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Political culture characterizes a particular society. Thus, taking into account the specificity of national character and mentality of people, it is possible to talk about the identity of political cultures of different countries. Unlike crashing integral nationalism of the French Republic, the United States is characterized by a different concept of civic identity. For example, national identity in American society is based on democratic values and the concept of active citizenship. The political culture of the United States can be characterized as a construct of national identity that was generated by a shared history and commitment to democratic values. Traditions, social institutions, and religions have formed the U.S. character and way of life. The United States is not a typical example of the formation of the Western mentality, reflected in European nationalism and national identity, since the U.S. history is the history of immigration. American national culture should be considered as an element of social culture of multiethnic society. National identity and national culture of the United States evolved from values of Anglo-Saxon culture. It should be noted that the American experience of nation-building and national identity of the U.S. citizens have been based on the principle of political and civil equality despite long-term preservation of slavery and ethnic segregation as state many critical essay samples . Therefore, American national and political culture, as well as its values were considered as ethnically anonymous, being based on a democratic concept of active citizenship. Public opinion is highly dependent on stereotypes that are rooted in society. In particular, prejudice affected the doctrine of the Supreme Court against minorities. In the 19th century, the Supreme Court of the United States supported racial segregation. A similar decision of the Court was made in the case of Homer Plessy, who went in the railway carriage, which was reserved for white passengers. 1960-1990-ies were marked by significant activity of the Supreme Court in the promotion of political, civil, social, economic, religious and ethnic rights of (racial) minorities in order to settle social and political conflicts of American society. However, the problems of the legal intervention of the Supreme Court in the socio-political practice of the United States were identified. Active interventionism of the Supreme Court called opposition of conservative groups, and incited further debate regarding not only legal, but also valuable norms of American society. Political culture of the United States, as well as the concept of national identity of its citizens comply with the liberal conception of the nation as a sum of individuals, who enjoy equal rights and conditionally equal opportunities. Hence, it enables them to realize their own interests, which do not diminish the dignity and humanity of other interested groups and individuals. According to the American liberal conception of democracy, the main goal of liberal democracy is providing assurance of compliance with individual rights, fair electoral process, and effective control over their conduct. Thus, the essence of the American concept of democracy is ensuring conditions for fair competition, as well as a balance between the views and ideologies of social groups and ethnic communities. According to this concept, the American public has always been pluralistic. The policy is the result of conflicts within each social group. Pluralistic approach represents the state as the arena in which different social groups compete for allocation of resources. This competition directs the vector of forces, which come from different social groups. Thus, this approach represents American society as highly modernized one, wherein the government has separated from society and became only its tool. However, an exaggeration of group identification of the population and inequality of political influence of various social pressure groups are inherent to this type of democracy in the United States. The foundations of modern U.S. immigration policy were formed in 1965, when a new law on immigration and citizenship (The Immigration and Nationality Act) was adopted. This law, which replaced the Immigration Act of 1924, limited the number of immigrants from any country to 2% of the compatriots, who lived in accordance with the census of 1890. It modernized and transformed preferences of some immigrant groups. The additional categories of immigrants, new priorities that were related to employment and participation of new immigrants were set in the law. Thus, in the 1990s, immigration law and the U.S. immigration policy set pragmatic goals for maintaining a balance between business interests and socio-political processes. As a result, the society became different, more tolerant. In modern society, tolerance is the highest human value, which, in practice, means the application of the principle of tolerance in all spheres of social relations. According to the concept of moral absolutism, moral standards are independent of individual interests, ethnic communities and standards, which prevail in the concept of ethnocentrism as striving of particular ethnic groups to consider their natural culture as the best criterion for evaluation of other cultures. However, the idea of moral absolutism was changed by the concept of moral relativism, according to which moral standards and values are always relative, varying from culture to culture and being determined by the traditions and customs of ethnic communities. The distinctive features of this system are ideological views or ideological pluralism, which is characteristic of the post-ideological society, as well as multicultural education and affordability of saving individual sets of identities (national, ethnic, religious, and regional) in the process of education. Previously, many immigrants merged into new American people and were attached to the American democratic, social and cultural values. The concept of the melting pot has created the illusion of a subsequent Americanization of immigrants. Currently, the United States is increasingly described not as a melting pot, but as multi-layer cake or cultural mosaic. Moreover, it is very common concept of cultural pluralism. Modern society of the United States is faced with a change in racial and ethnic composition of the American population, as well as the gradual disintegration of the Anglo-Saxon culture as the basis of national identity and solidarity. These trends highlight the need to review and re-evaluate American exceptionalism, patriotism and other components of traditional Americanism. Multiculturalism in the U.S. politics had emerged in order to challenge liberalism as a solution for dealing with ethnic diversity. It should also be noted that the policy of multiculturalism is not always able to bring together the various ethnic communities’ outlook, as it is unable to create an American national identity that is adequate in terms of the 21st century. Moreover, scrappy individuality of American society, where ethnic identities dominate, can turn the American nation into amalgamation of ethnic groups and communities that have no common socio-cultural framework for mutually beneficial cooperation. Thus, the spread of the concept of multiculturalism in the United States affected the recognition of the right to maintain and develop their ethnic culture and traditions. The basis of the concept of multiculturalism in the United States has been the recognition of specific role of each ethnic group in American history, culture and socio-political life. The idea of multiculturalism is based on the premise that immigrants or ethnic groups make up the specific ethnic and cultural groups, or minorities. The practical implementation of multiculturalism contributes to the convergence of various communities and ethnic groups. The modern concept of multiculturalism involves the preservation and development of ethnic subcultures, and reveals the absence of intention to implement cultural assimilation. To promote the concept of multiculturalism, higher education institutions in the USA provide courses and seminars on the history and culture of African Americans, American Indians and others. However, the current policy of the U.S. federal government increasingly encourages the exploration of the English language as a mean of integration into American society by children from South-East Asia at the expense of educational bilingual programs. Such courses can be held in Spanish or minority languages of Southeast Asia. Within the concept of multiculturalism, many ethnic groups impose the application of legal rules against discriminatory restrictions. According to this concept, the United States is an assemblage of racially or ethnically defined subcultures, all of which have equal value, and none of which can claim a privileged position. It is essential to maintain strong and deep identification aspects, which knitted together the American nation and the state as a community of former immigrants. Thus, it is necessary not only to demonstrate and to respect cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups, but also to create conditions for the formation of the American national identity, reflecting the peculiarities of American society. However, the disadvantage of this concept manifests itself in the inability to provide any meaningful social alternative to multiculturalism because of the tendency of each ethnic group of America to pursue happiness and prosperity autonomously and even separately. The problem consists not in the selfish ambitions of some leaders and even ethnic minority communities, but in mechanistic understanding of liberalism in society as a sum of individuals, who pursue private and selfish, though legitimate interests. Moreover, socio-economic, political and legal institutions, which are functioning in a society that is based on the principles of economic and political liberalism, encourage the privileged groups to transform their hegemonic socio-economic influence into a political and legal power. The impact of American culture is often more clear and tangible in everyday life, rather than the influence of other factors of political, economic, and military plans. The skilful combination of these instruments is interconnected, pursuing a common ultimate goal to protect the national interests of the United States and preserve their global leadership. The process of self-identification of a U.S. citizen at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century was exposed to a period of crisis and stagnation. It happened due to inability of growth of ethnic tensions in American society and failure of conflicting parties as well as government agencies to come to the substantive agreement on policy issues of multiculturalism and national identity. The policy of multiculturalism contributes to the promotion of unhealthy competition between different communities and prevents social integration on the basis of valid values. Thus, the main features of the United States’ political culture include individualism, self-reliance, idea of democracy as equality of opportunity, understanding of freedom as the absence of external coercion, and protection of ideas of freedom.

Hello, I know students who cheat and don't like to learn but they are obsessed with what looks good in terms of extracurriculars. If this is the case were colleges accept these people that don't always pass ap tests or cheat but have a diverse activity list that is mostly not genuine. then our future with this generation is toast! Please help. Thanks! I didn't find the right solution from the Internet. References:https://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/2047851-are-extracurriculars-now-more-valued.html Brand Promotion Video

I know that a huge problem as a student is getting a healthy amount of sleep. Getting enough sleep is a huge necessity as a high schooler and it can impact your grades and behavior. Here are some tips from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/ about how to get enough sleep as a teen. Get adequate sleep. Research tells us that teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep on average each night to be fully alert during the day. This amount of sleep time is often difficult for teens to get due to their early school start time, after-school activities, homework demands, and possibly even work or social schedules for older teens. So it is not surprising that most teens are sleep deprived and often try to catch up on missed sleep on the weekend. A better option for teens is to keep a regular sleep-wake schedule on weekdays as well as on the weekends, not varying the schedule by more than 1 hour. Rejuvenate with a midday snooze. Naps are okay if your teen wants or likes to take them. However, naps should be limited to no more than 20-30 minutes and should be taken in the early afternoon only. Napping too long or too late in the afternoon makes it difficult to fall asleep at bedtime. Get regular exercise. Exercise, 30 to 60 minutes, at least four times a week, will lead to better fitness and better sleep. The only caution about exercise is to not do it within 2-3 hours of bedtime as this is a time when the body needs to be winding down for sleep. Limit caffeine intake. Caffeine can disrupt sleep, so consumption of caffeine-containing products should be avoided in the evening. Be aware, aside from the more obvious colas and coffee, caffeine-containing products include iced tea, some clear non-cola pops, energy drinks and chocolates. Don't go to bed hungry. Make sure your teen doesn't go to bed hungry. Provide a light snack such as a glass of milk, a piece of fruit, cereal and milk or crackers. Avoid feeding a heavy meal within 1 to 2 hours of bedtime, as this can interfere with sleep. Helping your teen maintain a proper diet will aid in his or her overall health. Have your teen eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grain cereals and breads, rice, pasta, fish and poultry. Breakfast should not be skipped. Avoid fried foods and limit the intake of fats. Don't smoke and avoid alcohol. Nicotine is also a stimulant and can disturb sleep. Every effort should be made not to smoke at all – for overall health reasons – but if your teen does smoke, he or she should not smoke within an hour or so of bedtime. Use of alcohol, sleeping pills, or other over-the-counter sleep aids all may disrupt sleep. See your doctor if your teen is using these products to help with sleep. Include daily "winding-down" time. Have your teen set aside up to 1 hour of quiet time before bedtime every night. He or she should use this time for calm and enjoyable activities, such as listening to quiet music, reading a book, or functions that let the mind and body relax. TV watching, computer gaming, any screen time (mobile devices), exercising, or heavy studying should not be part of quiet time. The last several minutes of quiet time activity may take place in the room where your teen sleeps. The bed however, should be used only for sleeping so that firm associations of bed and sleep can be built up in the mind. Make the bedroom an inviting, relaxing environment. Your teen's bedroom should be quiet, comfortable (< 75° F), and dark. A teen's bedroom should be clean, uncluttered and relaxing. This will ensure your teen a better night's sleep and improved daytime performance. Again, the bed itself should only be used for sleep– not as a place to read, study or play. Maintain a regular wake up time. Your teen's bedtime and wake up time should be about the same every day of the week, regardless if it is a school day or not. A consistent wake up time sets the stage for the rest of the day and allows adequate sleep pressure to build up by late evening to allow for quicker sleep onset. It keeps your teen's biological clock organized and ensures he or she does not live as if "jet-lagged" all week long. Source: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/childrens-hospital/health-info/diseases-conditions/hic_sleep_in_your_babys_first_year/hic_Sleep_Tips_for_Teenagers