Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

226 SPECIALPROVIDENCE

nianismislessanintellectualorpoliticalmovementthanitis anexpres-
sionofthesocial,cultural,andreligiousvaluesofa largeportionofthe
Americanpublic.Jacksonianismisdoublyobscurebecauseithappens
toberootedinoneoftheportionsofthepublicleastrepresentedinthe
mediaandtheprofessoriat.JacksonianAmericais a folk community
witha strongsenseofcommonvaluesandcommondestiny,periodically
ledbyintellectuallybrilliantmenlikeJacksonhimself.Itisneitheran
ideologynora self-consciousmovementwitha clearhistoricaldirection
orpoliticaltableoforganization.Nevertheless,JacksonianAmericahas
produced,andlookslikelytocontinuetoproduce,onepoliticalleader
andmovementafteranother,anditis likelytocontinuetoenjoymajor
influenceoverbothforeignanddomesticpolicyintheUnitedStatesin
theforeseeablefuture.

TheJacksonianFolkCommunity

Itis notfashionable todayto thinkoftheAmerican nationas a

folkcommunityboundtogetherbydeepculturalandethnicties.Believ-

ersina multiculturalUnitedStatesattackthisideafromonedirection,

butconservativestoohavea tendencytotalkabouttheUnitedStates

asa nationbasedonideologyratherthanethnicity.FormerBritishprime

ministerMargaretThatcher,amongothers,hassaid thatthe United

Statesisuniquebecauseitis basedonanidearatherthan,likeother

nations,onacommunityofnationalexperience. Thecontinuingand

growingvitalityoftheJacksoniantraditionis,forbetterorworse,living

proofthatsheisatleastpartlywrong.

ItiscertainlytruethatnotallAmericansfeelthemselvestobepartof

a folkcommunitythatisChristian(ifnotProtestant)inreligiousback-

ground,ifnotalwayspractice;Europeaninorigin-butlargelywithout

strongtiestoa specificcountryotherthantheUnitedStates-andself-

identifiedwithAmericansocietyfromthecolonialerauntiltoday.Many

Americansdonotqualify,anddonotwanttoqualify,formembershipin

suchacommunityoffeelingandculture.ManyotherAmericansdo,

however,andlivingastheydoincommunitieswheretheoverwhelming

majorityoftheirfriendsandassociatessharethatsenseofidentification,

theynaturallyifperhapsunreflectivelyassumethatthisex-European,

Christian,butaboveallAmerican"folk"is a nation,liketheFrench,the

English,ortheGreeks.