POLITICAL CULTURE

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POLITICAL CULTURE
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Elements of Political Culture

• COGNITIONS empirical beliefs (how things are)
• Example "A market economy is more productive
  than a planned economy.
• VALUES normative beliefs (how things ought to
  be)
• Example "Individual liberty should be the most
  important thing
• EMOTIONAL COMMITMENTS positive and negative
  feelings (affect)

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Political Culture is constituted by the
cognitions, values, and emotional commitments
that the population of a collectivity brings to
the process whereby scarce values are allocated.
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Ideology vs. Political Culture
both are belief systems made up of cognitions,
values, emotions
culture is transmitted by systems socialization
process
ideology is not transmitted by a systems
socialization process
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CULTURE vs. ATTITUDE
increase in minimum wage
egalitarianism
tuition-free higher educ.
progressive income tax
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Comparing Political Systems by Culture
Political Systems can differ

• In the content of their cultures
• In the extent of homogeneity vs. heterogeneity
• multiple sub-cultures within a single culture
• fragmented political culture
• the absence of a set of common cultural
  cognitions, values, and emotions

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Fragmented
Cultural heterogeneity/ Sub-cultures
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Effect of political culture on political system

• Defines an "ISSUE SCOPE"
• Culture designates which wants are appropriate
  subject of political action

Issue scope will be different in different
political systems
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Effect of political culture on political system,
cont.

• Lays foundation for mobilization of bias
• Every political system is culturally biased in
  favor of some interests and against others.

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Mobilization of Bias

• Three ways that Political Culture contributes to
  systemic bias
• wants outside of issue scope not considered as
  political demands
• decision-makers unlikely to take seriously wants
  not automatically suppressed
• demand-makers outside of issue scope are
  humiliated

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Effect of political culture on political system,
cont.

• Political culture can effect a politys
  stability

Political systems that possess cultures that are
homogeneous with respect to regime and community
are integrated. They are likely to be more
stable than systems that lack such integration