Political Culture & Cultural Conflict

Culture

Shared traditions, habits, behaviors shape by beliefs and values.

Political Culture

• Society’s pattern of political beliefs. attitudes, and values.

• Shapes how people view politics & political institutions.

Aristotle’s Early Theory

• Social structure → beliefs → type of political system.

• Middle class+equality=democracy; hierarchy=authoritarianism.

Views on Culture

• Primordialist View: Culture is fixed, inherited, ancient, unchangeable.

• Constructivist View: Culture is flexible, shaped by people, institutions, and change

Civic Culture

• Presented by Almond & Verba

• Mix of parochial (local focus), subject (passive, obeys state), and participant (active citizens).

• Stabilizes democracy.

Political Trust

Belief that institutions act fairly and competently.

Marxist Theory of Culture

• Culture comes from economic struggle.

• Ruling class ideas dominate (“ideology”).

• Gramsci: dominance maintained through hegemony, not force.

Clash of Civilizations

• Presented by Huntington

• Cultural blocs will conflict because Western values are not universal.

End of History Theory

• Presented by Fukuyama

• Liberal democracy is the final stage of ideological evolution.

Authoritarian Political Culture

• Presented by Inglehart & Welzel

• Authoritarian regimes survive partly because societies prioritize security over freedom.