Deep-seated history, geography, law and intellectual traditions and (much under-remarked) religion, played their parts.
Her work combines, improbably, the intellectual traditions of Eastern Europe with the cultural traditions of rural Virginia.
Dr. Gordon and Dr. Dahl searched for, and failed to detect, ideological bias or even the subtler influence of the very distinct intellectual traditions of top U.S. universities.
For a country like France, with its own distinct intellectual traditions in economics, philosophy and law, such a trend is understandably galling.
A former Russian gubernia, lacking the parliamentary and intellectual traditions of its ex-Habsburg neighbours, Volyn saw a unique experiment in nation building.
But they didn't do anything with it, because centralized military bureaucracies with strong intellectual traditions aren't very good at connecting word and deed.
Dissatisfied with the intellectual traditions of the social sciences and law in German and Western universities, Weber sought to develop a scientific approach that overcame their deficiencies.
In Asia, long before the West, the respect for human dignity was written into systems of thought, and intellectual traditions upholding the concept of "demos" took root.
Of course, both these intellectual traditions are flawed, but Buchanan's attempt to combine the two together makes for a very incoherent brew.
But mostly, I'm troubled by the way the great intellectual traditions of Catholic and Protestant churches alike are withering, leaving the scholarly and religious worlds increasingly antagonistic.
What many Muslims in the west understand, and what my two students embrace, is the insight that cultural, religious or intellectual traditions are interactive and dynamic.
