Commentaire de texte : Seymour Martin Lipset - L'exceptionnalisme américain : une épée à double tranchant

Exposé Société & moeurs Sociologie

Date de publication :

14/05/2008

Langue :

Anglais

Format :

.pdf

Nombre de pages :

8 pages

Niveau :

grand public

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Sommaire :

Sommaire

Presentation of the book and the context
Historical context of the birth of the USA : unlike other countries, the USA is built on a creed and not on a territory
Two different definition of what a nation is
Political parties : why there is no socialist or conservative parties such as the ones in Britain

Résumé :

The USA are today at the first ranks in terms of wealth, military power, technology, science, and have a strong influence all over the world. One speaks of the American Way of Life to refer to the way the Americans live and also to the fact that this way of life is adopted in other areas of the world. This is conveyed through the TV shows or the Hollywood productions but also by the multinational companies such as McDonald's. This domination dates back to the beginning of the 20th century and especially became true after World War I, when the former European leading powers, France, Britain and Germany, were in ruins and had to recover. The USA were first a British possession composed of thirteen colonies on the eastern coast. But the Americans decided to fight for their independance and declared the USA independant in 1776. The history could let one think that as the USA were a British colony, one would find many similar traits between the USA and Britain. It is true that the two countries share the same language and many traits but one should analyse the USA more deeply and see that in fact there are also several differences behind the apparent similarity. This has been done by an American sociologist, seymour martin lipset, in a book entitled American Exceptionalism: a double-edged Sword. In fact, lipset is surprised to see that in the USA there is no socialist movement as there are in other western democracies such as Great Britain or France. In those countries, the socialist and worker movements exist and are quite important in the political landscape. The Labour Party ruled Britain during WWII for instance and New Labour is still today in office with Gordon Brown. This seems exceptional to lipset and he is willing to discover the origin of this fact.