Question 2. The author believes that _______. ---- Unit 6-Passage 2 ----- (Para. 1) Culture cannot be simply a matter of politics, of course.Politics, after all, is concerned with influencing the institutions of the state and these are of limited use in affecting the culture. Not even the totalitarian state has been able to achieve the cultural goals it set itself; the democratic state is an even less likely agent of cultural change, and indeed, in the American tradition of democracy, it should not aim to be that. Consequently, a cultural agenda cannot be a political agenda only. It will have to be pursued in many different institutions, most importantly in the institutions of civil society. All the same, every one of the major cultural issues is also a political issue, because of the way in which the immense powers of the state have been used to promote various ideological purposes. The courts have played a quite deplorable role in this. Not surprisingly, then much of American politics in recent decades has been over the so called “social” or “values” issues, which in effect are cultural issues. That is, these issues have involved conflicts over the questions of who we are and how we are to live together. (Para. 2) The two party systems have been very unhelpful in the search for viable positions on the middle ground.Since the early nineteen seventies the Democratic party has almost completely identified itself with the agenda of the cultural Left (considerably less so with other Left positions, such as those on economic or foreign policy). Given the importance of highly organized pressure groups, especially in the primary process, the captivity of the Democratic Party to the culture of “the sixties” has been massive. The Republican picture is hardly more encouraging. An increasingly vocal segment of that party’s constituency has taken radically anti “progressive” positions on the cultural issues. And again, these groups have had an influence far beyond their numerical strength because of their strategic role in the mechanics of elections, especially on the primary level. Consequently, individuals taking less than “politically correct” positions, as defined by the respective orthodoxies, have found themselves to be pariahs in either party. It is safe to assume that both Democratic and Republican leaders have catered to these polarized groupings in a more or less cynical manner. Thus, for instance, traditionally Democratic labor officials are not very credible when they express enthusiasm for gay rights; neither are “country club” Republicans when they voice outrage over abortion or the decline of sexual morality. ---- Question 2. The author believes that _______.