American Exceptionalism: How Different Are We?

Seymour Martin Lipset is author of American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword and is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

In good ways and bad, Americans have their own ways of doing things. It's based upon an anti-state individualism that results in a litigious, but highly productive, society. This "American exceptionalism" is, however, a double-edged sword. A focus on the ends -- like getting rich -- often obscures the means, and corruption easily results. Seymour Martin Lipset discusses the enduring differences between American culture and society and the rest of the world.