Most countries have reigning national myths of one sort or another, and ours has traditionally been one of political and social innovation. Since its origin, America has provided the idealized image of a largely empty continent—a blank slate—in which many millions of settlers and immigrants from the Old World could reinvent themselves and build a new society, creating their own economic opportunities once freed from the shackles of rigid tradition or social caste.

This narrative wasn’t true for everybody. And today, the Western frontier has been closed for over a century, and the U.S. is a heavily developed nation, possessing the world’s third largest population. But much of that sense of psychological openness and opportunity still exists, at least in some forms. Combined with huge existing advantages—being home to Silicon Valley, Hollywood, and many of the world’s most prestigious universities—the U.S. certainly still attracts the energetic, the ambitious, and the dissatisfied, which continues the cycle of innovation.

Throughout most of the world today, there is a perception that four global companies dominate the hardware and software technologies that are creating the future: Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon. It is hardly a coincidence that all four are American, and three of them were created in the heart of Silicon Valley, perhaps the reigning symbol of American innovation.

As an American living and working in Europe, I frequently notice cultural differences that seem to underscore the so-called American spirit of innovation: our relentless obsession with the future, as opposed to the calming European appreciation of the present; America’s ever-present pressure to do things faster and cheaper, as opposed to the enlightened European respect for high-quality craftsmanship and labor rights.

These are what I like to call “expat goggles” observations—admittedly anecdotal, and probably cliché. While they’re fun to point out, they’re also problematic, because they play into a narrative about the roots of American innovation that hinges on the elusive element of chance: Whenever our country’s rugged individualism happens to blend with pure genius, something amazing is invented.

But American innovation is not simply serendipitous. Instead, it’s planned for and driven, at least partially, by an aspect of our culture considered to be far more mundane (at best) and often detrimental to innovation (at worst): the U.S. government.

As my former colleagues and I discovered in a 2010 report that looked at the historical role of the state in American innovation, many of the technologies we love today, like our iPhones, have the federal government’s fingerprints all over them, in the form of funding and partnerships between the public and private sectors. Radiotelephony, microprocessors, GPS—those all arose out of government-funded efforts. If we look back on the technological wonders that constitute our national railroad system, the interstate highways, the aviation industry, biomedical advances, and, yes, the World Wide Web, it becomes clear (no expat goggles needed) that the federal government’s role in American innovation is a central part of the culture that allows relentless garage tinkerers from New York City to Silicon Valley to believe they can change the world.

The United States has been a hotbed of innovation since its founding. From the 18th century to today, waves of immigration have brought people and ideas into close contact. The resulting cross-pollination has produced an American style of innovation unlike others around the world. After World War II, the United States took a global lead in public and private spending on research and development, with the government often also acting as the initial large purchaser for still-experimental inventions in electronics, telecommunications, and biomedicine. At the same time, a large middle class emerged that was able to buy—and soon demanded—innovative goods and services. Over this history, a distinctive culture developed, characterized by high tolerance of failures, structural supports for intellectual property, financial backing ranging from venture capital to public stock offerings, and a drive for novelty across the visual arts, music, food, and technology.

Today, the tools and opportunities to invent and participate in innovation are exploding. Worldwide, within five years, some 5 billion additional people will be able to afford cell phones—and all the research and idea-exchange capabilities that come with them. While the United States will continue to support and value innovation, significant changes are afoot. China and India are investing considerable resources in building innovation hubs, and new configurations of innovation networks are emerging with different ways of supporting and sustaining innovation cultures. For the United States, continuing to serve as the originator for future innovation will require even greater openness to new ideas and people, and a willingness to invest public funds in big initiatives that produce innovative offshoots.