**What Is Political Culture In Comparative Politics?**

Political culture in comparative politics refers to the shared beliefs, values, and attitudes that shape a nation’s political life. Compare.edu.vn offers in-depth comparisons to help you understand how these elements influence political systems worldwide. By exploring this concept, you gain valuable insights into political ideologies and governance.

1. Understanding Culture: The Foundation of Political Life

Culture, in its broadest sense, encompasses a society’s way of life. It includes the attitudes, values, and shared knowledge passed down through generations. Culture is inherently learned and varies significantly from one society to another. A key characteristic of any culture is its resistance to change; people often resist unfamiliar norms and find it challenging to adjust to new ways. This resistance stems from the difficulty in altering an individual’s cognitive framework, as deeply ingrained values become ends in themselves. Abandoning these inherited values can lead to insecurity and anxiety, both for individuals and society. Cultural transitions, whether in society or the economy, require the intergenerational transmission of new values for acceptance.

1.1. The Interplay Between Culture and Politics

Every country possesses a distinct culture, which includes political norms that shape citizens’ perceptions of life and politics. Political institutions reflect the attitudes, norms, and expectations of citizens. To understand a country’s politics, it is essential to analyze people’s behavior, attitudes towards politics, and their roles within the political system.

2. Defining Political Culture: More Than Just Public Opinion

During World War II, as nations leaned towards either authoritarianism or democracy, social scientists sought to understand why some countries embraced authoritarianism while others supported democratic institutions. Anthropologists like Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict developed the “culture and personality” approach, suggesting that different societies foster distinct modal personalities that influence support for various political programs. Similarly, Theodor Adorno’s The Authoritarian Personality explored how family structures could lead to support for authoritarian politics.

2.1. Political Culture vs. Public Opinion: A Key Distinction

Political culture reflects deeply rooted beliefs and values about the political system, while public opinion consists of reactions to specific issues or events. Political culture influences public opinion, and sustained public opinion can evolve into political culture over time.

2.2. Definitions from Prominent Political Theorists

• Roy Macridis (1955): Defines political culture as “the commonly shared goals and commonly accepted rules.”
• Lucian Pye (1962): States that political culture is “a set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments that give order and meaning to a political process and that provides the underlying assumptions and rules that govern the behavior in a political system.”
• Almond and Powell (1966): Define political culture as “the pattern of individual attitudes and orientations towards politics among the members of a political system,” bridging the ‘micro-macro’ gap in political theory.
• Samuel Beer (1974): Defines it as “components of the culture and values, beliefs, and emotional attitudes about how a government ought to be conducted and what it should do.”
• Andrew Heywood (2007): Describes political culture as “a psychological orientation of peoples in relation to political objects (political parties, government, and the constitution etc.), expressed in their political attitudes, beliefs, symbols, and values.”

Political attitudes and values are acquired through political socialization, a process that can be seen as either indoctrination or the transmission of values from one generation to the next, primarily during childhood. Major agents of political socialization include family, education, religion, mass media, and government.

2.3. The Role of Political Culture in Comparative Politics

Political culture encompasses beliefs, values, emotions, and perceptions about politics, political systems, and political objects. It helps in understanding the success or failure of political systems across different countries. For example, it can explain why democracy succeeds in some countries but fails in others.

While political culture is crucial, it does not explain everything in politics. Despite shared values, people may behave differently in varying situations. Cultural norms evolve slowly, reflecting enduring patterns of political action. Political culture is a critical element in understanding politics across countries and over time, helping to explain how politics unfolds.

3. Aspects of Political Cultures: System, Process, and Policy

How do citizens participate in their nation, and how do cultural norms shape their political views? A nation’s political culture shapes citizens’ perceptions and orientations towards the political system, policymaking processes, and policy outcomes.

3.1. System Level: Pride in Nation and National Identity

The system level involves citizens’ values and organizations within the political system. It examines people’s commitment to their system, polity, nation, and national identity. Advanced industrial societies often exhibit high levels of national pride.

3.2. Legitimacy of Government

National pride and identity contribute to the legitimacy of the governing system. Shared ideals and values among citizens facilitate this legitimacy, which is essential for the successful functioning of the political system. In traditional societies, a ruler’s legitimacy depends on public response, while in modern democracies, legitimacy is rooted in the constitution and the will of the people through elections and law obedience.

3.3. Process Level: Citizen Participation and Political Rights

The process level examines citizens’ expectations and ideas about how they should be governed, the nature of society, and the role of public institutions. Governments address these expectations through policy-making for the economic and political development of the nation.

3.4. Policy Level: Government’s Role and Policy Priorities

The policy level focuses on citizens’ expectations from the government regarding policymaking. It also considers the government’s engagement in policy and economic matters. Citizens express specific policy demands, such as whether the government or private sector should guide the economy and whether the government should intervene in society.

In developing countries, people prioritize basic services like healthcare, education, and employment. In contrast, advanced industrial societies focus on quality-of-life issues like environmental protection and LGBTQ+ rights.

Table 1: Aspects of Political Culture

Aspect of Political Culture	Examples
System	Pride in Nation, National Identity, Legitimacy of Government
Process	Role of Citizens, Perceptions of Political Rights
Policy	Role of Government, Government Policy Priorities

Source: Adapted from Almond, et al., 2009.

4. Nature of Political Culture: Civic Culture

During the 1950s and 1960s, political scientists analyzed systems using behavioral analysis techniques. Almond and Verba’s The Civic Culture (1963) used opinion surveys to analyze political behavior and attitudes towards democracy in the USA, the UK, West Germany, Italy, and Mexico. They aimed to understand the failure of representative governments in interwar Italy and Germany and to identify a political culture that could support democratic norms.

4.1. Types of Political Culture Identified by Almond and Verba

• Parochial Political Culture: Citizens do not identify with the state and lack a sense of citizenship. They have little knowledge of the political system and do not participate in politics, identifying more with their locality. This is often found in tribal societies.
• Subject Political Culture: People act passively, as seen in colonial states where citizens feel they cannot influence the government. However, increased political consciousness can lead to struggles for rights and liberation.
• Participant Political Culture: Citizens actively participate in political activities due to high political awareness. They are aware of their rights, duties, and role in decision-making. This is common in advanced countries like the UK and the USA.

4.2. The Civic Culture: A Blend of Political Orientations

Almond and Verba argued that a participant political culture aligns most closely with democratic ideals. They proposed that the civic culture blends all three political cultures, representing a mix of active participation and non-participation. This culture emphasizes individual input in the polity, with active involvement in political activities.

In a civic culture, there is significant political activity, exposure to political communications, and concern with political affairs. People are oriented both to political input and to input structures and processes. The civic culture also integrates parochial and subject orientations, maintaining a balance where active participation and rationality coexist with traditional values.

Almond and Verba concluded that the UK best exemplifies the civic culture, exhibiting both participant and subject features. In the USA, participant attitudes dominated. West Germany and Italy, however, faced difficulties in building a civic culture, with Germany dominated by subject culture and Italy by parochial attitudes.

5. Secularization of Political Culture

Political culture is dynamic, evolving over time. Secularization involves spreading awareness about the polity, enabling people to evaluate their political system with logic and rationality. This implies a departure from parochial values.

5.1. Defining Secular Political Culture

Almond and Powell (1963) define secularization as “the process whereby men become increasingly rational, analytical, and experienced in their political action. Secular (political) culture is one in which traditional orientation and attitudes give way to more dynamic decision-making processes involving gathering of information, the evaluation of information, the laying out of alternative course of action, the selection of course from among these possible courses and the means whereby tests whether or not a given course of action is producing the consequences which were intended.”

Secular political culture is a distinctive feature of advanced industrial countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Switzerland, and France.

6. Consensual vs. Conflictual Political Cultures

Values and beliefs towards the polity vary not only between nations but also within them. Almond and Verba’s approach tends to treat political culture as a homogenous entity, emphasizing national identity and culture, which can overshadow sub-cultures based on class, race, or gender.

6.1. Defining Consensual and Conflictual Cultures

• Consensual Political Culture: Citizens generally agree on how political decisions should be made and how to solve major societal problems.
• Conflictual Political Culture: Citizens are sharply divided on the legitimacy of the regime and in reaching decisions.

When a nation is divided in political attitudes, distinct sub-political cultures can develop, leading to differences on issues like national boundaries and the nature of the state. This can lead to the formation of parties to assert and create identity.

6.2. The Impact of Political Culture on Regional Governance

Robert Putnam (1993) argues that variations in the quality of local government in different regions of Italy were determined by the presence or absence of traditions of civic engagement, reflected in differing levels of voter turnout, newspaper readership, and membership of choral societies and football clubs. He demonstrated how political culture directly enhances and impacts the stability of a political system.

Putnam focused on the diversity of culture within a nation, showing how it influences the performance of regional governments. In 1970, Italy had regional governments similar in structure and political power, but their performance varied due to political culture. Successful regions had positive political cultures with traditions and trust, termed “social capital.” Northern Italy performed better than Southern Italy due to a history of feudal rule, foreign invasion, and authoritarian states.

7. Trends in Political Culture: Evolution and Change

Political culture is dynamic, changing with time. Personal experiences and agents of political socialization shape attitudes and beliefs, driving societal changes. History illuminates trends that altered a nation’s culture. Contemporary trends such as modernity, secularism, post-materialism, fundamentalism, democratization, and marketization are evident in advanced industrial societies.

These trends reflect developments in society. North America, Western Europe, and Japan have developed post-industrial characteristics due to socio-economic modernization. Young people in prosperous countries are less concerned with material well-being and personal security than their parents, emphasizing post-material values like social equality, environmental protection, cultural pluralism, and self-expression.

7.1. New Citizen Groups and Policy Agendas

This shift has spawned new citizen groups, including environmental movements, women’s movements, and public interest associations. These changes have impacted policy agendas in industrial democracies. Citizens demand environmental restoration, expanded social and political liberties, and policies ensuring social equality. Political leaders struggle to balance these new demands with ongoing policy needs.

7.2. Democratization: Skepticism and Adaptation

As democratic values take root globally, citizens in many Western democracies have become skeptical of democracy, politicians, and political institutions. Trust in government has declined significantly in countries like the United States. Despite this, support for democratic norms has strengthened over time. Citizens expect democracy to fulfill its ideals and criticize politicians and parties when they fall short. This cynicism pushes democracy to improve and adapt to new ideals, strengthening democratic norms.

7.3. Marketization: Acceptance of Free Markets

Globalization has led to a cultural trend towards marketization, with greater acceptance of free markets and private profit incentives. This contrasts with economies managed and controlled by the government. In the 1980s, movements in the United States and Western Europe supported reducing government scale due to inefficiency and economic stagnation.

7.4. Post-Materialism: Shifting Values

Political culture changes with mass participation. From the 1940s to 1970s, Western countries experienced tremendous industrial and economic growth alongside relative peace. This enabled a segment of the population to grow up without experiencing world wars. Emerging welfare states committed to social security, ensuring employment and aid.

This combination of social security and peace led to a silent revolution among young generations in Western political cultures. While older generations cherished values like religion, order, and security, young people focused on quality-of-life issues. They emphasized lifestyle, sexual choices, and the environment, deemphasizing traditional political issues and prioritizing self-expression. This impact is visible in Western Europe and the United States.

8. Conclusion: Understanding Modern Societies Through Political Culture

Politics is shaped by individuals’ ideas, values, perceptions, and assumptions about the political system. The concept of political culture is essential for understanding contemporary societies and the world. The post-Cold War era has seen a rise in ethnic and national differences, underscoring the importance of cultural components in understanding political realities. Additionally, political scientists focus on nations transitioning from traditional to democratic governance and the role of culture in modernization.

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9. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is political culture?

   Political culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, and attitudes within a society that shape its political landscape, influencing how people perceive and interact with the political system.

2. How does political culture differ from public opinion?

   Political culture is rooted in long-term values and beliefs, while public opinion reflects short-term reactions to specific issues or events. Political culture can influence public opinion, but it is more enduring and deeply ingrained.

3. What are the main components of political culture?

   The main components include the system level (national identity and legitimacy), the process level (citizen participation and political rights), and the policy level (government’s role and priorities).

4. What is civic culture?

   Civic culture, as defined by Almond and Verba, is a blend of parochial, subject, and participant political cultures. It emphasizes active citizen participation and awareness within the political system.

5. What is secularization of political culture?

   Secularization involves the spread of awareness about the political system, enabling citizens to evaluate it with logic and rationality, leading to a departure from traditional values.

6. What is the difference between consensual and conflictual political cultures?

   In consensual cultures, citizens agree on decision-making processes, while in conflictual cultures, they are divided on the legitimacy of the regime and decision-making.

7. How does political culture influence regional governance?

   Political culture can significantly impact the effectiveness of regional governments by shaping levels of civic engagement, trust, and participation.

8. What are some current trends in political culture?

   Current trends include democratization, marketization, and post-materialism, which reflect shifts in values and priorities among citizens in advanced industrial societies.

9. Why is political culture important in comparative politics?

   Understanding political culture helps in analyzing the success or failure of political systems across countries and explaining why democracy succeeds in some but not others.

10. Where can I find more information on comparative political analysis?

    Visit compare.edu.vn for comprehensive comparisons and resources to help you understand political culture and its influence on global politics.