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It fails to acknowledge balance and uses all arguments to the contrary to perpetuate itself. Neither the view of American exceptionalism being wholly good or wholly bad is therefore entirely realistic.
Much more realistic is perhaps Koh's view, although it still tends towards the somewhat negative side. I do agree with this author in terms of the double standard issue. However, several of the other issues appear to be an attempt to unnecessarily demonize and complicate the issue of American exceptionalism. Towards a more balanced view, it is important to weigh both the positive and negative aspects of American exceptionalism equally.
Such a view is presented by Dennis Phillips (2), who accurately notes that "a balanced approach to the study of American exceptionalism is easily distorted by assumptions of superiority." Indeed such assumptions lie at the heart of many of the problematic views mentioned above. As such, exceptionalism is viewed as synonymous with the assumption of superiority. In order to obtain balance, however, the distinction -- however fine...
Superiority is generally viewed in a negative light, and is assumed to be inaccurately based upon only the positive achievements of the past, as in the case of Bromund. Such critics use the idea of exceptionalism to substantiate their claims to superiority.
It is the same assumption that influences the solely negative view of exceptionalism. The assumption of superiority is viewed as essentially negative by antagonists to this ideal, and therefore attacked as synonymous to exceptionalism.
A more balanced view however views both the positive and negative aspects of exceptionalism as existing side by side. Exceptionalism can be distinguished to mean that the nation is different from all others. Indeed, this is true and does not appear to be disputed by either opponents or proponents of the good qualities of exceptionalism. However, the use of exceptionalism to promote superiority becomes problematic. This tendency is what unbalances the view of exceptionalism as either entirely good or entirely bad. Instead, as both Koh and Phillips accurately note, American exceptionalism exists as a concept and can be applied to either positive or negative ends.
When we speak of Puritanical values, however, some events in America's history seriously clash with its "pure values" or its belief that it's a world liberator. The first one was slavery. No where in the world have we witnessed just harsh case of slavery as in the United States. To this day, African-Americans have been unable to liberate themselves completely from the ugly history of slavery that had seriously marred
American Exceptionalism When the American electorate re-elected George W. Bush as their President in November 2004, the rest of the world shook its head in collective amazement. They could not understand how someone the world 'loved to hate' and who, in their opinion, had committed 'monumental blunders' in his four years in office, could be chosen by so many Americans as their leader. They need not have been surprised having been
American Exceptionalism While some believe that America is truly exceptional, others believe that it is just another country in history that has many of the same problems that other countries have. Furthermore, some people even go further towards the opposite end of the spectrum, against the idea of the U.S. being exceptional in any way, and believe that its actions and its presence are largely counterproductive among world affairs. For example,
To wit, "half of Americans deem religion very important in their lives; fewer than a quarter in Spain (22%) feel this way, and in Germany (21%), Britain (17%) and France (13%), even fewer say religion is "very important" to their lives (PEW). Fifty-three percent of Americans are more apt to agree that it is vital to believe in God prior to having good morals and values while just 33% of
This viewpoint was the justification for global colonization, the enslavement of numerous groups of indigenous people, and the massive enforcement of certain religions (such as Christianity) on different peoples throughout the world. There are a couple of interesting facts in denoting the contemporary view of this subject among the Western world. The U.S. was the only country surveyed in which more people still adhered to the belief that their
What were the primary motivations and factors that led to the U.S. shift from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries? Introduction America’s so-called “shift” from isolationism and continental expansion to imperialism by the late 19th and early 20th centuries was really nothing more than a natural evolution of America’s “Manifest Destiny.” Before the US could enter its imperial phase beginning with the Spanish-American War