Political Culture- Politics and Society, Political Science, Study notes of Comparative Law and Politics

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SEMESTER-V

PATNA WOMEN'S COLLEGE

POLITICAL CULTURE

Khushi Raj

21 June, 2024

Introduction Political culture refers to those ideas, values, attitudes or orientation about a political system which is acceptable to and shared by the majority of the people in the state. In other words, it means that within a group and society there is diverse strands of opinions about a political system, norm and beliefs. Meaning : ● This concept (political culture) was first introduced by Gabriel Almond in 1956. ● In comparative politics systematic study of political culture started from the behavioral revolution (1950’s). ● Political culture is about how people view the political system as a whole and their belief in its legitimacy. ● It is produced by the combined action of individuals and institutions and is developed through a long and continuous process of socialization. ➢ For example, India's political culture constitute by liberal democracy such as people have right to speech, opinion, participation, assembly, religion, right against exploitation, untouchability, welfare state etc. Prominent Thinkers:

1. Gabriel Almond
2. Sydny Verba
3. Luciyan Pye
4. Talcott persons
5. Samuel Edward Finer
6. W .H Morris Jones
7. Rajni Kothari

government and live their lives regardless of the decisions taken by the state. Parochials know very little or nothing about the political system, its parts and its processes. Hence they are not positively oriented to the input or output functions. Citizens have little awareness or involvement in government affairs. Common in underdeveloped regions, where people are often uninformed or disinterested in politics.

2. Subject political culture : Subject political culture is characterized by people who are aware of the political system and know something about how it operates, but primarily see themselves as subject to authority. Hence they are positively oriented towards the output process of the political system and not to the input side of the system. They do not see themselves as participants in the political system.
3. Participant political culture : Participant political culture is characterized by individuals who not only know a great deal about the political system, but also are positively oriented towards both input and output processes. They want to participate and receive the benefits of the policy. They believe that they have a positive role to play in the political system. Participant political culture was closely related to development. ➢ Almond and Verba considered these three types of political culture as ideal types. Role and Significance of Political Culture in Comparative Politics:

1. Enables us to understand how laws and constitutions are observed.
2. To know the connection between social and economic factors.
3. To understand the attitude of citizens to the political system.
4. Enables us to understand why similar phenomena do not produce similar results.
5. May provide us with valuable conceptual tools.
6. Makes political science a complete social science. ➢ According to Dennis Kavanagh, the advantages of studying political culture are – a) It explains the performance of different political systems. b) It influences the input output process of the political system. c) It lessens the micro-macro gap in political system. d) Helpful in bringing progressive political changes.

e) It helps us to know the direction of political development. f) It has changed our study centre from individual to society. g) It tells us certain guidelines for political behavior. h) Linking rational elements with irrational one’s which influences individual behavior. i) It has made political science pragmatic and dynamic science. Conclusion Political culture is dynamic, it changes overtime. In ancient times politics was dominated by religious values, but later because of the awareness among the people, it has changed to liberal values. For example, revolution changed not only the system of government but also the economic system, the social structure and the cultural values of those. Moreover, country wise political culture is different. In some states there exists a national political culture along with one or more sub cultures. We can also say about Samuel Huntington 's clash of civilization or how political culture differs in terms of civilization. The factors which help in the secularization of political culture includes Industrialization and Urbanization, scientific and Technical progress, Spread of literacy, Mass Media, Political Parties, Interest Groups etc.