Chapter 9 - Political Culture and
the Media
Political Culture
Political Culture → Culture is the way of life of a people. Political scientist refer to
political culture as being the ‘pattern of orientations’ to political objects such as
parties, govvernment, and the constitution, expressed in beliefs, symbols and
values.
Approaches to political culture
The civic-culture approach
Civic culture = A set of specific attitudes which are crucial to the success
of modern democracies
Came about in the writings of Almond and Verba, they identified three
types of political culture:
A participant culture: one in which citizens pay close attention to
polics (wanted)
A subject culture: More passivity amongst citizens, the feeling that
the elites rule.
A parochial culture: absence of citizenship, people identifying with
their locality. No participation in (national) politics.
The civic culture is a blend of those three
This approach has been widely criticized because:
1. The notion of passivity would decrease political participation which is
the very stuff to democracy.
2. It rests on the unproven assumption that political attitudes and
values shape behaviour, not the other way around.
3. Tends to treat political culture as homogeneous: pays little attention
to minorities.
The Marxist approach
Chapter 9 - Political Culture and the Media 1
, In Marx’s view, ideas and culture are part of a ‘superstructure’ that is
conditioned or determined by the economic ‘base’, the mode of
production.
→ Two theories of culture:
1. Culture is essentially class-specific: members of a class have the
same experiences and share the same interests, so they are likely
to have the same ideas, values and believes.
2. Political culture is nothing more than a bourgeois ideology (denoting
ideas and theories that serve the interests of the bourgeoisie by
disguising the contradictions of capitalist society) → political culture
as a form of power
Later, this was known as ‘hegemony’: the ascendancy or
domination of one element of a system over others.
Most influential exponent of this view was Antonio Gramsci, who
believed that in order for socialism to be achieved, a ‘battle of ideas’ has
to be waged through which proletarian principles, values and theories,
displace, or at least challenge, bourgeois ideas.
The conservative approach
Political culture is a form of tradition → traditional values. → values
linked to family, the church and the nation.
Major defender of this team was Michael Oakeshott, the strikers are
Daniel Bell and Irving Kristol
The problem with this position is that it assumes there is an authoritative
moral system upon which order and stability can be based. → modern
political culture is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Political culture in crisis
Decline of social capital?
In ‘bowling alone’ (2000) Robert Putnam highlighted the emerge of a
post-civic generation. Decline of voluntaries, attendance at public, town
or school meetings, as well as membership, and work done for political
parties.
His work explains the decline in social capital in various ways.
Chapter 9 - Political Culture and the Media 2
