HISTORY AND CULTURE:
Nine Traits That Make Americans American*

By Alex Inkeles

De Tocqueville and other observers marveled at the traits that made Americans different from other peoples. Hoover fellow Alex Inkeles brings the techniques of modern sociology to bear on nine traits that still set us apart.

*This article is available only in the print edition of the Hoover Digest. Click here to request a free issue.

Alex Inkeles is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also a professor of sociology and, by courtesy, of education (emeritus) at Stanford University.