POLITICAL CULTURE AND SOCIALIZATION

DEFINITION OF POLITICAL CULTURE

Political culture is the system of empirical beliefs, expressive symbols and values which defines

the situation in which political action takes place

 Political culture looks for basics, general values on politics and government

 It encompasses both the political ideals and the operating norms of a polity

 The components of culture are values, beliefs and emotional attitudes, about how

government ought to be conducted and also about what it should do.

 It is also conceived as the set of attitudes, beliefs and sentiments which give order and

meaning to a political process and which provides the underlying assumptions and rules

that govern the behaivour in the political system

 Political culture is specifically the pattern of individual political orientation, the attitudes

towards the political system and its various parts and to the role of the self in the political

system

 These political orientations are predispositions to political action and are determined by

such factors as traditions, historical memories, motives, emotions and symbols

The purposes of political orientation are:

(i) The general political system about which members may, for example, feel either about

patriotism or alienation, that it is large, small, strong, weak, democratic, autocratic,

constitutional, etc

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 (ii) The component parts of the political system – legislature, executive, bureaucracy,

judiciary, the political leaders, such as monarchs, presidents, party leaders, public

policies, and so on .

(iii) The orientation towards self as a political actor – sense of obligation competence, and

so on

CLASSIFICATION OF POLITICAL CULTURE

Three main types of civic culture:

(i) Parochial culture

(ii) Subject political culture and

(iii) Participant political culture

1. Parochial Political Culture

In this type, people have little knowledge of the political system beyond what happens in their

immediate local environment

- Politics is permeated by ethnic loyalty and primordial sentiments. A parochial citizen

does not expect anything from the political system and makes no demand on it. This

type is found in many traditional societies.

2. Subject Political Culture

A subject orientation is essentially a passive one. The citizen is unaware of the outputs of the

government – welfare programmes, coercive, measures or tax legislation, but he has no influence

on the government

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 - The government expects obedience from the people and conformity to its directives

without questioning. Examples can be found in Communist regimes, like China, Cuba,

Russia, North Korea and so on

3. Participant Political Culture

- This is characterized by a citizen believing in their ability to influence their

government, and by participating actively in decision – making process. Examples

of the countries with participant political culture can be found in USA, Britain and

other Western countries with Liberal democracy

However, these political cultures are not mutually exclusive in any nation. Rather, each is mixed,

made up of different proportions of parochial, subject and participant attitudes.

- The relative prevalence of each type determines the kind of political culture which

exists in a nation

SUMMARY

In sum, political culture connotes

 The degree of social trust or distrust which prevails in society

 the general aptitude of tolerance and interpersonal cooperation permeating political

relations among people

 attachment and loyalty of citizens to the national political system

 people’s attitude towards authority – the degree of public recognition of what constitutes

the legitimate authority

 People’s sense of their rights, powers and obligations. Do they feel that they can influence

and participate in the decision making processes or is there widespread apathy and political

orientation in the political system?

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POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

The political behaviour of an individual often results from the socialization process

- Political socialization can be explained to mean when an individual’s learning from

others in his environment the social patterns and values of his culture

- Political socialization in its broadest sense refers to the way society transmits its

political culture from generation to generation.

- It is a process mediated through various agencies of society, by which an individual

learns politically relevant attitudinal dispositions and behavioural patterns

AGENTS OF POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION

A person’s political orientation is not born with him, but learned.

The following are agents of political socialization

 THE FAMILY

Peoples’ first political and politically –relevant learning occurs within the family. Families

influence personality development and have great influence on acquisition of politically

relevant values, such as obedience to rules and authority

 THE SCHOOL

The school accomplishes political socialization the curriculum, participation in school

activities, competitiveness and respecting the rules of the game

- Besides, the more educated an individual, the more is the political awareness, political

information and likelihood to engage in political discussion

 PEER GROUPS

Peer groups are important in the socialization process.

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 o A peer group refers to a group of people sharing similar status and having intimate ties

such as children playmates, small married groups, friendship cliques and so on

o As an important medium of social learning, peer groups can influence the behaviour of

its members

o Peer groups are also powerful agent of political socialization in the sense that in most

cases, members seek for approval, acceptance and friendship from them

o As such, individuals take to the views held by the peer group they belong

 MASS MEDIA

The newspaper, radio television, magazines and so on are examples of educative mass

media. The role of mass media in political socialization are as follows

 Mass media provide visual pictures of government activities

 At the same time, the government use the mass media to communicate with the

public on its activities

 The mass media do not only teach the individual or public the norms and values of

the society, they also reinforces

In sum, through political socialization, the personality that each person will exhibit throughout

life is formed through exposure with variety of socializing agencies, such as: family, school,

peer group, and mass media.

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Resources Suggested for Further Reading

Anifowose, R. & Enemuo, F. (2005). Elements of Politics, Lagos: Concepts Publication Ltd

Oyediran, Oyeleye, Nwosu, H, Takaya B, Anifowoshe, R, Badejo, H, Ogboghodo, G. & Agbade,

A. (2007). New Approach Government. Lagos: Longmans Nigeria Plc

Roskin, M.G., Cord, R.L., Medeiros, J.A. & Jones, W.S. (2007). Political Science. An

Introduction, 10th Edition New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall