Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History
by Rogers M. Smith
In Smith’s view America offers “ascriptive citizenship”, which means that access to rights, power and privileges are determined by race, gender, ethnicity and religion.
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“Rogers Smith argues that at the heart of American political culture, since even before the founding, there have been two warring ideals. One is the ideal of an egalitarian society.There is also the opposing ideal that American political culture has as its basis civic inequality.” Read more...
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