Introduction to

Political
Culture
Presented by: Group 3
 O b j e c t i v e s
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of
A t the e nd

be able to:
t ic a l c u lt u r e and
m e a n in g of poli
define th e

m a in c o n c ep t;
its
u n d e rs t a n d
h e im p o r t a nce of
a n d a p p r e ciate t
identify
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u lt u r e in s haping
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a n d e v a lu a te the
A nsw e r
American political scientist Lucian Pye defined

political culture as the composite of basic

values, feelings, and knowledge that underlie

the political process. Hence, the building blocks

of political culture are the beliefs, opinions, and

emotions of the citizens toward their form of

government. Different nations have different

languages, faiths, ethnicity, traditions, histories,

and worldviews.

Rationale
As a result, the government created by each

nation is distinct and unique. Countries may

create similar governments—there are many

democracies in the world, for example—but no

two political systems are exactly identical.

Moreover, the ways people interact with their

government differ from country to country as

well, so no two political cultures are truly similar,

nor is public opinion the same from country to

country.

Rationale
Politics
Politics involves the production, allocation and use of decision-

making powers among large groups of individuals. In stable and

strong states, political activities usually refer to the powers of the

state to govern. In unstable and weak states, politics encompasses

social power issues within and outside the boundaries of the

'legitimate' state. Culture refers to everything socially created (Fiske,

1996). One essential characteristic of culture is that it is shared by

different groups of interacting humans.

Poltical Culture
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. The term

political culture will be more assertive when it will be explained

in the realm of politics. So it means that within a group and

society there is diverse strands of opinions about a political

system, norm and beliefs.

Poltical Culture
According to Sydney Verba: “Political culture is the system of empirical

beliefs, expressive symbols and values which defines the situation in which

political action takes place” One difficulty of defining political culture is

that it is result of two opposite and sometimes contradictory trends,

namely the political beliefs and attitudes of the individual and the political

values and attitudes of the people and society in which he/she lives.

Political culture approach helps in dealing with the totality of the political

system at once and political culture of a society is the most significant

aspect of a political system.

In short: Political culture is the ‘pattern of orientations’ to political objects such as

parties, government, and the constitution, expressed in beliefs, symbols and values.

Pattern of shared values, moral norms beliefs and attitudes, and expectations and

also orientation among members of political system.

Distinctive and patterned way of thinking about how political and economic life

ought to be carried out.

Political culture differs from public opinion in the sense that it is a product of long-

term values of a nation, rather than simply people’s reaction towards specific issues

given a particular time (Heywood 206)

Another aspect of political culture approach is that it helps in focusing the

beliefs that affect the ways in which people act within different political

institutions. Although political culture does not concentrate on the

structures of a political system, it is very close to the relationship between

culture and structure. Thus political culture approach refers not to what is

happening in the world of politics but what people believe about these

happenings. Political behavior of individuals influenced by acts of

governmental administration, election campaigns, different phenomena of

political process and by the observer’s comments on these events.

Development of Political Culture
Just as the structures of the political system develop, so does its culture. The development of

political culture is commonly known as “Secularization” secularization is the process whereby

men become increasingly rational, analytical and empirical in their political action. It

distinguishes a traditional political system from modern political system. Anyhow the political

culture of a system develops in two ways, by differentiation of roles and by secularization or

rationalization of behavior.

Individual’s attitudes and values are the result of political socialization. Political orientation of

the individual can be due to 3 factors:

1 - Individual perception, 2 - his/her feelings, 3 - conclusions or opinions.

These perceptions, attitudes and opinions produce effects on the political system. This is called

his/her political efficacy. It means that citizens can influence positively or negatively the

decisions and policies of the rulers by his efforts such as by his/her vote.
COMPONENTS OF THE POLITICAL CULTURE:
Every political culture consists of various elements, which are the orientations of the people

towards different aspects of the political system.

1 - Cognitive orientation: - It refers to the knowledge and beliefs about the political system.

2 - Affective orientation: - It refers to the feelings about the political system.

3 - Evaluative orientation: - It refers to judgment and opinions about political systems by the

people.

It is by taking into account the three-dimensional orientations- cognitive, affective and

evaluative that one may know the political culture of a society. The nature and extent of these

orientations however may vary from society to society and this is what Almond and Varba has

classified political culture into parochial, subject and participant. The central characteristics of

parochial subject political culture that differentiates it from the subject and participant types is

that in it individuals have no cognition of the political system as such and as a result they don't

have any affective and evaluative orientations towards the political system.
Political Culture as Political Philosophy
Political culture is a distinctive and patterned form of political philosophy that consist of

benefits on how governmental, political, and economic life should be carried out. Political

cultures create a framework for political change and are unique to nations, states, and other

groups. A political culture differs from for political ideology in that people can disagree on an

ideology (what government should do) but still share a common political culture. Some

ideologies, however, are so critical of the status quo that they require a fundamental change in

the way government is operated, and therefore embody a different political culture as well.

The term political culture was brought into political science to promote the American political

system. The concept was used by Gabriel Almond in late 50s, and outlined in The Civic Culture

(1963, Almond & Verba), but was soon opposed by two European political scientists – Gerhard

Lehmbruch and Arend Ulphart. Lembruch analysed politics in Switzerland and Australia and

Lijphart analysed politics in Netherlands. Both argued that there are political systems that are

more stable than the one in the USA.

 TYPES OF THE
POLITICAL CULTURE:
Political culture can be classified according to
whether members of society take an active role in
the political process and expects benefits from
governmental activity or whether there is a
passive relationship in which individuals know
very little about governmental activity and do not
expect to share in the decision making process.

1) Parochial political culture: People who exhibit or no awareness of the political systems

fall in this category. Individual is not aware of nor has opinions about the system as a

whole but only of the local community.

2) Subject political culture:- People who have relatively higher level of orientation

towards a differential political system and toward the output aspects of the system than

possessed by the people but their orientation towards input objects and active

participation are still on somewhat low level. People are not oriented to take part in

output structures as they do not have clear knowledge of the process by which they can

influence the political system. This is commonly found in centralized AUTHORITARIAN

SETUPS.Subject orientation is that when individual is aware of the system but is

essentially passive and accepts decisions.These are people who are generally passive

towards political objects, somewhat showing that they think they have little or no ability

to influence their government.

3) Participant political culture:- Members of state obtain fairly higher level of orientation

to the system as a whole i.e. to both political and administrative structures and

processes. Members of the society fully aware to the input and output functions of the

system. They are oriented towards an activist role of self in the polity and are able to

articulate their interests. This is commonly found in fully DEMOCRATIC SET UPS.They are

always engaged in interest articulation and put demands on the political system. These

are the people who actively participate in the politics of the nation.

4) Authoritarian political culture:- In this participation in political affairs and decisions in

political affairs and decisions is according to the authority of the state or government.

The ruler is the real decision maker, the people as a voters are to comply with his

decisions.
Traditional Political Culture
The Primacy of Kinship Ties
Pakikisama
Utang na Loob
Personalistic Politics
However, these three types of political cultures are extreme types. No

society is characterised by a single variety of political culture. In fact, as

Almond himself states that all political systems are of culturally mixed

character.

The decision, about the type of political culture is made on the basis of

predominant patterns of orientation to political action within that

society. No political culture exists in a pure form.

Lijphart

There are two types of political culture:

(a) Political Culture of masses

(b) Political Culture of elite

Classification of the Political Culture of the masses:

(a) Coalitional

(b) Contradictive
Lijphart also classified structure of the society:

(a) Homogeneous

(b) Heterogeneous

The most Stable Political System is consociative democracy

which has the heterogeneous society in which all parts of the

society work together and not contradict each other. Those kind

of system are common in Scandinavian Countries.

To say that a society 's political culture will invariably be a mixed type is

perhaps will give enough indication of the possibly that in a society

different groups of people may have different types of orientations

towards the political objects. When these different group orientations

which may, may not give rise to an integrated and coherent culture are

clearly distinguish from one another we call them political sub cultures.

Political sub cultures may grow on the basis of religion, social class, caste,

language generation, occupation and the like. These sub cultures

sometimes play a very significant role and in case of some nations it is

impossible to understand the character of a political system without a

thorough knowledge of these sub cultures.

Political culture in the Philippines is heavily influenced by its
Spanish and American colonizers, as well as by the major events
that happened since its independence. Most of the political
cultures that existed in the pre-colonial era are now obsolete and
irrelevant, as all or almost all of these are no longer evident in the
current Philippine political culture. Examples of these are
extremely fragmented political institutions and presence of
socialclasses that show clear inequalities among citizens of a
barangay city-state by labelling them as tumao, timawa, alipin,
maginoo, maharlika among others (Gripaldo 45-49)
Defining Filipino
Political Culture
Filipino political culture is a systematically related set of mental and

concrete constructions. It includes but is not limited to beliefs,

feelings, group-accepted practices, language and paraphernalia

shared by large groups of Filipinos as they produce, allocate and use

political powers within, outside, and in interaction with the state.

The Culture of Philippine
Electoral Campaigns
1) the pre-campaign or informal campaign period
(

People enter politics with different motivations, some on their own volition and some at the prodding of

others. Some politicians see public service as their personal cause while others are pushed into it reluctantly.

Others may already be deeply entrenched in politics, coming from families of traditional politicians, or are

petitioned to run by their people or kababayan (people from their community). Still others are urged to join a

political coalition or are nominated by political leaders to run for public office. Whatever the aspirant's reason for

entering politics, the informal or pre-campaign period, which is preparatory to the formal campaign, begins with

the decision to run for public office.

Once a candidate has decided to run, the informal campaign begins. This can start years before an election for a

first-time politician. For a reelectionist, it covers the whole governance period starting from day one of elected

office. The major practices during the pre-campaign period are being visible, accessible, and available to the

people, and strengthening one's political base; planning, organizing, and raising money; and, forging alliances or

joining political groups. These activities may occur simultaneously and are deemed necessary for an electoral

victory.
(2) the launching or filing of candidacy
The actual or formal campaign period starts the day the candidate formally

announces s/he is running for public office and files one's certificate of

candidacy. As of this writing, the formal campaign period usually starts 60

days before elections for national posts, and 45 days for local positions.

Candidates running for national posts register their candidacy at the

Commission on Elections (COMELEC) National Office. The filing of

candidacy at the COMELEC can be carried out as a grand event -- a

political motorcade, campaign banners, media coverage, movie star

supporters, and even hired Ati-Atihan performers dancing to adrenaline

pumping drumbeats.
3) the formal campaign period
(

Candidates may use rallies to be seen and heard by voters, and to sense their political strength in various

localities. The candidate has to learn to deliver a speech on stage that can rake in the votes. Not surprisingly,

campaign speeches are characterized by many promises.

Aside from rallies, candidates employ barangay-to-barangay, house-to-house, person-to-person, and market-to-

market campaigning. Other campaign paraphernalia include leaflets, posters, calendars, stickers, flyers, and t-

shirts. In addition, media is extensively used through radio and TV appearances or commercials, as well as print

advertisements. The intensity of the actual campaign is determined by how much money the candidate has. At a

minimum, a candidate has to spend for leaflets, advertisements, and poll watchers come election day. Research

participants reported that campaigners expect to be provided for by the candidate. The candidate has to give

money to campaign coordinators, political leaders, even mayors. Leaders and coordinators need campaign funds

to mobilize people and to organize conferences where a candidate's vision and/or character can be put

advertised. Candidates feel that everyone helping in the actual campaign must be provided at least with food and

operations expenses. For instance, young people volunteer to paste a candidate's posters, and in return receive

allowances for the gawgaw (paste) and snacks. Finally, to a very real extent, money is used to buy votes. Knowing

that vote buying is unavoidable, some candidates explicitly tell their supporters to accept the money given them

but to vote according to their conscience.

(4) V-day or election/voting day
The fourth stage of the electoral campaign is V-day or election/voting day, the most important day in the

whole electoral process. Tension runs high and everyone is busy persuading people to vote for his or her

candidate. The streets are littered with leaflets and sample ballots. Vote buying is rampant in some areas

and stories of election fraud and violence are common.

Election morning begins with candidate supporters transporting constituents to the polls usually by mini-

buses, jeeps, and tricycles. Around the polling place, candidates have their own network of loyalists who

distribute sample ballots, watch the voting process, and influence voters to choose their candidates.

Persuasion strategies may be legitimate and illegitimate, including vote buying and physical intimidation.

(5) the post-election period

The electoral process does not end with election day. The days and even weeks of ballot counting are

factored in at the very beginning of planning for the whole electoral campaign. Most of the money spent

for an electoral campaign goes to ballot watching. The post-election period covers the days of ballot

counting until the electoral winner is declared.

Political Language

Members who share a culture possess a common language used to communicate among themselves (Triandis, 1994).

Filipino political culture likewise contains its own set of words and phrases that transmit electoral and governance

meanings. Below is a list of some terms in Philippine political language, and their corresponding meanings.

·BIMPOS - Batang Itinulak ng Magulang sa POlitika (children who were pushed by their parents into politics)
·Neophyte -- first-time politician
·Command votes -- votes captured through established political leaders; dependent on one political leader who

promises to deliver votes from a specific geographical area.

·Retail command votes -- captures a small amount or a limited number of votes, e.g. only hundreds of votes coming from
an NGO or cooperative in a specific municipality.

·Wholesale command votes -- captures a large amount of votes, e.g. tens of thousands of votes coming from a small

town under a strong political leader.

·Free market votes -- votes captured through media

·Solid votes -- votes captured through endorsements by key personalities, e.g. religious leaders (of the Catholic Church,
Iglesia ni Kristo, El Shaddai)
Political Language
·Personalistic politics -- system of governance based on personal relationships, i.e. family, kinship, friendship, personal

loyalties; over and above political principles or ideologies

·Patronage politics -- money-based system of campaigning and governance; based on cultural expectations for the

candidate to act as a patron or ninong/ninang (godfather/godmother) which means being a provider to one's

constituents or kababayan, responding to personal requests, answering personal problems, giving money to supporters

·Progressive politics -- principle-based system of campaigning and governance based on the platform of government

carried by the candidate and the political coalition; campaign machinery is run by the platform of government (based

on what volunteers and supporters understand of the candidate's principles)

·New politics -- same as progressive politics

·V-day -- election or voting day
·Congressional Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) -- Congressional insertions or Congressional Initiative Allocation

(CIA)

·Participative leadership -- system of governance that consults and involves constituents as participants at all levels of

development.
Organizational Infrastructure of Election Campaigns
Some elections are said to be won by having a well-oiled political machinery or

organization. The size and complexity of the campaign machinery varies greatly

from case to case. Factors include whether the candidate belongs to a political

coalition; the strength and prominence of the political coalition; funding and other

resources; the specific needs and requirements of the electoral campaign; and the

political environment. For instance, the government or administration coalition

usually has the strongest political machinery and is often able to use government

facilities and resources, although this is prohibited. At the end of the electoral

process, the political machinery is normally dissolved but may be kept intact or

operational in preparation for the next election, in keeping with shared ideologies,

or in fulfillment of campaign promises (e.g., in the case of campaign staff placed in

government positions).
Organizational Infrastructure of Election Campaigns
Traditionally, the campaign machinery of a candidate is set up by the political

organization at the national, regional, provincial, municipal and barangay levels.

Political headquarters are established in all these chapters. The political machinery

is headed by the chair of the political coalition. There is a corresponding chair for

each of the different levels. In a family or clan of politicians, the campaign

machinery is already set up for the next generation of candidates. The political base

of the older generation serves as a foundation or start-up for building a new

political base. For others, the campaign machinery is run solely by the candidate

and a small group of supporters, oftentimes one's own family. A politician reported

winning an election with just seven young people running his political campaign

from his place of residence (and he maintained only four people for the next

electoral campaign).
Organizational Infrastructure of Election Campaigns

A campaign machinery identifies coordinators by geographical areas. The

coordinators can be the candidates themselves or avid supporters or volunteers of

the candidate. They can be barangay officials or councilors whose support were

solicited or volunteered. Sometimes, campaign managers come from the

candidate's own family, relatives and friends. Campaign coordinators can also be in

the form of organizations. Organizations may be set up solely as a support group for

the candidate. Existing organizations (friends and supporters of the candidate) may

be tapped to extend the campaign network. Some organizations are even

established in order to penetrate different sectors, e.g., organizing youth

organizations to gather the support of the youth sector.

Organizational Infrastructure of Election Campaigns

Win or lose, the electoral machinery is normally dismantled or no longer made

operational after an election. If the candidate wins, some (and not all) of the

personnel in the campaign machinery are rewarded and placed in positions in

government. If the candidate loses, then nobody can be taken care of politically, by

the losing candidate. Some professionals are hired solely for campaign purposes.

After the election, their services are automatically terminated. Prominent political

coalitions may keep their organizations intact, continuing organization

communications and activities.

Organizational Infrastructure of Election Campaigns

In the case of electoral victory, people involved in the campaign are taken care of,

also in preparation for the next election. The political leader chooses to enlist the

help of the people who supported his/her campaign especially if they were joined

together to fight for a particular cause or bound by the same ideology. People from

the organization will be asked to serve with the elected official. At times, the

political machinery continues to exist for a few more months after the election as

people in the organization continue to expect to be granted positions (or whatever

promises were made by the elected official). The building of false hopes eventually

disunites the campaign machinery. Moreover, as dissatisfaction emerge, the

machinery is ultimately dissolved.

A Culture of
Dependence
An observation made by politicians was that Filipinos tend to display a sense of

dependency and helplessness, especially those in extreme poverty. As such, poor

people are perceived to depend on a patron politician who can provide temporary

relief to their everyday struggle for subsistence. Politicians can stay in politics for a

long time by making people continuously dependent on them. This culture of

dependence is also evident within government where people merely wait to follow

orders rather than take the initiative. Essentially, people try to avoid responsibility by

depending on their superiors.

ADVOCATING FOR A PROGRESSIVE NEW POLITICS
Not all public servants have become engulfed in the traditional culture of patronage and

personalistic politics. There are people in government who try to do their job and are

sincere in their duty as public servants. Some have remained conscious, while being

immersed in the raditional system, and have begun working with institutions that can help

people help themselves. The priority of this new politics is to stop the culture of

dependence that allows patronage politics to thrive. Instead, the key is to attack poverty,

the root of the problem. It focuses on a system of governance that will not merely dole out

money to a few but provide projects with massive impact or can benefit the majority of the

people.

Progressive new politics is based on a platform of government where people support

candidates because of their principles and the issues they carry. Money and personal

relations are not the primary consideration but the politician's ability to address social

issues that concern all constituents.

 Dimensions of this
progressiv new politics
people empowerment or participative
sharing leadership with leadership or letting
the people; people participate in
development from
planning to
consultation with implementation and
ordinary constituents, letting them charter
e.g., farmers and their own
workers; development;

social organizing or
massive participation of organizing different
the different sectors of sectors of society to
society in development. participate in
development; and,
Examples of Progressive New Politics

Case 1: Go to the Office. People were trained not to go the politician's house and instead
to the office. Every time people came to the politician's house, they were patiently told to

proceed to the office with more complete facilities. Eventually, people learned not to go

to the private house of the official.

Case 2: No Solicitation. In one municipality, the Mayor started a system of not allowing

any form of solicitation. They explained to the people that there will be no solicitations

because projects are being implemented that will impact more people. People then began

to understand the importance of projects that benefited the majority.

Case 3: Absent Congressperson. In one area, people kept on complaining why the

Congressperson was never around. Therefore, the Congressperson started explaining to

the people, using radio and speaking in the local dialect, a congressperson's work requires

him/her to be in Congress so the people can have projects like roads.

Examples of Progressive New Politics
Case 4: For the Greater Good. In another case, the politician tried to explain to the people that
projects that affect the majority are more important. Eventually, constituents demanded fewer

dole-outs, because they understood the work being done by the politician.

Case 5: Chances for Change. In one election, a non-traditional political leader had no money

and won. This revolutionized the political system and encouraged young and committed political

leaders. The political monopoly of a handful of political families was broken.

Case 6: Development through Unity. In one province, the leaders tried to promote development
through unity. This was done by creating a vision of government and introducing globally

competitive and quality education.

Case 7: Ask the People. In one province, the political leader began by asking people about their
vision for the province. "How do you see the province? How do you fit in as an employee? How do

you see the role of the agency or the office, in attaining your vision for the province?" They then

made a vision for the province and mission statements for the different offices and the provincial

government. They started defining their goals, targets, and functions. The organization of the

local government was overhauled.

A Political Culture is a set of attitudes and practices held by a people that shapes their political behavior. It

includes moral judgments, political myths, beliefs, and ideas about what makes for a good society. A political

culture is a reflection of a government, but it also incorporates elements of history and tradition that may

predate the current regime. Political cultures matter because they shape a population’s political perceptions

and actions. Governments can help shape political culture and public opinion through education, public

events, and commemoration of the past. Political cultures vary greatly from state to state and sometimes

even within a state. Generally speaking, however, political culture remains more or less the same over time.

Example: The United States and Great Britain are both democracies, but each has a distinct political culture.

The American government derives its powers from a written constitution drafted by men who feared

monarchs and strong central governments, which is why they divided the federal government into three

distinct branches. Also, the American political system is dominated by two political parties. Great Britain, in

contrast, has a long history of monarchy and has never had a written constitution. Even though the current

monarch holds the official title of head of state, her powers are nominal, leaving Parliament—the legislative

body—as the dominant element of the government. And unlike the United States, Great Britain currently has

nearly half a dozen political parties that regularly seat candidates in Parliament.
Elitism in Philippine politics
Started during the Spanish colonial era, but was

exacerbated and cemented by the Americans

during their occupation of the Philippines. They

instituted their democracy in the Philippines, and

distributed the lands confiscated from the friars to

the Filipinos who supported their regime. This

started the rise of the political elites in the proinces

(Escobia"Discussion on Philippine Political Culture:

A Summary")

The presence of a few elites that wish to consolidate their rule in a certain society paves

the way for the perpetuation of personalistic politics. According to the late Lewis

E.Gleeck, an American diplomat and historian, on his book “president Marcos and the

Philippine Political Culture,” Philippine politics is personalistic (261-272). Personalistic

politics is a form of authoritarianism that occurs in a nominally or formally republicanstate,

but operates like a monarchy, such that political power seems hereditary (EncyloOnline

Encyclopedia).

Personalistic politics, in the Philippine setting, is when people use only the name, ormore

specifically, surname, as the basis of whether or not they would vote for a candidate.In

contrast, ideological politics is when people look at the ideology of the candidate

whichwould give them the hint of how the politician would rule, whether he is in favor of

state-funded social services or not among others (Bream, 2005).

6 Key Factors that constitutes a Political Culture

A Political System operates within the framework of a set of meanings and purposes- the political

culture of the society. All political activity is characterize by the values, beliefs and orientations

of the people towards political objects and actions. “Pattern of orientations to the political

action within any given society” is called the Political Culture of the society. It is a valuable part

of the general culture.

In itself, the Political Culture is determined by several historical and socioeconomic ethnic factors

which are referred to as its determinants or the elements. Changes in Political Culture also come

under the influence of these factors. Further, the general culture influences the Political Culture

and in turn gets influenced by it.

The following can be described as the key determinants or factors of Political Culture:

1. The Historical Factor:

History plays an important role in the making and evolution of Political Culture. Historical events

always influence the shaping of political culture in a big way. French political culture bears a

deep impact on the French Revolution and the “Declaration of Rights of Man and of Citizen.”

Likewise, the American Declaration of Independence, the War of Independence and the Civil War

of mid-19th century exercised a big influence upon the American Political Culture.

In the case of British Political Culture, the signing of the Magna Carta 1215, Petition of Rights

1628, the 17th century struggle between the King and the Parliament over the issue of supremacy,

the Glorious Revolution of 1688, etc., have all played a deterministic role. Soviet Political Culture

(1917-1991) was determined by the Socialist Revolution of 1917. The Indian Political Culture bears

the influence of events of the freedom struggle and the contact with western civilisation and

culture. As such, the Political Culture of each society is greatly influenced by the historical events.
2. Political Continuity or Discontinuity:

The continuity or discontinuity of a political system determines the nature of its political culture. Continuity of

political process helps the evolution of a participant political culture and secures the linkage between the past

and the present.

“The importance of political continuity in a country like Britain,” writes A.R. Ball “lies in the fact that their older

values have been allowed to merge with modern attitudes undisturbed by violent internal strife or domination by

foreign power.”

British Monarchy stands merged with Democracy. Conservatism stands supplemented by liberalism. In the U.S.A.,

too, the continuity of political tradition has helped the evolution of a developed and participant political culture.

Pakistan’s stunts with democracy between two long periods of military dictatorships have hindered the process of

development of a uniform and clear political culture. People of Pakistan struggle for democracy while living under

a military dictatorship but fail to manage the political system when it becomes democratic. As against this,

continuity of political development in a uniform democratic way is gradually helping India to develop a

democratic political culture.

3. Geography:

Geography plays a big role in determining the political culture of the society. Favourable location has helped

Britain to meet successfully foreign invasions. Small size has helped Britain to maintain the continuity of its

political traditions. The vast size and diversities have helped the Americans to accept the values of equality and

freedom for all.

Geography did play a role in the spread of socialism to Eastern European countries. The Swiss political culture

clearly reflects the impact of the geographical features of Switzerland. Acceptance of’ Neutrality’ as a national

value has been secured, and it stands determined by the geographical location of Switzerland as a small country

surrounded by four big neighbours.

4. Socio-Economic Factors:

Socio-economic factors always play a deterministic role in laying down the foundations of the political culture

and in securing a change in the orientations of the people towards political objects and actions. Levels of

poverty, employment, urbanisation, literacy, etc., play a leading role in shaping the political culture of a society.
5. Ethnic Factor:

The existence of ethnic differences and ethnic conflicts among several ethnic groups or minorities which live in

the society always determine the nature of political culture. Ethnic pluralism as manifested in linguistic, cultural,

religious and social diversities plays a deterministic role in the evolution of the political culture and the regional

sub-political cultures. Ethnic differences and conflicts give rise to the emergence of strong sub-political cultures

within the national political culture.

6. Ideological Factor:

The concept of political culture refers to orientations – cognitive, affective and evaluative, towards political

objects and actions. These orientations are greatly influenced by the ideology or ideologies that are popular with

the people.

As a set of principles offering an explanation of a given phenomenon or even life in society, an ideology plays an

important role in forming and changing people’s values, commitments and orientations.
It influences the cognitive, affective and evaluative orientations of the people

towards political objects and actions. Ideology of Marxism determined the nature of

political cultures of several states which later on adopted socialism as the value.

Influence of ideology of Liberalism has now been instrumental in changing the

orientations of the people of socialist states towards their political systems. Indian

Political Culture bears the impact of the ideology of Liberal Democratic Socialism.

All these factors are, in the main, the determinants of political culture. Together

these provide foundations to political culture of a society. Every study of the Political

Culture must involve a study of all these determinants.

Citizenship
Political culture is connected to notions of Citizenship because political culture frequently

includes an idea of what makes people good citizens. A Citizen is a legal member of a political

community, with certain rights and obligations. Because each country has its own requirements

for citizenship and attendant rights, the definition of “citizen” varies around the world.

Example: Not surprisingly, different countries have different criteria for citizenship. France

automatically bestows cit-izenship on anyone born in French territory via jus soli (Latin for “right

by territory”). Germany grants citizenship via jus sanguines (Latin for “right by blood”) to people

who have a German parent. Israel’s Law of Return, meanwhile, allows any Jew to move

permanently to Israel and become a citizen. The United States grants citizenship rights both to

people who are born in American territory and to people who have an American parent.
Aristotle and Citizenship
The Greek philosopher Aristotle was probably the first person to puzzle over what makes

someone a citizen in his treatise Politics (c. 335–323 bce). He reasoned that living in a particular

place does not automatically make a person a citizen because, in his day (as in ours) resident

aliens and immigrants often lived in a country without becoming citizens. In the end, Aristotle

defined a citizen as one who shares in the offices and power of a regime (even if only in a small

way). So, a tyranny has one citizen, whereas a democracy has many citizens.

Characteristics of Good Citizens

A good citizen lives up to the ideals of the regime and embodies much of what a particular

political culture considers important. An American who lives an exemplary life but who does not

work to help the community will probably be viewed as a good person but not as a good citizen.

Instead, Americans expect good citizens to help others and to make the community a better

place through active participation in public life. In the United States, a good citizen is often

expected to do some or all of the following:

 Vote in elections Demonstrate
patriotism by
respecting the flag,
Obey all local, state, and singing the national
federal laws anthem, and knowing
the Pledge of
Allegiance
Pay taxes

Be informed about Help the community

political issues when needed

Volunteer to help less

Help the community
fortunate people
when needed

Stereotypes
Political scientists seem to be in a quandary. On
the one hand, they make generalizations about
politics and people in order to gain a broader
understanding. On the other hand, political
scientists do not want to rely on, or perpetuate,
stereotypes. Finding a balance between these
two is difficult. Scholars must carefully examine
their use of language and data in an attempt to
avoid stereotyping.
Political Culture and Change
Political culture changes over time, but these changes often happen slowly. People

frequently become set in their ways and refuse to alter their attitudes on significant issues.

Sometimes it can take generations for major shifts to occur in a nation’s political culture.

Example: One example of the ways in which American political culture has been slow to

change concerns the rights of minorities. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 authorized federal

troops to supervise balloting in federal elections in the South in order to protect the voting

rights of black Americans. Even though the bill passed forty years ago, many government

officials fear that racial tensions in the South could still threaten the political freedoms of

blacks, which is why Congress and President George W. Bush reauthorized the Voting

Rights Act in 2006.

Nation-Building And Political Culture

Political culture has presented great difficulties to the military

forces in Iraq and Afghanistan engaged in nation-building during

the early years of the twenty-first century. The United States is

trying to build liberal democracies in these states, but in both

places, long-held attitudes toward women and other ethnic

groups, along with habits of obedience shaped by years of

tyranny, have interfered. As a result, establishing democracies in

these states could take a very long time.

Generaliization
Political culture refers to the set of attitudes, ideas, and sentiments that give

structure and meaning to a political process, as well as the underlying assumptions

and laws that regulate behavior in the political system. It includes both a polity's

political principles and its operating rules. As a result, political culture is an

aggregate manifestation of politics' psychological and subjective components. A

political culture is the result of both the collective history of a political system and

the individual lives of its members, and it is thus anchored in both public and private

events. A political culture is the result of a political system's collective history as well

as the personal histories of its members, and it is thus rooted in both public and

private events.
Generalization
Furthermore, political culture is a relatively new term that seeks to make

explicit and systematic much of the understanding associated with long-

standing concepts such as political ideology, national ethos and spirit,

national political psychology, and fundamental values of a people.

Political culture is more inclusive than terms like political style or

operational code, which focus on elite behavior, because it encompasses

both leaders' and citizens' political orientations. The term, however, is more

explicitly political and thus more restrictive than concepts such as public

opinion and national character.

Frezalyn Penny Meljean
Dacillo Besid Semilla

Presenters
References
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.slideshare.net/fatinnazihahazi
z/c5-political-culture&ved=2ahUKEwihsbjb--
r2AhXW3WEKHYqwBJQQFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1y8IQzWoJeBewt7o
QbyjFc

https://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/UNDP4/wp-
content/uploads/2012/12/Philippine-Political-Culture-and-
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https://slideplayer.com/amp/6634229/

Thank You
for listening!