on the continued accuracy of his geographical location of the
various culture types. It is surprising, then, that, while the details of the cultural aspects and
categories have been challenged, the geographical assignments have not. We start with the a
priori assumption that patterns of political culture within the US have not altered dramatically
since Elazars last update in 1984. Our justification for this is based on studies of the
construction and transmission of social norms have shown how migrants can be forced to adopt
(or at least conform to) the local political culture . Acculturation may not occur immediately, but
given time, the person may slowly adjust their expectations about politicians, policies and
campaigns to adapt to their new environment.
While steady yet minor population movements between the states are likely to have little
overall affect, given the power of acculturation, mass migration could produce large and
persistent differences in the rules of the political game, the issues that divide politicians and
parties. An example of this is the effect of northerners and Hispanics to Sun Belt states .
However, even large-scale population shifts of in- and outmigration may produce contradictory
effects on partisanship and, logically, political culture . The attitudinal influence of mass
migration is as likely to wash out as not as new populations interact and negotiate conflicts in
values, goals, and norms. The formal and informal political institutions that create the context
for such conflicts to be resolved, on the other hand, should persist.
In general, the findings that emphasize high mobility rates among states suggest
that political culture is best seen as dynamic and fluid as individuals carry their cultural norms
and expectations with them to new locations. Our expectation, on the other hand, is that citizens
that migrate into a region will be affected by, or forced to adopt the regional political culture so
that regional subcultures continue to represent the historical extensions of earlier settlement
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
5/25
4
patterns and the continuing advantages of the first effect of settler groups over later arrivals that
were placed in the culture . Immigrants will adjust their expectations about politicians, policies
and campaigns to adapt to their new environment, or they will move on to look for a more
compatible and culturally attractive location (c.f. Wirt, 1997 ).
All of this suggests that it is important to reassess Elazars classification of states 50 years
after it was constructed. The theory and research design to test this linkage is straightforward.
Democratic theory requires that public officials reflect dominant orientations in their state or
community while nonconformists are not often elected or appointed. Some of these orientations
differ among the states, and the differences may be due to Elazar's political cultures.
Consequently, to test for any such association, elite attitudes should be matched to Elazars
typologies.
Political Culture, Political Elites and Policy Rhetoric
To assess Elazars relevance for understanding 21st century state-level political culture our
study is concerned with revealing political belief systems through an analysis of the Senate-level
rhetorical justifications and rationalizations that went into crafting the particular public policy
known as the State Childrens Health Initiative Program (SCHIP). Our central contention is that
U.S. Senators, and political representatives more broadly, embrace and mimic the political
culture of their constituency. This may be in rhetoric alone, in order to more effectively
communicate their suitability as a delegate, or it may a true assimilation of the beliefs. In either
case, the words of a politician matter, particularly in the role of district spokesperson or on a
stage where there is an expectation of being observed by their electorate.
Analysis of the content of elite discourse should provide a detailed measure of conformity
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
6/25
5
between a representative and their home districteven when a politician does not vote as a
faithful delegate, they will communicate with their constituents and must speak the same
language, address the same concepts, and use the same vernacular. In this way, discourse
analysis may lead to a better, or certainly more nuanced, way to evaluate elite representation
instead of relying on voting records. That is, we hypothesize that elite speech represents culture
because that speech is cultural acceptable to their constituents. A record of senate floor
proceedings, then, should be ideal for revealing the political culture of the senators home state.
A simple model of this hypothesis can be constructed as follows:
State Political Culture> Political Elite> Policy Rhetoric
The logic behind this hypothesis comes from the central premise of elections in a
democracy, which posits a hierarchical relationship between constituents and representatives.
This relationship creates a bounded rationality in which representatives must conform or be
punished. Constituents reward their representatives with their electoral support, campaign
contributions, and popularity in polls that can be translated into political capital in Washington as
colleagues vest more interest and support in their fellows who show promise of longevity
through reelection. Punishment is the opposite, and results in the loss of direct influence in the
government and greater electoral uncertainty. Thus, as rational actors, elites will mimic the
dominant political cultural rhetoric within their state in order to prevent being punished.
Conformity in rhetoric may, in future studies, help explain how representatives maintain re-
election despite deviating from voting consistently with constituent opinion.
The SCHIP Debate
The policy we are looking at, SCHIP, was originally passed by a Republican-led Congress
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
7/25
6
in 1996. The 2007 debate considered its reauthorization and possible limitation or expansion to
bridge a gap between families eligible for Medicaid coverage and those able to purchase health
insurance on their own. Originally a bi-partisan program, SCHIP continued to find support on
both sides of the aisle. However, in 2007, the partisan divisiveness between a Democratic
Congress and a Republican President created gridlock. Although the program remained popular
and passed both the House and Senate with overwhelming majorities, it was vetoed by President
Bush and the Congress was unable to muster the two-thirds required to override the veto.
The SCHIP debate is a good case-study of state-level political culture for a number of
reasons. Most importantly, after ten years, it retained great bipartisan support in the middle of
one of the most polarized congresses in history (cite from Poole and Rosenthal). Providing
healthcare for Americas children was supported in general by at least 88 Senators, and the final
bill received 68 votes (18 Republicans joining 48 Democrats and 2 independents). The bi-
partisan nature of support of this case should allow us to minimize the effect of partisanship as a
causal variable in the outcome. Further, unlike purely procedural or process-oriented debates,
the justification of a public good that affects every state allows for greater variety in the
discussion, which provides ample opportunities to display the three cultures developed by
Elazar: Moral, Traditional, and Individual. Furthermore, as Congress maneuvered to either avoid
or override presidential veto, the prolonged debate provides ample material for analysis.
Data Source for Senate Rhetoric
Our data comes from analyzing political rhetoric of U.S. Senators in the 110 th Congress
contained in the Congressional Record. For our purposes, rhetorical data has the advantage over
other types of data used in other political-culture studies in that it doesnt rely on popular or elite
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
8/25
7
voting patterns or policy preferences, which can be determined by many confounding influences,
nor does it rely on attitudinal surveys, which suffer from the typical problems of social
acceptability and satisficing. In utilizing this data, we are positing that rhetoric on the Senate
floor removes the requirement to 'know' what a political representative is thinking or what they
believe. Instead, the floor is a stage on which they speak to their constituents and demonstrate
their connection to the dominant political culture (Mixon Jr. et. al. 2001; Frantzich and Sullivan
1996).
To derive as complete a catalog as possible of the SCHIP debate we used the search feature
of the electronic version of the Congressional Record found at
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/retrieve.html . We cast our net wide and entered related
search terms such as childrens health. We read the content of this expanded set and
eliminated findings that were substantively unrelated to the SCHIP debate. After this culling, we
ended up with 352 Senatorial speeches by 88 Senators.
Coding Rhetoric
Our first focusanalyzing Elazars tripartite theory through elite discourse required
establishing rules for the methodical analysis of the Congressional Record. From this methodical
analysis, we sought to create a discourse dataset that could be used to assess our second focus
analyzing the continued stability of Elazars classifications. This section addresses the first
question and tests our ability to methodically create and apply rules that would allow us to
successfully place Elazars typology within discourse analysis.
We began by establishing the rule that the unit of analysis was not the Congressional
Record itself but the Senators and the logic of their speeches. We immediately identified two
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/retrieve.htmlhttp://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/retrieve.htmlhttp://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/retrieve.html7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
9/25
8
important characteristics of our data set. First, there was little variance within a set of speeches
by the same Senatordespite variation in purpose and length of speech, senators tended to
demonstrate the same intensity of each discourse frame across all instances. Second, while there
were 71 Senators the number of speeches was heavily skewed toward 11 speakers who each had
between 10 and 30 speeches while the average number of speeches in this debate was five, and
the median was 4. These two findings enabled us to have confidence in coding four speeches per
Senator (or all of a Senators speeches if the number were less than four), selecting every fourth
speech to provide chronological variation when necessary.
With this in mind we then established a conceptual rule we labeled the speech object rule.
By emphasizing speech objects we were able to focus our attention on the words contained in
the totality of a speech by each Senator rather than emphasizing the overall length or number of
words contained in each speech. The speech object concept allowed us to emphasize meaning
and develop a thicker understanding of the discourse data. From this concept, we then sought
to apply it to the logic contained within Elazars typology. We began by reading through the
first chronological ten speech objects to identify ways to connect the concept to Elazar and
comparing findings. At the end of this process we held extensive discussions to refine the
speech object concept tool and to identify paradigmatic words and phrases to distinguish the
meaning of one speech object from another. We repeated this exercise, with a discussion period
at the end of each, until we reached a total of fifty speech objects. This methodical exercise
allowed us to fruitfully update our shared list of paradigmatic words and phrases, revise our
speech object coding definitions, and coordinate our definitional applications.
The speech objects were coded into different variables that represent aspects of the three
political culture types. Each variable was evaluated on a five-point scale relating to the intensity
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
10/25
9
and centrality of the particular discourse frame or component within a given speech object. The
scale runs from not present to strongly present. After coding the speech objects, the
Senators scores were averaged across each variable in order to obviate the uneven numberof
contributions. Although some variation was lost using this method, we found it preferable to the
high probability of over representing states or views by weighting the cases.
Through our analysis of nearly 200 speech objects, we identified that the speech object
concept could be fruitfully distinguished by rhetoric connected to debate concerning the
processes or possible outcomes of the SCHIP policy As we were concerned with connecting
political culture as a whole with Senatorial rhetoric we identified both types of rhetoric. By the
end of this exercise we were satisfied that we had achieved a high degree of mutual reliability in
our independent analyses and then divided the speech objects alphabetically and worked
independently to create the final analytic dataset. This extensive process led us to recognize that
Elazars tri-partite typology could be fruitfully applied to the elite discourse of the SCHIP
debate.
Elazars description of individualistic political culture turned out to be the broadest of the three,
encompassing both process and policy. Moral political culture is strongly output- or policy-
oriented. Traditional cultures emphasis on hierarchy and status quo makes its application to
process and policy fairly straightforward. Individual political culture, on the other hand, has a
different emphasis in process than it does in policy. We attempted to account for this by
disaggregating the components of individual political culture into separate variables: individual-
realism refers to a description of the political process as negotiation, bargaining, and
brinksmanship; individual-utility refers to the policy output, which should be both fiscally
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
11/25
10
responsible and have benefit that is clearly related to the constituents. Also, as individual
political culture is distrustful of big government, the policy output should not grow the
governments size or influence. Further, aware of a self-interested explanation, we also coded
the political interest of each speech object by noting whether the emphasis was on state or
national interests. That is, if the speech object contained an anecdote about a specific person in a
state or if specific numbers of individuals in the state were mentioned code as state focus. If the
speakers focus was on the benefit to the overall country then identify as a national focus. These
rules enabled us to apply a five point scale to code the final speech object and categorize the
strength ofeach speech object within Elazars typology.
Qualitative FindingsQuestion I
Our first question in this study asks whether or not Elazars cultural typology can be
applied to elite speech. This led to the following hypothesis:
H1: Senators floor debate can be categorized into moral, traditional, and individual
frames as described by Elazar.
Through content analysis, we found a robust use of moralistic language that cited scripture,
referenced a moral imperative to help children and, in general, emphasized a lack of self-interest
and were the least ambiguous of all cultures. Morality was focused on the process in terms of
the rightness or obligation of the Senate to provide for children health also be found in terms of
policy output, such as the judgment of how a particular bill would contribute to positive,
affective outcomes for children, such as a more fulfilling life.
We found a strong indication of traditionalist language by identifying language that
focused on maintaining existing relationships and societal power centers that emphasized the
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
12/25
11
original purpose of the SCHIP bill ten years earlier and sought to maintain the status quo.
Traditionalistic speech objects had common expressions of the process and product of SCHIP
legislation. We identified rhetoric that supported sustaining institutional arrangements that
would maintain proper procedures in the Senate by reinforcing the hierarchy of the Senate
through deference to the Senate leadership, not-too-subtle reminders to support the institutional
organization in terms of respect for the thoughtful deliberations that resulted in committee
decisions and the proper role of the Senate vis a vis the House. Traditionalist rhetoric also
sought to maintain existing federal-state relations by emphasizing that states should be given the
freedom to vary under this program and minimizing the importance of the federal government in
solving conflicts between the states. Traditionalist speech objects also sought to convey that
Senators should jump on the bandwagon by pointing to powerful people and interests that
supported the legislation.
Individualistic speech objects turned out to be the most complex and we identified two
distinct ways in which to code this form of rhetoric. The first, coded as utilitarian language,
emphasized the manner in which the program was an investment in the countrys future because
it would help recipients get a job in the future and thereby increase overall efficiency and
productivity (i.e. healthy children equals healthy workers). The second, coded as realist
language, emphasized the different ways in which government is a process of competing forces
and occasionally dirty politics (i.e. politics is nothing but corrupt bargains).
Quantitative FindingsQuestion II
The standard answer to the two questions addressed in this study holds partisan affiliation
to be the determining factor behind Senate voting behavior and rhetoric. Our analysis of the
Senate debates revealed consistent use of standard frames or memes consistent with the partisan
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
13/25
12
perspective. For example, a common Republican frame was to return to the bills 1996 original
intent and keep the S in SCHIP meaning it should be a state rather than national program. On
the other side of the aisle, Democrats consistently argued that it was important to put children
first and pass the bill for their protection. The party line was more or less skillfully woven into
each Senators discoursefor some, it was merely bookends to their main message, while others
more convincingly integrated the ideas and words into their presentation. We thus found
evidence supporting the idea of partisan rhetoric but, with each speech object containing up to
thousands of words, there was ample rhetorical data to test the degree to which partisanship
would challenge our cultural analysis.
Our impression while coding the Senate debate was that the various cultural frames were
clearly distinct with only a little overlap. Even so, each discourse frame was often visible to a
varying degree within a single speech object and certainly across the speech objects of a single
senator. The first test, then, was to measure the extent to which the frames were mutually
exclusive, that a Senator who, on average, strongly used one frame would use the other frames
more weakly. A positive finding on this front would provide sufficient face validity to our
model and methodology to warrant that we continue our investigation.
Table 2 below contains the results of the bivariate correlations of the intensity of one
Senators use of the three frames. After coding each speech object on a five-point scale (0=none,
4=strong), all of a Senators coded speech objects were averaged so as not to create a disparity
between those who contributed to the debate on many occasions and those who did not. The
numbers on top are the correlation coefficient accompanied by the p-value immediately below.
As this is a preliminary test of concept, we opted to accept results within a two-tailed confidence
interval of p
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
14/25
13
zero-order correlations, we decided to run first-order partial correlations controlling for the
confounding effect of political partythese two models are interposed in order to facilitate
comparison across a single variable. Zero-order correlation results are in the odd numbered
rows, and the partial correlation results are reported in the even-numbered columns. Comparing
the outcomes shows that, while partisanship does count for some of the negative correlation, the
relative strength of one frame is generally inversely related to that of the others. Future studies
along these lines may want to code the partisan memes separately from the political-culture
frames in order to allow more sensitivity to party effects.
Our model anticipates political culture to flow from the state to the discourse of its
Senators. Our expectations are that each of the three types of states will be highly positively
correlated with higher intensity or strength of the related discourse frame. Furthermore, the
mixed subtypes will align with discourse from their dominant cultural component, but at a
weaker intensity than the states with a singular cultural component. The obverse is also true, we
would expect related discourse frames to be negatively correlated with states where such a
culture is not present according to Elazar. In summary:
H2: the frame of a Senators discourse is positively correlated with a state's corresponding
political culture.
H3: the strength of a Senators discourse is negatively correlated with the absence of the
corresponding culture within the state.
H4: the strength of a Senators discourse is relative to the dilution of a states culturethe
correlation is stronger with unitary-culture states than with mixed-type states.
Table 3 below reports the number of senators in the study by state and by party. The effect
of partisanship is clearly evinced by the very low proportion of Democrats in traditional states
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
15/25
14
(12.5% including the subtypes), and the similarly low proportion of Republicans from individual
states (10.3% including subtypes). The remaining Democrats are equally divided into Moral and
Individual states (43.8% each, including subtypes). The Republicans in this study draw a
majority of their ranks from traditional states (58.6% including subtypes), with almost one-third
elected from moral states (31.0% including subtypes). Nevertheless, there is sufficient variation
in partisanship within and between states to allow for meaningful quantitative analysis.
Consistent with our expectations, Table 4 shows the bivariate correlation estimations for
political party with strength of discourse type and with state culturein this case, all states are
collapsed under the dominant culture (e.g. moral-individual is counted as moral). Republicans
and traditional states, along with their subtypes, show the most significant association (r=.447
p=.000). The significance of the relationship between political party and all moral states as a
group suggests near randomness (r=.055 p=.672), but there is a moderate correlation between
party and individual states as a whole (r=.241 p=.061). Party also proves to be highly
deterministic of a Senators use of a particular frame. Democrats are shown to use moral and
individual-utility frames (r=.712 p=.000, r=.225 p=.085) and republicans have a positive
relationship with the use and intensity of the traditional frame (r=.428 p=.001).
Not reported in the table are the few, mostly confirmatory correlations found when
separating the states into nine-cultural subtypes. Republicans remain highly correlated to single-
culture traditional states (r=.376 p=.003) and weakly correlated with states of the traditional-
individual subtype (r=.214 p=.098). Additionally, Democrats are shown to be highly correlated
with single-culture individual states (r=.391 p=.002). The many, significant associations
between party and culture are generally sufficient to stop further investigationfor political
culture to be valuable, it has to provide explanations that party alone cant.
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
16/25
15
To verify our belief that there is a first-order relationship between state culture and
discourse type, even after controlling for partisanship, we ran estimations of the correlations
between state type and discourse frame. The results found in Table 5 below support the
importance of political culture, which remains even after controlling for partisanship.
In Table 5 below, political party is demonstrated to be an intervening factor in the
relationship between state political culture and the intensity and consistency of a Senators use of
a particular discourse frame. Nevertheless, the first-order relationships predicted by H2and H3
are found in the first three rows of the table above. Support for H2 is evident in the moderate
positive correlation between individual states and individual-realism discourse (r=.261 p=.055).
We found more support for H3 in the strong negative correlation between traditional states and
moral discourse (r= -.427 p=.001) and the moderate negative correlation between moral states
and individual-utility discourse (r= -.362 p=.007). Contradicting H3 is the weak positive first-
order relationship of traditional states and their subtypes to the individual-utility discourse frame
(r=.237 p=.082), which cannot be explained by political party.
The test of H4 comes from comparing the first three rows of data to the bottom three. The
categorization of states for the correlations in the first three rows of the table is a dummy
variable that combines states with a single culture with the states that have that single culture as
the dominant one in the subtype (e.g. moral AND moral-individual). The dummy variable in the
second case is only for single-type states (i.e. moral, traditional, and individual with no
subtypes). Although the partial-correlation between traditional states and moral discourse from
H3 remains significant in this test, it is less significant and of a lesser magnitude (r 2 of .064 vs r2
of .182).
As our coding schema disaggregates elements that fit under Elazars descriptions of the
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
17/25
16
various cultural types, we found it useful to try to recombine these elements and run the test
again. The results were the same: we were unable to confirm H4. It is our opinion that this
effect may be more mathematical than anything else. The significantly reduced sample of
Senators from single-culture states led to a corresponding lack of significance in correlations.
Additionally, that the individual-realism component added no further sensitivity is likely due to
the heated political rhetoric from both parties after President Bush vetoed the bill. We did not
code specifically for that, and so were unable to make an adequate test of how individual-realism
discourse contributes to an understanding of political culture. In the final analysis, the face
validity of our model suggests that H4 deserves further consideration in future studies.
Conclusion
Overall, the strength of the party-to-state culture relationship is interesting, and consistent
with our model. In terms of our study, we attribute this to how Elazar developed the
classification of states from historical religious and ethnic migration patterns across the nation.
In this light, political culture becomes the primary explanatory factor for political behavior and
partisanship instead of vice versa.
The relative stability of political culture over time can be explained by the weak effects of
in- and outmigration relative to the strength and durability of local institutions. Acculturation
and self-selection steer new residents and new generations into old patterns whose cultural roots
are ingrained in local political institutions and norms. Such institutions include party primaries
versus caucuses, method of selection of local and state judges, and sunshine laws around local
and state political meetings. These institutions set up the framework for residents civil and
political interaction, and the parameters for discussions about political satisfaction and plans for
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
18/25
17
political change. Even the salience of issues, then, is a result of these institutional and cultural
bounds, which translates into the acceptability and attractiveness of political platforms.
Had political party explained all of the variation in the cultural framing of Senate discourse, we
would have a hard time justifying this idea.
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
19/25
18
Table 1: Paradigmatic speech objects
TypologyParadigmatic
ConceptPolicy Concept Process Concept
Moralistic Values morality ofsociety
Children deserve SCHIP
because they are the most
vulnerable and least
capable members ofsociety
SCHIP allows for
individualsdevelopment and
further policyexpansion
Traditionalistic Values orderly societySCHIP is naturalextension of Medicare and
Medicaid policies
SCHIP is valuable but
must be focused on
cost containment
procedures support byestablished
organizations
Individualistic
Values economicproductivity and
highlights political
bargaining
Only truly poor children
deserve the benefits
contained in the originalSCHIP program and any
attempt to reauthorization
must be focused on who
benefits and who pays.
SCHIP must be
developed in atransparent manner in
order to clearly
demonstrate there isno corruption
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
20/25
1 9
Table 2: Bivariate correlations and partial correlations (controlling for party) between Senators relative use of frames
Discourse Frame Moral
Partial
Moral Trad
Partial
Trad
Individ-
Utility
Partial
Individ-
Utility
Individ-
Realism
Partial
Individ-
Realism
Moral 1.000 1.000 -.495**
-0.268*
0.071 -0.179 -.299**
-0.174
. 0.000 0.048 0.587 0.191 0.025 0.203
Traditional -.495
***
-0.268
**
1.000 1.000 -.416
**
-0.331
**
0.224
*
0.1220.000 0.048 . 0.001 0.014 0.096 0.375
Individ-Utility 0.071 -0.179 -.416**
-0.331 1.000 1.000 -0.067 -0.014
0.587 0.191 0.001 0.014 . 0.624 0.920
Individ-Realism -.299**
-0.174 0.224*
0.122 -0.067 -0.014 1.000 1.000
0.025 0.203 0.096 0.375 0.624 0.920 `
***p
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
21/25
20
Table 3: Sample number and proportions of Senators from states, as categorized by Elazar,
and political party
State Culture count dem repub indep
Moral 12 7 4 1
%within Moral states 19.4% 58.3% 33.3% 8.3%%within pol party 21.9% 13.8% 100.0%
Moral-Traditional 0 0 0 0
%within Moral-Traditionalstates moral
%within pol party subtotal dem repub
Moral-Individual 12 7 5 0 24 14 9
%within Moral-Individualstates 19.4% 58.3% 41.7% 0.0% 38.7% 22.6% 14.5%
%within pol party 21.9% 17.2% 0.0% 43.8% 31.0%
Traditional 10 1 9 0
%within Traditional states 16.1% 10.0% 90.0% 0.0%
%within pol party 3.1% 31.0% 0.0%
Traditional-Moral 3 1 2 0
%within Traditional-Moral
states 4.8% 33.3% 66.7% 0.0% trad
%within pol party 3.1% 6.9% 0.0% subtotal dem repub
Traditional-Individual 8 2 6 0 21 4 17
%within Traditional-Individual
states 12.9% 25.0% 75.0% 0.0% 33.9% 6.5% 27.4%
%within pol party 6.3% 20.7% 0.0% 12.5% 58.6%
Individual 15 13 2 0
%within Individual states 24.2% 86.7% 13.3% 0.0%
%within pol party 40.6% 6.9% 0.0%
Individual-Moral 1 0 1 0
%within Individual-Moral
states 1.6% 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% individ
%within pol party 0.0% 3.4% 0.0% subtotal dem repub
Individual-Traditional 1 1 0 0 17 14 3
%within Individual-Traditional
states 1.6% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 27.4% 22.6% 4.8%
%within pol party 3.1% 0.0% 0.0% 43.8% 10.3%Totals 62 32 29 1
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
22/25
21
Table 4: Correlations between political party and Senators discourse and state culture
political----------Senator discourse----------- ------------state culture--------
party moral trad individ-util
individ-real
moral trad individ
Dem. .712*** -.428*** .225* -.200 .055 -.447*** .241*.000 .001 .085 .143 .672 .000 .061
Rep. -.712***
.428***
-.225*
.200 -.055 .447***
-.241*
.000 .001 .085 .143 .672 .000 .061
***p
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
23/25
2 2
Table 5: Zero- and first-order correlations (controlling for political party) between state type and use of discourse frame
senator_
Moral
partial
senator_
Moral
senator_
Trad
partial
senator_
Trad
Senator
Ind-Util
partial
senator_
Ind-Util
senator_
Ind-Real
partial
senator_
Ind-Real
state_moral 0.107 0.109 0.176 0.170 -.351**
-0.362**
-0.065 -0.049
(incl. subtypes) 0.412 0.427 0.175 0.216 0.005 0.007 0.635 0.720
state_traditional -.506***
-0.427**
0.129 -0.066 0.120 0.237*
0.019 -0.096
(incl. subtypes) 0.000 0.001 0.320 0.634 0.357 0.082 0.892 0.487
state_individual 0.100 0.118 0.022 0.127 -0.020 -0.023 0.227*
0.261*
(incl. subtypes) 0.442 0.391 0.869 0.355 0.879 0.870 0.092 0.055
state__moral .260**
0.187 -0.074 -0.037 -0.027 -0.077 -0.261*
-0.224
(no subtypes) 0.043 0.173 0.572 0.787 0.839 0.578 0.052 0.101
state_trad -.308**
-0.254*
-0.023 -0.198 0.119 0.170 0.017 -0.062
(no subtypes) 0.016 0.062 0.861 0.146 0.361 0.215 0.899 0.651
state_individ .335
**
0.213 -.284
**
-0.094 0.223
*
0.157 0.024 0.119(no subtypes) 0.008 0.119 0.027 0.494 0.084 0.252 0.862 0.387
***p
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
24/25
23
References
Elazar, D. "Fiscal Questions and Political Answers in Intergovernmental Finance." PublicAdministration Review 32, no. Sept/Oct (1972): 471-78.
. "Tocqueville and the Cultural Basis of American Democracy." PS: Political Scienceand Politics 32, no. 2 (1999): 207-11.
Elazar, Daniel Judah.American Federalism : A View from the States. 3rd ed. New York: Harper
& Row, 1984.
.American Federalism; a View from the States. New York,: Crowell, 1966.
Elazar, Daniel Judah, and Ira Sharkansky.Alternative Federal Solutions to the Problem of the
Administered Territories. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 1984.Fitzpatrick, Jody L., and Rodney E. Hero. "Political Culture and Political Characteristics of
American States: A Consideration of Some Old and New Questions." Western PoliticalQuarterly 41, no. March (1988): 145-53.
Fukuyama, Francis. "Social Capital, Civil Society and Development." Third World Quarterly 22,
no. 1 (2001): 7-20.. Trust : Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York: Free Press, 1995.
Gimpel, James G. Separate Destinations: Migration, Immigration and the Politics of Place. AnnArbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999.
Gimpel, James G., and Jason E. Schuknecht. "Interstate Migration and Electoral Politics."
Journal of Politics 63 (2001): 207-31.
Hero, Rodney E., and Caroline J. Tolbert. "A Racial/Ethnic Diversity Interpretation of Politicsand Policy in the States of the U.S."American Journal of Political Science 40, no. 3
(1996): 851-71.
Johnson, Charles A. "Political Cultures in American States: Elazar's Formulation Examined."
American Journal of Political Science 20, no. August (1976): 491-509.
Kincaid, John, ed. Political Culture, Public Policy and the American States. Philidelphia:
Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1982.
Lieske, Joel. "Regional Subcultures of the United States." The Journal of Politics 55, no. 4(1993): 888-913.
Morgan, David R., and Sheilah S. Watson. "Political Culture, Political System Characteristics,
and Public Policies among the American States." Publius-the Journal of Federalism 21,no. 2 (1991): 31-48.
Nardulli, Peter F. "Political Subcultur3es in Teh American States: An Empirical Examination of
Elazar's Formulation."American Politics Quarterly 18, no. July (1990): 287-315.North, Douglass Cecil.Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance, The
Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990.
Ostrom, Elinor. Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action,The Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990.
Patterson, Samuel C. "The Political Cultures of the American States."Journal of Politics 30, no.
February (1968): 187-209.Peters, John G., and Susan Welch. "Politics, Corruption and Political Culture." American Politics
Quarterly 6, no. July (1980): 345-56.
7/31/2019 Kassel and Williams GPSA 30oct11
25/25
24
Sharkansky, Ira. "The Utility of Elazar's Political Culture: A Research Note." Polity 2, no. Fall
(1969): 55-83.Thompson, Michael, Richard Ellis, and Aaron Wildavsky. Cultural Theory, Political Culture.
Boulder: Westview Press, 1990.
Veasy, Lawson. "Devolutionary Federalism and Elazar's Typology: The Arkansas Response to
Reagan's New Federalism." Publius-the Journal of Federalism 18, no. 1 (1988): 61-77.Weber, Ronald E., and William R. Shaffer. "Public Opinion and American State Policy Making."
Midwest Journal of Political Science 16, no. November (1972): 683-99.
Wildavsky, Aaron. "Choosing Preferences by Constructing Institutions: A Cultural Theory ofPreference Formation."American Political Science Review 81, no. March (1987): 3-21.
. Frames of Reference Come from Cultures: A Predictive Theory Berkeley: Survey
Research Center, University of California, 1987.Wirt, Frederick. "Does Control Follow the Dollar? School Policy, State-Local Linkages, and
Political Culture." Publius-the Journal of Federalism 10, no. Spring (1980): 69-88.
. "Soft Concepts and and Data: A Research Review of Elazar's Political Culture."
Publius-the Journal of Federalism 21, no. 2 (1991): 1-13.
. We Ain't What We Was: Civil Rights in the New South. Durham: Duke University Press,1997.
Wirt, Frederick, Douglas E. Mitchell, and Catherine Marshall. "Perceptions of State PoliticalCulture by Education Policy Elites." Peabody Journal of Education 62, no. 3 (1985): 48-
60.
Top Related