Political Science For Dummies. Marcus A. Stadelmann

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Chapter 3

      Dealing with Political Culture

      IN THIS CHAPTER

      Every nation-state in the world contains one or more different cultures. A culture determines the language people speak, the religion they practice, and their behavior toward others. It’s based on the traditions found in a society and the history people have shared. At the same time, people also have a distinct political culture. A political culture is defined as a set of attitudes and practices held by citizens that in turn shapes their political behavior in society. In other words, a political culture determines how people feel about their political system and whether they support it. Not surprisingly, governments take a keen interest in attempting to shape political culture.

      This chapter discusses the importance of political culture and how it shapes society. The concepts of civic culture and political socialization are important points to political culture as well as moving from materialism to postmaterialsm. Read on to find out more on these topics.

Analyzing Political Culture

In his work The Republic (see Chapter 14), Plato discusses the importance of political culture and political socialization for a political regime. The political culture of a society shapes political values and political behavior and has to be in line with the political system. If it isn’t, the long-term survival of the regime is in question. For this reason, according to Plato, the young in a society have to be politically socialized, which is a fancy term for being politically indoctrinated, with the values of the regime. Only political socialization can guarantee survival of the regime in the long run. (See the later section “Working on Political Socialization” for more on political socialization.)

      The importance of political culture

      Every society instills certain political values into its people. Political values are defined as deeply held views about how government is supposed to work and what a person’s role in a political system is. These beliefs and values are what shapes the political culture of a nation. The political culture of a country is thus determined by the history of a people and its religious, economic, and social values. If a government is able to manipulate a political culture, it can enhance support by the people. Therefore, interfering in the shaping of a political culture has become commonplace in the world.

      Both democracies and authoritarian governments attempt to influence the political culture in a country. In totalitarian societies, such as the Soviet Union, classes designed to indoctrinate the population are mandatory at all school levels. In the U.S., civic education classes, designed to accomplish similar objectives, are also required in most states.

      Touching on political socialization

      Many governments of all types use the process of political socialization to intervene in the creation of a good citizen. Governments can do so through the educational process, control of the media, a state religion, public events such as military parades, and commemoration of past events.

      Noting citizenship

      The concept of citizenship is a part of political culture. In every society, people are told what makes a good citizen and what type of characteristics citizens should possess.

      Looking at the variances of political cultures

      Some nation-states have more than one culture. These states, such as Afghanistan and Iraq, are made up of different groups, with different religious traditions, and they don’t even share a common language. Instead, they share loyalty with their tribe and consider it, and not the national government, the ultimate source of power. They don’t share a culture or history with the majority group. This usually results in political struggle for power and often civil war and the possible breakup of a nation-state.

      Changing political cultures

      Political cultures do СКАЧАТЬ