Political culture is the sum of the sum of the fundamental values, sentiments and knowledge that give form and substance to political processes focusing on how values, sentiments and knowledge influence politics within the state.
2. content
1. The civic culture
2. Political trust and social capital
3. Post materialism
4. Political culture in new democracies
5. Political culture in authoritarian states
6. Elite pollical cultural
7. Political socialization
8. Islam and the west
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3. Introduction
◦Political culture is the sum of the sum of the fundamental
values, sentiments and knowledge that give form and
substance to political processes focusing on how values,
sentiments and knowledge influence politics within the
state.
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4. 1- The civic culture
◦ Civic culture is about the political and social attitudes which lead to the success of democracy
◦ Parochial culture, participant culture, and subject culture are the form of civic culture which
are the cause of stable democracy
◦ The study of almond and Verba on the civic culture (1959-60) in the USA, Britain, West
Germany, Italy, Mexico to find out the political culture in a liberal democracy.
◦ Three pure types of political culture identified: the parochial, subject and participant.
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5. The civic culture
- Parochial political culture: citizens are not clearly aware of the existence of the central government, not
affected by national decisions made by central government.
Ex: remote tribes, isolated rural communities or in areas where govt. is remote from people’s lives.
- Subject political culture: citizens see themselves not as participants in the political process but as subject
of the government, as living under a dictatorship; those who remain distant from politics even though
they recognize govt.’s impact on lives
- Participant political culture: citizens believe they can contribute to the system and they are affected by it.
Participant altitude- model citizens of a stable democracy
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6. The civic culture
◦ However, Almond and verba argued that the most stable democracy occur in societies blending
different/,mix cultures- civic culture; many citizens are active, minority are passive (parochial,
subject) provides stability to the system.
Participants not involves as to refuse decisions they disagree
Allow citizens influence while retaining flexibility for the governing elite.
E.g. US and UK, citizens felt they could influence govt, but often chose not to do so, giving govt,
ability to move quickly.
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7. 2- Political trust and social capital
◦ Political trust: the public confidence in the performance of the
government or democratic institutions.
◦ Social capital: refers to the culture of trust and cooperation which
makes collective action possible and effective.
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8. Political trust and social capital
◦ Democracy command widespread acceptance as an ideal, but citizens often
become more critical of the working of the core institutions of representative
democracy
- US, UK decline of trust in govt., due to specific events such as Vietnam war,
9/11 attack, economic crisis, oil crisis
- But in a number of European democracies, the public places more trust in the
institutions of law and order (the military, police) than the agencies of
representation (parties).
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9. Political trust and social capital
◦ What are the consequences of falling confidence in political institutions?
- According to Putnam, the culture of trust produces collective action, enabling projects to be
initiated, where society with mutual suspicion is impossible
- The successful regions/ countries have a positive political culture: a traditional of trust and
cooperation resulting in high levels of social capital
- This reflects to historical events- the past influence the present; e.g. the least success
successful experienced long history of feudal, foreign, bureaucratic and authoritarian rule
rather than the tradition of communal self-government.
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10. 3- Post materialism
◦ Post materialism accounts for development in political culture at both mass and elite level.
◦ Post materialism is a commitment to radical quality of life issue (such as the environment)
which can emerge, especially among the educated young, from a foundation of personal
security and material affluence.
◦ Post-materialists participate extensively in politics but they are inclined to join elite-challenging
promotional groups rather than traditional political parties.
◦ From the late 1940s to early 1970s, the Western world witnessed unprecedented economic
growth with international peace.
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11. 3- Post materialism
◦ Newly welfare states offered increased security to many Western populations against illness
and unemployment.
◦ Combining affluence, peace and security led to silent revolution in Western political cultures.
◦ From 1960s, a new generation of post-materialists emerged: young, well educated people
centered on lifestyle issue (ecology, nuclear disarmament, feminism)- give priority to self-
expression and flexible rules; while prewar generations valued order, security and fixed rules
(religion, sexual morality).
◦ The more affluent a democracy, the higher the proportion of post materialists.
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12. 4- Political culture in new democracies
◦ In new democracies, political culture offers less support to the system of govt. than in the established democracies-
unfamiliarity with new order; rulers lack authority; excessive expectations initiated by overthrow of the old rulers; public
opinion expect too much, too quickly and easily; culture is more parochial than participant
◦ Political culture in some new democracies, the successful democratic consolidation favored by economic performance
(Germany, Spain)
◦ But difficulty with post-communist and post colonial regimes to strengthen democratic commitment
- Politic leaders saw no reason to imitate Western models.
- Primitive pre-industrial economies declined rather than developed
- Authoritarian rules seemed the surest guarantee of political stability
- Weak foundations for democracy as political culture of some post-communist: antidemocratic, anti-liberal, ethnocentric (Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan); plus Russia and China as powerful neighbors.
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13. ◦ Ignoring political culture: to protect against challengers- Isolate the mass population from engagement
with government, shrinking political arena
◦ Manipulating political culture; (effective over the long term) by emphasizing its authoritarian elements in
accordance with cultural values, E.g. traditions of respect, loyalty and personal allegiances to powerful
◦ Individuals/leaders; ruler is father to the nation providing security and stability, but not democratic
accountability
◦ Seeking to transform political culture: reshape or transform the political culture of the subject by
totalitarian regimes restructure the way people think and behave- cultural revolutions.
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4- Political culture in new democracies
14. 5- Elite pollical cultural
◦ Countries with parochial or subject political culture, elite political culture is primary.
◦ Elite political culture consists of the beliefs, attitudes and ideas about politics held by those who are
closest to the centers of political power. The values of elites are more explicit, systematic and
consequential than are those of the population at large.
◦ This relates to the education of leaders
◦ The impact of elite political culture on political stability based on three dimensions:
- Elite believes in its right to rule (development, industrialization)
- Elite acts on national interest (economic interest, corruption, self-interest behavior)
- Elite accepts the rule of the game (rule stated by constitution)
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15. 7- Political socialization
◦ Political socialization is the means by which political cultures is transmitted across the generations.
◦ Political socialization is the process through which we learn about politics. It concerns the acquisition of emotions, identities
and skills as well as information. Its main dimensions are what people learn (content), when they learn it (timing and sequence)
and from whom (agents)
◦ Political socialization takes place through a variety of institutions- family, peer, group, workplace, school- by the context of
communication as its content.
◦ The three stage of socialization- early childhood, late childhood and adolescence- prepare the child for political participation in
adult political life.
◦ Adult experiences modify but rarely transform the outlook secured when young
◦ E.g. Asian child finds unconditional love and attention from the family- child respects and does not question parental authority,
leading to similar respect to political rulers later in life- Asian democracy.
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16. 8- Islam and the west
◦ According to Huntington (1996), culture based on civilizations will become the leading source of conflict
in the 21th century.
◦ The division between Islam and the West is cultural or civilizational- division between the world’s major
culture- clash of civilization.
◦ E.g. Western education is secular, concentrating on scientific knowledge and technical training; but
Muslim countries, instruction in Koran (Islam’s holy text) remain major theme of education, ill-preparing
young people for the modern world.
◦ The cause of conflict is religion- Christianity and Islam- where the civilization based
◦ Also, the cause of conflict is from the historical events: French and British colonization defeat the Arab
effort to prevent the existence of Israel, US support for Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians, and its
power into the region.
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