The moralistic political culture that developed among the Puritans who settled the New England colonies in the seventeenth century viewed government as a means to improve society and promote the general welfare. In America, they intended to create a “city on a hill,” as the Puritan leader John Winthrop put it, so that the world could see their righteousness.
New England reflected the Puritan culture, promoting power as a means of improving society in the same way that the Puritans had embraced a lifestyle of pious, sanctified action. As generations passed, settlers continued westward across the northern border of the United States. Immigrants from northern Europe and from Scandinavian countries shared Puritan values and joined them as they continued through the northern Midwest and finally along the West Coast.
A moralistic political culture, citizens expect their elected officials to be honest and to put the needs of the people they serve before their own interests. This culture positively influences the political process by believing that they are working to improve their community rather than financially profit from their service. They would embrace the idea of bigger government and the creation of new programs to address societal problems.
Citizens are expected to be politically engaged and participate. In this society, citizens would gladly donate their time and resources to elections, and it would be their duty to turn out to vote. According to Elazar, there are two reasons for this. First, states should make it easy for citizens to register to vote and then actually vote because it was the right thing to do. Second, they expected the elections to be contested with competition in each of the races. Therefore, it was an honor to participate and it was a worthy effort. Elazar also believed that in a moralistic culture, those who ran for public office would do so because of their qualifications, not party loyalty. They would certainly be more open to third parties. Community support was more important than party support.
Individualistic political culture
According to Elazar, an individualistic political culture originated with settlers from non-Puritan England and Germany. The first settlements were in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey eventually spreading to the middle part of the United States from Ohio right up to Wyoming. As the name suggests, government in this culture is supposed to address issues that are important to us as individuals. Government is expected to provide needed services, and in return, officials are compensated for their efforts. It is no longer about serving the community as a whole, but about satisfying the interests of individuals. Once the government receives support from the electorate, they serve the needs of those individuals.
In this culture, citizens will only participate and engage if they have a vested interest or if they expect some sort of benefit from the government. Many times, citizens expect some type of reward, such as the appointment of political patronage, perhaps even with financial compensation. Politics is not seen as a noble profession as in a moralistic culture. Citizens are much more tolerant of corruption in their political leaders in this culture. They do not necessarily look for candidates with great ideas, but only remain loyal to candidates with the same party affiliation as themselves. Candidates running for political office outside the mainstream political parties have a hard time finding success in this individualistic environment.