Political culture was a popular technical term in political science during the behavioural revolution, and, though it suffered a decline in academic popularity for some time, had re-emerged as a vital analytic concept by the end of the 20th century. Basically a ‘political culture’ is the totality of ideas and attitudes towards authority, discipline, governmental responsibilities and entitlements, and associated patterns of cultural transmission such as the education system and even family life. The importance of all these factors, and the reason for linking them together into one portmanteau concept, is that they give an overall profile of how people are likely to react to political matters. Thus a classic study into political culture across several countries, TheCivic Culture, showed that some societies seemed to transmit a general distrust for authority, and to create very low levels of political hopefulness in their citizens, while others, rightly or wrongly, bred citizens who felt they could trust politicians and that they themselves had a fair say in determining policy and political decisions.
All sorts of matters can be relevant in applying this concept, from the discipline systems in schools to, in one perhaps extreme case, child-rearing patterns in Myanmar (Burma). While no one, arguably, has ever managed to define or measure the concept sufficiently precisely to make it theoretically testable, it is clear that some general set of views about the nature and utility of government and authority can plausibly be seen as prevailing in all societies, and may well be a more important determinant of the decisions and shape of government than more obviously contemporary events. In particular ‘cultural’ explanations are seen as a necessary complement to rational choice explanations. The latter are quite effective at explaining why political institutions chose particular options and policies from those deemed conceivable—although it takes a cultural explanation to uncover why that was the preference set in the first place.
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