Answer

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          Differences between a Public and a Culture

          Public and culture are dominant themes in understanding society. Often, the two are interconnected as the resident public influences culture. Despite this, they are different as they refer to varying factors.

          Guth and Marsh (2016) explain the difference in principle between a public and a culture. Ideally, a public refers to groups of individual persons in association with civic affairs. Therefore, whereas anyone can be part of a public, the definition is centred on the underlying civic office. For instance, referring to everyone as the public is right but ambiguous as compared to calling them the American public. On the other hand, culture is an inclusive term comprising learned beliefs and behaviours that characterize a particular group of people. As per Guth and Marsh (2016), culture is the people’s ideals, beliefs, and attitudes. Therefore, societal norms and factors such as family structure, entertainment preferences, and religion are part of culture. Individuals of the same cultural orientation may have a varying origin, history, and appearance. However, having similar cultural practices unites them into becoming a single group. As such, it is the culture that groups people.

          The American population is made up of diverse groups of people. As such, different cultures are present in the nation. Therefore, even though the term ‘American culture’ is used to depict behaviours of most US citizens, it would be inappropriate to say that the United States is all one culture. Primarily, the American public has different religious beliefs, preferences in arts, and ethos, which divides them along cultural lines. Similarly, language, which could act as a unifying element, varies. For instance, whereas over 95% of Americans speak English, it is not the official language at the federal level as the State of New Mexico and Puerto Rico use Spanish.