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human
[Fallout] Death of Democracy and its implications for culture

In the Fallout series, the culture of the United States of America right before the Great War seems to have either returned to the 1950s (aesthetically) or been stuck there. I've seen several reasons for this; one is the much later development of the transistor restricting technological and with it, cultural development. Another is the rising influence of China--people were scared of it, and another Red Scare occurred. 

I have another reason, though. Democracy died in the USA in this timeline sometime in the 1960s-a bit later? With the development of the commonwealth system? Could the government have enforced a 50s-esque culture as a means of societal control or to rile the populace against a common enemy, in this case, China? (Similar to how Russia post-2004 in OTL uses revanchism and Soviet nostalgia?). Maybe the reason why culture has returned to the 1950s in Fallout was due to the government?
gpt
Although the military-industrial complex had a lot of sway in the government, the United States of America, even with the commonwealth system, was still a democracy, at least right up until quite close to the end. Way after the point of divergence. It still had a house and senate with elected congressmen, still had an elected president, etc, etc. We know that some of the same presidents would get elected, for that matter, in presumably similar time frames - Nixon and Reagan both, for example. 

I think the biggest cause of the cultural stagnation was the incredible levels of xenophobia and paranoia that the Fallout universe seemed to have. Everything *different* was suspect.