The Sources of American Exceptionalism

If you do not believe that the United States is an exceptional nation, then you can still go on to lead a very productive, fulfilling life. Promotions, opportunities to show initiative, and the respect of your peers are still attainable goals. This is not true, however, if you aspire to have a career as a United States politician. Presidential elections always at some point have a who-thinks-America-is-more-exceptional debate, particularly on the topic of foreign policy.

America is indeed an exceptional nation; it was the world’s first modern democracy and is still a model liberal society. Having said that, the conventional thinking about America’s exceptional character—capitalism, individualism, pluralism, rags-to-riches opportunism, etc.—misses some important inputs that have created the exceptional nation we all love. America is exceptional for reasons other than just its political institutions and ideology. Two important, often overlooked, factors have been instrumental in the United States’ ability to thrive.

First, America has been blessed with the most favorable geographic location of any country in history. Flanked on its east and west by two vast oceans and sandwiched between two friendly (and much less powerful) neighbors, the United States has not had to seriously worry about a challenge to its hemispheric hegemony for a long, long time. Unlike France, Germany, Russia, or Great Britain, the United States has never faced an existential threat on its own continent.

Additionally, the tract of territory in central North America that came to be known as the United States of America is resource abundant and highly interconnected by an interstate river-highway system that connects major coastal harbor cities like Houston, New Orleans, and New York City to places far inland. It just so happens that liberal democracy caught on here; however, one could easily imagine a more hostile brand of politics or belligerent nationalism gaining a frightening foothold here.

Second, U.S. political institutions enjoy a remarkable degree of legitimacy in the eyes of the public which has allowed successive presidents to essentially take for granted their right to govern. Unlike France, Germany, and Russia which all underwent revolutions and crises of legitimacy at many points in their history, the United States’ domestic political institutions never have (Daniel Day-Lewis and Stephen Speilberg will present a notable exception this Friday in a theater near you). For example, despite the partisanship and controversy of the 2000 election, when the Democrats found out they lost, they continued abiding by U.S. laws. More significantly, in 1800, the first real test of the American experiment, a defeated John Adams simply went home after an appallingly partisan presidential campaign. Thus, not only do we have the model liberal system of government, we also have a system that the citizens respect, despite the high frequency of controversial election results.

We are an exceptional nation, but that is only partly the result of our political character. Far more important to our nation’s success has been our geography and governing bodies’ legitimacy in the eyes of the domestic public. If there was an NFL draft type selection process for where to start a country, the #1 pick would be the middle of North America; if a world leader could ask for one thing that could be assumed and taken for granted, it would be to have a public that accepts the legitimacy of the country’s governing institutions. America has both.