Do Nations have Missions? American Identity*

The editors of Organisational and Social Dynamics recognise that 2024 is a significant year for presidential elections in several countries, including South Africa, Mexico, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, among other elections. Edward Shapiro published an article in our journal in 2003, examining the issues of polarisation and identity related to the US presidential elections of 1996 and 2000 that have only grown in relevance to our current political climate. Dr Shapiro revised the original article as a chapter in his book Finding a Place to Stand . We provide it here with permission from the publisher.

While institutional role and mission and the development of an interpretive stance are the first contexts for social interpretation, the next step toward finding the citizen voice requires focusing within the boundaries of nations. Searching for those boundaries raises the question about whether there is such a thing as a national identity and a national mission that addresses the origins and history of its citizens and connects to the needs of the global society. The tumultuous politics of the last two decades, the forming and dissolution of international collectives, and the recent pull toward nationalism has brought that question to the fore in the United States.

Let's go back a bit. During the chaotic presidential election of 2000 between George Bush and Al Gore, Americans witnessed a remarkably precise political polarisation and an unprecedented politicisation of the judiciary to solve a political impasse. In addition, there appeared to be systematic interference with voting in ethnic and lower income areas. The split vote in that year divided the country in half. For the first time, the political map presented on newscasts lucidly illustrated this political division by delineating in red the Republican centre of the country and, in blue, the Democratic coastlines. In this map, I saw a split national identity where America's outer boundaries (at