Political General: Modern Political Analysis
Unit III
Political Culture
Political Culture: Meaning, Features, 3 Types, And Importance
In order to gain legitimacy, the proper management of the authority of any political system
and the empathy of the people with a positive and supportive view of that authority are
required. In some political systems this view is seen, but lacking in some places. Somewhere,
citizens support the political system unconditionally, and somewhere they want a radical
change of the political system.
To get a real picture of the political system, a proper analysis of the attitudes of the people is
needed. In this context, discussion of political culture is very important to understand the
attitudes and beliefs of people on their political system.
Political Culture: Meaning
Political culture is the view, aspirations, and beliefs of most citizens of the country
towards political systems. It can be said to be a psychological matter of the people. It is
also the type of people’s mentality in relation to political activities, not political activities
itself.
Different types of political cultures exist among the people of different states. In this context,
it is to be noted that the tradition of British citizens, the protests among French nationals and
the patriotism among American citizens are strongly present. These are one of the
characteristics of the political culture of those countries.
The concept of political culture is changing oriented, but this is change slowly. Persons’
perceptions change as new experiences unfold. Depending on the city-life experiences of
people coming from village to city and living in the city, there are rapid changes in attitudes.
But cultural attitudes or values change very slowly. Hence, the attitude towards political
action reflects fairly permanent aspects of political culture.
Definition
Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular pattern of orientations toward political actions in
which every political system is embedded".
Lucian Pye's definition is that "Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments,
which give order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying
assumptions and rules that govern behaviour in the political system".
Features of Political Culture
1. The views of the people regarding the world of politics are the subject of
political culture, but not the various events organized in world politics. So, it
can be called the psychological dimension of politics.
2. In the political culture, the attitude of both the political ideal and the effective
system of the state is expressed.
3. It consists of empirical concepts of political life and values that are worth
pursuing in political life, and they can be emotional, perceptive.
4. If there is a kind of attitude among the people about important political issues
in the political culture, then there is political stability. It is easy to get rid of
the crisis if people’s attitudes are favourable to political institutions during the
crisis period of the country.
5. Political culture does not remain unchanged. It is also constantly reorganized
in terms of cultural change in society. With the arrival of foreigners to live, the
revolution, the war, or any other major change can completely change the
political culture of a state.
Foundations of Political Culture:
1. Historical: History plays an important role in affecting political culture of a political
system. The culture of France and Russia was influenced by the French Revolution of 1789
and the Russian Revolution of 1917.
2. Geographical: The insular position of Britain gives the political culture different from that
of the continental countries. Similarly, the Political Culture of the USA is different from other
European countries due to their geographical locations.
3. Socio-Economic Factors: The difference in the social and economic factors of the
political system affects the political culture of that political system.
4. Ethnic Factors: The political culture of Africa might have been different than what it is
actually at present if there had been absence of racial discrimination.
5. Religion: The religious homogeneity affects the political culture as the partition of India in
1947 was due to religious disparities between Hindus and Muslims.
Symbols of Political Culture:
The attitudes, beliefs and values of people are reflected through the symbols of Political
Culture. The symbols reflect the emotions and sentiments of the people towards a political
system. The King or Queen of Britain and the President of the USA may be taken as the
national pride, symbols and aspirations of the people. The great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi
and Sardar Patel are considered as the symbol of India. The National Flag, National Anthem
and National Calendar are the symbols of Political Culture. There are certain myths in
political system that is also considered as symbols of political culture.
Types of Political Culture
The nature, existence, and importance of different aspects of political culture vary from one
society to another. So, the political culture of all countries is not one. These are classified on
the basis of these questions whether members of society take an active role in political
activities, expect to benefit from public dialogue, whether people can take part in government
processes or know government activities.
Almond and Verba classified political culture into three types. These are:
1. Parochial Political Culture
2. Participatory Political culture
3. Subject Political Culture
1. Parochial Political Culture
Generally, in the underdeveloped countries and in the traditional social system, there is a lack
of consciousness and interest or widespread indifference among individuals regarding
political issues.
In the context of the political way of life and the national political system, there is a strong
disregard for the countrymen which leads to the formation of a parochial political culture.
To end such a culture, the need for a wide spreading of education and the spread of political
communication is necessary. There are still many regions in Asia and Africa where parochial
political culture can be seen.
2. Participatory Political culture
In a participatory political culture, every citizen actively takes an active role in political
affairs. Individuals consider themselves an active member of the country’s existing political
system.
The participation and evaluation of the individual in the traditional political system is very
deep and important in such political culture. Here the individual is always aware of his rights
and duties. Great Britain and USA are great example of participatory political culture.
3. Subject Political Culture
In this kind of political culture, the role of the people in political affairs is significant. The
public is fully aware of the political system prevailing here and the effect of state action on
their way of life.
Despite the existence of enthusiasm for political life, the people here make no attempt to
influence the decision-making process. Rather, most of the government’s decisions are
accepted without authority. This tendency in public affairs for public interest is attributed to
this kind of inactive political culture.
Is the political culture inherited?
The individual does not inherit the political culture by birth. That means, it is not a matter of
birth right. It is created within the individual through political socialization. The social and
political systems in which the person is born, the particular political values and attitudes that
transcend the individual.
Individuals are connected with the political parties, other political organizations or
institutions, the pressing groups, the state structure and its functions, within the existing
political system.
In this way, the individual becomes increasingly connected and united with the symbols and
values of the existing society and political system. This process continues throughout the life
of the individual. And this is how political culture emerges within the individual.
Relation between Political Systems and Political Culture
The interaction between the political system and the political culture is very close. There can
be broad consensus among the people regarding the existing political system and its basic
structure. In that case, the political system is strong and stable.
On the contrary, the structure of the existing political system, with disagreement among the
people in the context of the tasks, poses a serious hostility to the political system. As a result,
the foundation of that political system weakens.
Importance of Political Culture:
In any country’s political system, political culture is regarded as important. The political
values, beliefs and attitudes of the country or nation are reflected through the political culture.
Social culture is especially important in people’s social lives. Similarly, the importance and
significance of the political culture of the people is immense.
1. Political Culture enables to understand the connection between the social and economic
factor on one hand and political development on the other hand.
2. Political Culture helps to understand the process of political socialization and transmission
of political culture from one generation to the other generation.
3. Political Culture enables to understand how the laws and constitution of different countries
are observed by different individuals and groups.
4. Political Culture shows the attitude of people towards a political system.
5. It enables to understand the reason that similar phenomenon in the different countries do
not produce the same result.
Criticism:
1. It is difficult to draw full picture of political culture as the opinion and attitudes of people
are not very clear and cannot be represented as whole.
2. The actual performance of the political beliefs and attitudes in a country of political
researchers may be different from their expectation.
3. The concept of political culture is hardly better than new labels for old ideas.
4. The political attitudes, beliefs, values and behaviour are not sufficient to understand the
classification of political system.
5. Basic concept of political culture is not fully worked out and it is difficult to test the
different theories of political culture.
Conclusion:
Though, the concept of Political Culture had developed after the Second World War, it is
important for any political system as it shapes the attitudes, beliefs and notions of people
towards the political system, political issues and ideologies. The political system is always
influenced by political culture and its role in politics cannot be denied.
