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Werlin PoliticalCulturePolitical 1990
Werlin PoliticalCulturePolitical 1990
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are met, political culture can be changed tween Malays and Chinese) has inten-
quickly and effectively (Werlin 1986). In sified since independence; whereas in
El Salvador's Fundacion Desarroyo proj- Singapore, it has diminished. In each
ect, people were organized into mutual case, politics, rather than culture, has
help groups to build the infrastructure been the guiding force. We must not allow
and foundations for low-income housing. culturalists to diminish the importance of
They repaid loans and cooperated with politics without a strong counterargu-
management to an extent that surprised ment.
and delighted World Bank officials. In
HERBERT H. WERLIN
Egypt's USAID-supported Helwan proj-
ect, one of the community associations Howard University
gained enough support from residents to
rely on them to sweep the streets volun-
tarily rather than pay people to do it. In In my article on a culturalist theory of
Gujarat, India, low-income, self- political change I did not argue that such a
employed women were trained by the theory is valid (which remains to be seen),
Self-Employed Women's Association (an but that it is possible to construct such a
organization led by Ela Bhatt, a dynamic theory without cheating. I did this be-
local leader) to overcome their fear of the cause arguments that culturalists could
banking system and to undertake new not theorize about political change with-
types of production, storage, marketing,out undermining their own theoretical
and financial management. These cases, perspective existed and had a cogent
as well as many others, show that people basis-namely, that the postulates of
will respond to favorable political rela- political culture theory did indeed make
tionships under otherwise adverse circum- continuity the logical expectation. I also
stances. tried to spell out what such a theory
The most successful foreign aid projects would be in regard to various kinds of
combine incentives and penalties to change and what sort of changes it could
motivate people to improve their lives. not handle.
Such projects have been introduced by the Of course, this was no mere intellectual
World Bank in the Calcutta Metropolitan exercise. At a minimum, I wanted to show
District and by USAID in rural Egypt. that political culture should be regarded
They provide initial funds to civic units as a serious player in the game of explain-
for certain agreed-on programs, with ing political change. No doubt, also, I
renewed funding dependent upon specific lean toward culturalist theory, though
objectives being met. The Inter-American hardly as dogma (see Eckstein 1974). Still,
Foundation uses this approach, carefully Herbert Werlin's criticism of my article is
selecting nongovernmental proposals, based on a mistaken, if understandable,
monitoring their progress, and continuing reading of its nature. However, that does
to fund only the more successful. The not preclude examining the cogency of the
result might be called "political elas- attack.
ticity," simultaneously expanding oppor-Let us leave aside Werlin's minor
tunity and control (Werlin 1988). points: that I am a Freudian and that I
We end with warning as well as hope. make a dubious distinction between tradi-
tion and modernity (in fact, although I
Political culture an retrogress as quickly
as it can progress. The neighboring coun-use the words, I have always been con-
tries of Malaysia and Singapore provide cerned with "development" as a con-
tinuous dimension, not a dichotomy; see,
examples of each. In Malaysia, interethnic
esp., Eckstein 1982). The crucial argu-
or interracial conflict (particularly, be-
253
ment here is one in favor of "political We are told that one always needs a right
engineering." Incremental (gradual, balance between decentralized responsi-
limited) change does not seem to be in bility and central supervision and control
question, since it is the sort of change least (whatever such a balance may be). One of
problematic for culturalist explanation. the fundamental differences among
Rather, the point is that political change political systems and their cultures con-
that is rapid, broad-scale, and nonrevolu- cerns precisely this variable. Could one
tionary can be politically wrought-if really, for instance, imagine any major
only the right "tools" are used. (If I havemodification in Switzerland's highly de-
read correctly, that makes most of centralized cantonal system, simply as a
Werlin's examples of change not really tool to achieve some end? After all, at-
pertinent.) True, USAID and World Bank tempts to form a centralized union have
projects hardly have had an impressive failed since 1481 except for the very
record of success (although their objec- gradual formation of a weak "state" out
tives rarely, if ever, have approached of various alliances and confederations of
broad transformative political change). "sovereign" cantons, divided (culturally)
But that, my critic argues, is not due to by language and religion, as well as by
cultural inertia but to engineering errors: economic differences (Steiner 1971,
bad management or faulty project design 15-44).
and implementation and lack of govern- By contrast how would one go about
mental support. This view is only to be loosening the grip of France's equally an-
expected from agencies and officials cient centralized bureaucracy in order to
engaged in bringing about meliorative introduce a dose of local autonomy
change. healthy for attaining reformist or trans-
The activity is laudable. But just for formative goals? That system, long in the
that reason it should be pursued without making, has remained virtually un-
illusions. Engineers achieve results effec- changed through monarchies, empires,
tively by adapting well-established and republics. As Deschanel put it for the
theories (or in lieu of theory, reliable ex-Fourth Republic, "The republic on top
perience) to the conditions with which, and the empire underneath" (Williams
willy-nilly, they must work. It is both1954, 2). The system is a prototypical ex-
possible and likely that culture is one of ample of cultural "inertia." In less-
the givens to which social engineers must developed nations the difficulty of balanc-
adapt, whether in management, project ing centralization and decentralization
design, implementation, or obtaining tends to be greatly compounded by the
governmental support. It is also likely fact that central permeation of local areas
that culture will rule out certain objectives generally is highly imperfect. Many devel-
in certain contexts. If social engineers areoping nations, it has been said, are 'heads
serious, then, they should welcome cul- without bodies." An effective central ad-
ministration that can effectively control
turalist theories as possible aids to achiev-
ing effectively results and defining and supervise at the local level seems itself
realistic, however limited, goals and to require prolonged development. This
means. includes the development of suitable
But the argument here seems to be that cultural dispositions, as Weber argued in
"politics" can achieve just about any ef- his justly influential work on bureau-
fects if only the right methods are used. cracy. It also requires modification of
What, then, are these methods? They are,profound cultural (tribal or communal)
without exception, just the sort of thingsidentities. Resources matter, too, but they
that are the essence of political cultures! are probably the least obstacle.
254
255
I pointed out that West Germany has to exceptions and thus disposing of them
often been considered a "deviant case," in (Kendall and Wolf 1949, 12-13). "De-
the sense of an exception to be disre- viant case analysis," in the technical
garded, but I also stated that just treating sense, both explains cases and validates
it as exceptional is improper. The utility the general rules from which they differ.
of deviant cases is that they can tell us a What makes Germany such a case, I ar-
great deal about typical cases, precisely gued sometime ago (Eckstein 1979), is that
through their singular nature. An exem- Germany has, ever since unification,
plary use of deviant case analysis for this undergone shock wave after shock wave
purpose is the Lipset, Trow, and Coleman of generally disorienting experiences, far
(1956) study of democracy in the Inter- more so than any other country: not just
national Typographical Union (ITU) (at Nazism and the war, but rapid industriali-
any rate as it was). The study is relevant zation in the nineteenth century, the first
here simply because West Germany may World War and the loss of much of a
reasonably be considered the ITU of whole male generation, rapid and extreme
political systems-at least, up to a certain democratization in the Weimar Republic,
chronological point, since it is distinctly the Great Inflation and the Great Depres-
possible, and quite consistent with my sion, and, after the traumas of Nazism
thesis, that over the last half century Ger- and the Second World War, the occupa-
man democracy has become increasinglytion, the great influx of refugees from East
"enculturated." Germany, and the stratificatory disloca-
The ITU was a "deviant" case among tions attendant on the Wirtschafts-
trade unions because it had a highly wunder. The point is that Germany is a
democratic structure where oligarchy case in which culture, due to large-scale
generally prevails. It had a genuine two- disorientation after disorientation should
party system; it used referenda copiously be regarded as extremely weak and thus
(often to overturn leaders' preferences- as unable to provide much friction against
not least leaders' preferences for salary in- either raw political power (the Nazis) or
creases); it held regular, well-attended reconstruction through rationally devised
meetings of the members; it had an insti- law (the Federal Republic). (The rationale
tutionalized (and varying) opposition able that leads us to this point is provided in
to print and distribute material, including detail in Eckstein 1979 [p. 14].)
a newspaper; and so on. If one could It would be unfortunate if my article
understand both what conditions made were taken as an attempt to demonstrate
for this and that the conditions are highly the futility of any and all "political
exceptional, even unique, among unions engineering." But agencies like USAID
(and perhaps other organizations) one and the World Bank, and, more generally,
could have, at the same, an explanation of constitution makers, nation builders, and,
the ITU's structure and confirmation of indeed, the many admirable people who
the iron law of oligarchy. Without going have sought to "improve" others in, for
into details, this is exactly what emerges instance, the foreign and domestic Peace
from the Lipset, Trow, and Coleman (1956) Corps-in fact all of us-have much to
study and may emerge from any study learn about such engineering. A few sym-
that follows Kendall and Wolf's notion pathetic books free of comfortable illu-
that deviant cases not anticipated by sions, like Foster's on inner-city teaching
theory, can, in many cases, be the cases (1974), have reminded us of this. But
most fruitful for theory building, pro- naturally, we would rather believe that all
vided they are not used simply to "tidy can be done, and done rapidly, by using
up" loose ends by giving some plausibility (preferably simple) correct techniques.
256
In regard to culture and political engi- Eckstein, Harry. 1984. "Civic Inclusion and Its Dis-
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