>These suggestions fall under one of the many legitimate usages of the
>word "ideology." I was using it in another sense however -- in the sense
>of the more or less spontaneous common sense understanding of reality
>(appearances). The Constitution, and even more the Federalist Papers,
>are apt to be cited by relatively sophisticated, or at least
>self-conscious, efforts to define "What America Means" explicitly.
You're probably right about the Federalist Papers, but I don't think so about the Contitution. It's often quite explicitly cited as the instrument of unity in a society where there is no "nation" in the blood sense. (Not, of course, that the blood sense is always factually true, or that it deserves any respect. Though I recall that nativists were cheered a few years back when then California governor Pete Wilson talked about denying U.S. citizenship to the children of Mexican immigrants born here - they were thrilled that he wanted to replace a birthplace conception of citizenship with a bloodline one.) Relatively unsophisticated sorts go on all the time about The Constitution; have you never had an argument with a Middle American conservative who, for example, denounces any federal role in education because one wasn't specified in the sacred text?
And, naturalized citizens take this oath:
>I hereby declare, on oath,
>that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and
>fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of
>whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;
>that I will support and defend the Constitution and the laws of the
>United States of America against all enemies, foreign and
>domestic;
>that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
>that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by
>the law;
>that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the
>United States when required by the law;
>that I will perform work of national importance under civilian
>direction when required by the law; and
>that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or
>purpose of evasion; so help me God.
...declaring their loyalty not to their fellow citizens or principles of justice and equality, but to "the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America."
Doug