WEEK XI.

Political culture and political socialization

Political culture= concept from anthropology, but also from sociology, similar with political
information
- not the most appropriate definition because every individual has a certain degree of political
culture
DEF: = concept over a certain number of values and concepts that prevail in a notion at a certain
time.
- related to the history of a certain system and also to the experience of the members of that
society or system.
- they want to see how attitudes and values influence the political participation
VERBA:
- culture = a controlled system in a certain society
- what happens with a constitution can influence the entire state
- political cultures is also related on behavior and on the process of political socialization
- also concentrates on the way that individuals internalize certain values and learn about politics
(ex: family, school, group of persons (friends), press)
- an overall profile of how the masses react to the political actors
- we also relate ourselves to various political cultures, accepting or rejecting some political
authorities
- variables such as social groups provide some randomness to the rather rigid scale of political
sociology
-> typologies of political cultures came also up with the concepts of civil competence
-> the knowledge and perception on politics
-> the mentalities and decisions in some countries were changed
-> social behavior has an enormous aspect to be taken into account (by describing the ideal type
of society)
-> stable, efficient one -> active political culture
Atomized society => as social interaction between the individuals within a society, as
possible
no cause-effect relation => reciprocity relation

The three dimensions of political culture by Verba
1. Cognitive dimension = set of knowledge more or less structured, strict regarding the political
system
2. Emotional dimension = attachments or rejections towards the political issues
= involves the social and political values and their acceptance or
rejection
3. Evaluation dimension

1. Poroquial political culture
- related to traditional pol. culture (ex: local community)
2. Obedient political culture
- related to the way people obey the political authority of which they are aware
- dependent on the higher hierarchy
3. Participative political culture
- people aware of the means and the opportunities they have
- conventional type of political participation

- by mixing the 3 we obtain the CIVIC CULTURE
- if we mix the three equally we should have a stable democracy
- tells us how people evaluate a political regime, the legislative => an ideal concept
- plurality culture
- combines tradition with modernity and consensus with diversity=> should allow social changes
- a moderate change = positive
- political culture = a sum of attitudes towards the moment in which the system is internalized by
the population through various methods

More aspects of political socialization:
- how children are introduced and learn about political issues
- we are told what society expect from us
2 types of socialization
-> direct one => social approach - very explicitly expressed
=> direct feelings are expressed
-> indirect one => psychological approach
=> observation created a certain type of personalities.

2 main theories:
- variables to be taken into account = timing and what happens in the adulthood life
1) Liberal theory = political socialization => transmitted from one generation to the other
through the family ( timing), started early childhood,
unplanned
= political theories are formed really young and develop over the years
= we build ourselves a political identity and learn how to evaluate, to
participate etc
2) Radical view = dominant class that subordinates the weaker classes (Marxist view)
=> process=>deliberate (ex: press)
= an equal sign between adulthood and childhood
= we start as children but our actions as adults are also important
- political culture => a gateway to political socialization ( you cannot understand one without the
other)
In political sociological terms, the environment has 3 dimensions:
a) Political Dimension : specific events, actors, discussions
b) Social Dimension
c) Level of Economical Prosperity and Development

- The arrival of any new generation is equivalent with the arrival of barbarians. T. PARSONS