Title: Political Symbols and American Exceptionalism
Abstract: Symbols pervade the lives of everyone. Logos, slogans, catchphrases, branding, etc. all serve as a kind of shorthand by which people can associate themselves with their communities, countries, and the historical tapestry of which they are a part. Symbols are particularly prevalent in the realm of politics and political history. Governments have a vested interest in preserving the identity and continuation of their state. One of the most common ways of doing so is to create a national myth to which all citizens can subscribe. The more predestined-seeming the myth is, the more uncomplicated by a particular ideology it is, the more powerful it is. Students of general semantics are well aware of the concept of time-binding and how it allows human societies to enjoy material progress in the spheres of the social, economic, scientific, etc. By teaching successive generations about what has already been learned by their forebears, societies can move ever forward. It is interesting to consider the concept of time-binding in the specific case of sociopolitical myth-making. It is that specific case that is at the core of this essay. It is worthwhile to develop a deeper understanding of how the political myths we accept as given texture our understanding of the government and society of which we are a part. There is perhaps no contemporary nation-state quite so preoccupied with its political myths as the United States. When asked to imagine the birthplace of our contemporary republican democracy, most educated Americans point to the democratic traditions of ancient Athens, and to the institutions and offices of the Roman Republic. These illustrious forebears offered many of the institutional concepts that did inform the founding fathers of the United States. That much is beyond dispute. They might well also mention the Magna Carta. Signed by King John of England at the vigorous prompting of his barons, it was far from a republican document, let alone a democratic one. Yet it formally constituted a limited relationship between ruler and subjects. A line is drawn through history showing the unbroken thread of liberty and limited government, from Greece to Rome to Britain, and finally to the United States where it reached its full and final flowering in republican splendor. Yet Athens was destroyed, and its democracy with it, centuries before the birth of Christ, and the Roman Republic succumbed to imperial despotism in 27 BC. These shining examples may have continued to bum as embers of remembrance long after their practical extinction, thanks to a political and intellectual class dedicated to the preservation of ancient documents and knowledge, but while preserving the records, the successor states of both Athens and Rome were neither democratic nor republican in character. For its part, the Magna Carta is frequently considered to be a tentative rekindling of the concepts of limited government and representation. The Magna Carta is still thought of as the nucleus of the British constitution. It represents a starting point out of which arose parliamentary primacy and eventual parliamentary democracy. The American national myth is thus somewhat tainted by a myopic view of history and of the development of its democratic and republican institutions. The events as they played out were far messier than they are frequently perceived and portrayed. The institutions that are venerated by so many Americans have a more mixed pedigree than they might be willing to stomach. Indeed, perhaps one of the oldest misconceptions of that revolutionary period involves the notion that the republican experiment was born out of some newfound discovery and appreciation for individual liberty. In fact, it was the concept of the natural and constitutionally guaranteed Rights of Englishmen, and their perceived impugning by taxation without appropriate representation, that spurred the American colonists first to demand redress, and then to open revolt. …
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 3
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