Introduction

Political culture remains one of the most important approaches to understanding politics in general and comparative politics in particular. This approach has been widely used for conducting comparative studies and making empirical analyses of transitional societies. Scholars often investigate political behaviour and political processes within the context of a society’s political culture. In other words, how people perceive their country’s politics can be explored through political culture.

Political culture is a distinctive form of political philosophy comprising a set of beliefs, values, norms, and assumptions about how governmental, political, and economic life is carried out or ought to be carried out. It provides a framework for political change and is unique to nations, states, and other social groups. Essentially, this approach examines the sociological aspect of political development and serves as a powerful, unifying tool in comparative politics.

Generally, political culture is understood as a set of shared views and normative judgments held by a population regarding its political system. It is often seen as the foundation of all political activity or, at least, as a key factor determining the nature, characteristics, and level of political participation. It includes historical experiences, collective memory, social communities, and individual orientations, all of which influence political behaviour. Political culture summarizes these impressions and preferences, often in relation to foreign and domestic policy.

Importantly, the political culture approach does not focus on attitudes toward specific actors, such as the current president or prime minister. Instead, it reflects how people perceive the political system as a whole, including their belief in its legitimacy. The following sections provide a conceptual understanding of political culture.

Political Culture Approach

A longstanding argument in comparative politics is that political culture significantly influences the emergence of political democracy. This focus on political culture is partly an extension of the behavioural revolution in political science and a product of economic modernization. With modernization came changes in values regarding the role of the individual in the political system.

Political culture is a simple yet easily misunderstood concept. Characterizing a nation’s culture should not lead us to underestimate the importance of diverse subcultures within it. Similarly, although political culture may explain certain behaviours, objective conditions within a country may also shape behaviours often attributed to culture.

We study political culture to better understand political life. For instance, why do different ethnic groups cooperate effectively in Switzerland but not in Bosnia or Lebanon? Why are Russians more inclined than Canadians to support a powerful political leader? Why has political corruption been persistent in Mexico but not in Chile? Political culture can provide partial explanations for such differences.

Defining political culture is challenging because it is both elusive and comprehensive. In political science, it is broadly understood to involve basic values, beliefs, attitudes, and orientations about politics, including judgments of right and wrong, what is acceptable in political conduct, and what is not.

To understand political culture, it is useful to start with culture itself. The term originates from the German word “kultur”, referring to the distinctive higher values and enlightenment of a society. Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) described culture as “the sway of man over nature.” Edward B. Taylor, in Primitive Culture (1871), defined culture as a universal human capacity, comprising knowledge, beliefs, art, ethics, morals, law, traditions, customs, and other capabilities and habits acquired as members of society. Culture is a powerful tool for survival, yet fragile, existing primarily in the human mind.

Culture represents the shared psychological orientation of a society towards societal objects. People form a distinct pattern of orientations, which constitutes societal culture. Political culture is a specific component of societal culture, reflecting people’s orientation toward political life.

The political culture approach emerged naturally from the behavioural approach in the 1960s. It was developed to bridge the gap between micro-analysis and macro-analysis. Political culture consists of attitudes and practices shaping political behaviour, including moral judgments, political myths, beliefs, and ideas about what constitutes a good society (A. R. Ball, 1971). It reflects the government but also incorporates history and tradition, influencing the current regime.

Political culture is crucial because it shapes a population’s political perceptions and actions. It is closely linked to political ideology, national ethos, political psychology, and fundamental values. For example, both the United States and Great Britain are democracies, yet their political cultures differ. The U.S. government derives power from a written constitution and a two-party system, while Britain has a long monarchical history and no written constitution.

There is a close relationship between political culture and the political system. Political culture is essential for the survival of both old and modern political systems. A political community can exist as a polity or political system even without a state. All forms of political systems—developed or developing—possess some form of political culture. Even stateless political systems, like the United Nations or other international and regional organizations, operate on the basis of some form of political culture.