How can the culture of a people be related to policies regarding gambling? A political culture is a collective set of beliefs and values that can define how a people orient themselves toward government in general and what their feelings are about their own political jurisdiction, political participation and rules of participation, their obligations as citizens, their attitudes toward their fellow citizens, and their attitudes toward their leaders. The late Daniel Elazar, a renowned political scientist, postulated that although there was a dominant type of political culture for the United States reflecting our national heritage and our national system, there were major subtypes of political cultures in different parts of the US. He identified three such subtypes: the (I)ndividualistic, (M)oralistic, and (T)raditionalistic.
The I culture envisions a democratic order expressed through a marketplace of issues. Government does not exist to create “a good society” but rather to respond to demands of citizens on economic and other issues. Mass political participation is not encouraged, as politics is an activity reserved for “professionals”, not amateurs. Policymaking is transactional, a bargaining process between self-interested groups and individuals. People who seek political office do so as a means of controlling the distribution of rewards of government, not of pursuing programs and/or ideology. Politics is like horse trading.
The M culture was brought to the New World by the Pilgrims and then the Puritans who set up a series of religious colonies in New England. The M culture emphasizes the commonwealth as the basis for democratic government. Politics is considered a lofty pursuit in humankind’s search for the “good society”. Although politics is a struggle for power, it is also an attempt to exercise that power for the betterment of the commonwealth. Government is a positive instrument to promote the general welfare, which is more than a balance of or the sum of individual interests. Citizen participation is an essential ingredient in the M culture. Politics is the concern of every citizen. Thus it is the citizens’ duty to participate. Those who serve in government and politics assume high moral obligations.
The T political culture had its roots in British royalty. It persisted past the revolutionary years within the United States in the plantation South, where citizens were seeking economic opportunity through their agricultural system. That system relied to some degree upon the institution of slavery. According to Elazar, the T culture is based upon an ambivalent attitude toward the marketplace coupled with an elitist conception of society. The T political culture reflects an older, precommercial attitude that accepts a largely hierarchical society and expects those at the top of the social order to take a special and dominant role in government. That role is defined as keeping the existing social order. Government functions to continue to confine real political power to a comparatively small and self-perpetuating elite who often inherit their “right” to govern through family or social ties. Those who do not have a definitive role to play in the political system are not expected to become active in politics.
Elazar seeks to categorize each state as well as regions within states with one of the three subtypes, or with a combination of the subtypes of political cultures. Elazar placed Nevada clearly under the I culture category, although he did not specifically discuss Nevada politics. Nevada historian James Hulse offers a commentary. He correctly reads Elazar’s description of I culture, saying that it “assumes that the function of the marketplace is given top priority” by the government. He goes on to indicate, “Nevada as a society has been relaxed, permissive and at times even reckless in its receptivity to the individualistic prospector and promoter. The contemporary gamblers on both sides of the betting tables belong in that category”.
Furthermore, the position that Nevada is an I culture is espoused by state senator Dina Titus, Democratic leader of the Senate and also a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She offers that Nevadans are notoriously antigovernment, indicating that their greatest antipathy is directed toward Washington and that they resent any mandates imposed from “inside the Beltway.” Indeed, in support of the argument, both the Sagebrush Rebellion (an effort to have the federal government return lands to state control) and a County Supremacy Movement originated in Nevada. Closer to home, Nevadans’ suspicions of government are reflected in the maintenance of a “citizen legislature” that meets for only 120 days every other year and is hamstrung by such constitutional restrictions as a requirement for a two-thirds majority vote on any new tax levy and also a term limit of twelve years service. There are also provisions for extensive direct democracy via recall and initiative procedures. Although Nevadans do cherish their ability to keep government at a minimum, Titus relates that they seldom exercise the power they have, which is also consistent with the I culture identified in Elazar’s model.
Senator Titus also points out the fact that the state has very low voter registration and turnout. In addition, partisanship is extremely weak, as many if not most voters split their tickets frequently. Pragmatic politics prevails over ideology, and libertarian values are espoused by both major parties. Finally, Titus, as did Hulse, emphasizes that Nevada’s independent attitude is reflected in a myriad of “anything goes” policies adopted over the years. Protecting personal freedoms is a priority, as she points out in policies such as the prohibition against one-party wire taps, the legalization of medical marijuana, and the existence of lawful prostitution in parts of the state. Nevada also prides itself on being the “Delaware of the West” when it comes to corporation statutes, moreover, the state has promulgated fewer environmental regulations on business than most states. “Individualism?” she asks. Where else, for example, can you build a roller coaster atop a 115-story tower next door to a wedding chapel with a drive-through window and a mechanical arm that throws rice on your windshield? Where else can you breastfeed your baby in public while carrying not one but as many concealed weapons as you desire?
The arguments that Nevada has essentially an I culture may be many, but are they necessarily conclusive?
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