I felt like sharing my latest discussion post for my Comparative Public Policy class concerning American Exceptionalism. The question was whether we agree with the notion that the U.S. is exceptional and whether we believe that public policy will reinforce that concept into the future.

I absolutely believe that the United States is exceptional, not only for the ideological reasons Lipset cited, but also because of the entrepreneurial spirit that is woven throughout the business sector – and, by extension, philanthropy.

The Gross Social Expenditures, 1995 chart on p. 2 of our lecture notes stood out to me, not so much because of the low public spending in the U.S. toward social causes, but because of the exceptionally high level of private spending toward such issues. The U.S. practically triples at least five of the sample countries, nearly doubles another and is at least a third higher than the remaining three. As someone who has spent the bulk of my career in Development, that is fascinating news to read. Private philanthropy underpins American society like no other place in the world, and that is something of which I am very proud.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals reports that in 2011, private foundations in the U.S. contributed $46.9 billion, and $5.2 billion of that came from corporate foundations¹. Giving USA reports that in 2010, total charitable giving in the U.S. exceeded $290 billion². To put American generosity into perspective, $290 billion is more than the budgets of the Departments of Education, Agriculture, Veterans Affairs and State, combined³.

It seems that public policy (such as proposed increases to estate taxes) is shifting away from rewarding hard work and generosity; on the contrary, such measures penalize people for building assets that they might otherwise leave as an inheritance to their families and charitable causes. However, I do believe that the notion of American Exceptionalism will continue into the future, partly because of De Tocqueville’s observation regarding “the strength of religion in the United States,” as cited in our lecture notes. There is a spirit of individualism in the U.S., but it is coupled with a congregational sense of neighborly obligation to help the less fortunate, tax break or not.

1 – http://www.afpnet.org/Audiences/ReportsResearchDetail.cfm?itemnumber=11783

2 – http://www.nptrends.com/nonprofit-trends/giving-usa-2011-report.htm

3 – http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch