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According To Seymour Martin Lipset's Is America Exceptional?

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Historians across the world have pondered over the idea of American exceptionalism. In Seymour Martin Lipset’s “American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword” and Ian Tyrrell’s “Is America Exceptional?” spoke of the debated topic of American exceptionalism. Exceptionalism is an idea in which a nation does not conform to the normal ways of life and history. Historians claim America is exceptional when comparing it to other nations. Lipset discusses America as a place that is exceptional but describes how being exceptional has both positive and negative effects. While Tyrell states it is impossible to decide whether america is truly exceptional or not due to the fact that there is not enough historiological unbiased evidence.
In Lipset’s article, …show more content…

The differences between Europe and America was emphasized. But in order to understand whether America is exceptional or not it must be compared to other countries. “The history of the United States cannot be exceptional unless contrasted with other histories that conform with fixed patterns of historical development”(Tyrrell 15). This means that America can be compared with other countries unless those countries have fixed patterns of historical development. America must be compared and contrasted with other histories which have similar and fixed patterns. Ian says that the argument of exceptionalism is difficult to explain because if a nation is different from other nations then it would be difficult to compare it to such nations. Therefore, it is american exceptionalism is a heated topic. Tyrell states that all histories are different but America is believed to be the most exceptional because it has the greatest number of differences. Tyrrell states that the issue with American exceptionalism is the tendency to compare whole nations rather than make transnational connections. In order to compare America to other nations comparisons can be made in religions, social life, and the classes. The world must evolve to an international age in which we make comparisons on global connections which in the long run will be …show more content…

Although, Lipset noticed that America being exceptional was both good and bad because it was a nation which had no influence put upon it. This meant that there was more equality, less corruption, but at the same time, there were less benefits for people in need such as welfare programs, and plans for the poor. Whereas in Tyrrell’s article, Tyrrell wrote of how America can only be proven exceptional if it was compared nationally as well as internationally. Therefore when the theory of American exceptionalism is spoken of it must compare issues within the state to common issues outside

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