America's Crisis of Values: Reality and Perception

About the Book

Is America bitterly divided? Has America lost its traditional values? Many politicians and religious leaders believe so, as do the majority of Americans, based on public opinion polls taken over the past several years. But is this crisis of values real? This book explores the moral terrain of America today, analyzing the widely held perception that the nation is in moral decline. It looks at the question from a variety of angles, examining traditional values, secular values, religious values, family values, economic values, and others. Using unique data from the World Values Surveys, the largest systematic attempt ever made to document attitudes, values, and beliefs around the world, this book systematically evaluates the perceived crisis of values by comparing America's values with those of over 60 other nations. The results are surprising. The evidence shows overwhelmingly that America has not lost its traditional values, that the nation compares favorably with most other societies, and that the culture war is largely a myth. The gap between reality and perception does not represent mass ignorance of the facts or an overblown moral panic, Baker contends.Rather, the widespread perception of a crisis of values is a real and legitimate interpretation of life in a society that is in the middle of a fundamental transformation and that contains growing cultural contradictions. Instead of posing a problem, the author argues, this crisis rhetoric serves the valuable social function of reminding us of what it means to be American. As such, it preserves the ideological foundation of the nation.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xv Chapter One: A Question of Values 1 The Widespread Perception of Crisis 2 Three Ways to Think About a Crisis of Values--Loss, Unfavorable Comparison, and Division 6 Threats to America as an Imagined Community 10 Conclusion 13 Chapter Two: America's Values in Global Context 17 Two Dimensions of Cultural Variation and Change 18 Global Cultural Maps 22 Loss of Traditional Values 35 Unfavorable Comparisons with Other Societies 38 Why Have Some Values Changed and Others Stayed the Same? 42 Conclusion 61 Chapter Three: Culture War 64 The Culture War Thesis 65 The Polarization of Americans 73 Linkage of the Hierarchy of Beliefs 85 The Connection between Social Capital and Moral Visions 95 Is There an American Culture War--Could There Be? 103 Conclusion 107 Chapter Four: Dynamics of Crisis 110 Tides of American History 112 An Interpretation of the Dynamics of Crisis 134 Conclusion 156 Chapter Five: The Search for Meaning 159 Mixed Systems, Cultural Contradictions, and Cognitive Dissonance 161 Rising Spirituality and the "New Age" 166 The Special Role of Absolutism in America 173 An Integration of Opposites 180 Summary of Key Findings 183 Appendix A: World Values Surveys 189 Appendix B: Statistical Tables 197 Notes 251 Index 299

About the Author :

Wayne E. Baker is Professor of Management and Organizations and Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan, where he is also Faculty Associate at the Institute for Social Research, and Faculty Associate at the Nonprofit and Public Management Center.

Review :
"[T]he arrival of Wayne Baker's important book ... is a welcome development... By Baker's account, the perceived crisis of values is unlikely to disappear any time soon. One can only hope that pundits and politicians will take some time off from waging culture war to read America's Crisis of Values."--David Callahan, Political Science Quarterly "Anyone concerned about American values in the larger world will be impressed by the elegance and clarity with which Baker treats this complex subject."--Choice "Is America experiencing a crisis of values, as popular media and politics claim? In a word: no. Wayne Baker ... give[s] the most comprehensive empirical analysis of the topic to date."--Contemporary Sociology "Wayne E. Baker tries to explain why a gap has opened between the public perception that the U.S. is sharply divided and the empirical reality that it is not... America's Crisis of Values is an important book that ought to be included in any seminar designed to provide background reading for our elected politicians."--Alan Wolfe, Christian Century "Wayne Baker has produced a thoughtful and engaging work. Scholars interested in public opinion, values, and the discourse surrounding the culture wars in the United States should read America's Crisis of Values."--James A. McCann, Perspectives on Politics [A] deeply provocative book. It raises many questions for further investigation, and it will reward careful study."--Barry Schwartz, American Journal of Sociology