MODULE III- POLITICAL CULTURE, POLITICAL

SOCIALIZATION, POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT, POLITICAL

MODERNIZATION

POLITICAL CULTURE

Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs, and sentiments which give
order and meaning to a political process and which provide the underlying
assumptions and rules that govern behavior in the political system. It
encompasses both the political ideals and the operating norms of a polity. The
term "Political Culture" was formulated and used for the first time by Gabrial
Almond in the fifties. According to Almond and Powell, " political culture
consists of attitudes, beliefs, orientations towards values and skills which are
current in an entire population, as well as those special propensities and patterns
which may be found within separate parts of that population"
The people of a given society share a common human nature. This
common nature is expressed in the form of certain values , beliefs and attitudes
which are transmitted from one generation to another by the processes of
teaching and learning , whether formal or informal.
Political culture is a set of values, beliefs , skills and attitudes within a
political system operates. It is the pattern of individual attitudes and orientations
towards politics among the members of a political system. A study of political
culture enables us to understand the political ideals and standards of behaviour
people have set for themselves in a polity. It is varying from country to country
and constitutes the link between the behaviour of individuals and political
events

Orientations of Political Culture

According to Almond and Powell political culture involves three components of
orientations. They are :
a) Cognitive Orientation: It implies the knowledge people have about objects
within their political system, its rules, roles and outputs etc.
b) Affective Orientation: It is the feeling of attachment, involvement ,
rejection and the like about political objects. These orientations are primarily
concerned with emotions of the people towards their political system.
c) Evaluative Orientation: It indicates the judgement of the people about the
political actions and institutions. It implies judgement and opinion about the
political objects, which usually involve applying value standards to political
objects and events.

Determinants of Political Culture

1.​ Political continuity
2.​ Colonial domination
3.​ Geographical conditions
4.​ Ethnic differences
5.​ Socio-economic structure
6.​ Religious difference
7.​ symbols

Classification of Political Culture

Almond and Powell classify political culture into three: They are Parochial
political culture , Subject political culture and Participant political culture . 1.
​ 1. Parochial political culture:-It is found in simple traditional and tribal
societies in which people have no understanding or have only very little
awareness of the political system. Political participation or general orientation is
not possible in such societies.
2. Subject political culture:- In this system, people are aware of the
national political system or the governmental system.. People by and large hold
a passive attitude to political affairs. It is mainly because he sees there is no role
or possibility of influencing the working of the system. This type of political
culture is found in the subjects countries , monarchies, totalitarian, authoritarian
system, etc
3. Participant political culture:- In such a system people are well
conscious of their rights and duties. It exists in developed societies where
citizens get ample opportunities to participate in the political affairs of the state.
They develop a particular attitude towards the political system. political parties,
pressure groups , interests groups etc. fall in this category and decide for
themselves what role they can play

Mixed type of Political Cultures

The three types, parochial, subject and participant are pure forms of political
political culture but in actual reality we find mixed cultures. Almond and Verba,
therefore, present three mixed models of political culture.
1) Parochial-Subject Political culture
This type of political culture is possessed by political systems in transitional
stages from a primitive tribal to a centralized political authority. This transition
stops halfway to a full fledged subject culture.

2) Subject-Participant Political Culture

This represents a condition when the political system stands mid way between
subject and participant cultures. The orientation toward input structure is
discernible but has not yet become an integral part of the culture. Further, the
input orientations are limited to certain sections of society. The role of
individuals in this system is limited and passive.

3) Parochial-Participant Political Culture

In most of the ex-colonial states the process of modernization was undertaken
immediately, after gaining independence. The governments chosen by the
people undertook the task of transforming parochial social setups into fully
participant ones. For obvious reasons, such attempts have generally failed to
transform parochial cultures into participant cultures. The result has often been
a queer combination of these two cultures.

The concept of political culture has made some significant contributions

to the study of Political Science. This study has provided a useful link between
macro and micro politics. It has also helped in regulating not only input
demands but also influencing conversion of the system outputs into new or
modified demands. It also helped in and continues to help in comparing
different political systems.
 POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

Political Socialization is the part of general socialization processes. Through

this the political culture is maintained and changed. It is the process by which
political culture is shaped at the individual level and at the community level and
is transmitted from generation to generation. The process starts at an early age
and continues throughout life. Political beliefs and attitudes developed in
younger age, may undergo fundamental change in older age due to the contact
with new education, changing social environment, new experiences in life and
performance of political parties. It is the process , or set of processes , through
which people learn about politics and acquire political values.
Definitions
❖​Almond & Verba: “ political socialisation is the process by which
political culture is maintained and changed”.
❖​AllanRBall: Political socialisation as “the establishment and development
of belief about the Political System”. .
❖​Easton: Political socialisation as “ those developments and processes by
which a person acquires political orientation and pattern of behaviour”.

Characteristics
1.​ Continues process
2.​ The process of political socialisation finds in every political society
3.​ Political socialization is related with political culture
4.​ A process of transmission of political values to the next generation
5.​ Internalization of political belief

Types of Political Socialization

1) Manifest political socialization (direct, structured, planned)- In the Manifest
political socialization certain values and feelings towards a political system are
directly expressed. In it there is explicit communication of information to the
other parties. It may take place through imitation, anticipatory behavior,
political education or political experiences.
Imitation is a vital component of political socialization e. g. Informal education
given in educational institutions, talks on electronic and mass media about a
political problem etc. A rural migrant to an urban area may deliberately imitate
political orientations of the urbanize just because by means of these imitations
he may wish to make himself acceptable to his new associates. Another e.g.
A child may consciously imitate the party preferences of his parents and
generalise from general social values to political objects.

2) Latent political socialization (indirect, unconscious, unintentional,

experience) - In latent political socialization there is no direct approach to the
problem but the ideas are transmitted indirectly. One method of indirect
socialization is that of transfer of values and thoughts to other persons. It may
take place through interpersonal transference, apprenticeship and generalization.
Interpersonal transference means the transmission of values and ideas to an
individual through the influence of other persons.
In addition to these two main types of political socialization, there are other
types of this concept as well.

3) Particularistic Socialization - In this type of political socialization, an

individual is taught only one role. His political ideas and views are directed
towards a particular value, which he is required to adhere and appreciate. All his
political energies are directed in this direction alone. It is shaped by specific
groups or traditions, religion.

4) Universalistic Socialization (broader, inclusive perspective, democracy)-

It is a type of socialization where political energies are not directed in one
direction but in a cosmopolitan outlook. They perform several roles as they can.
Such roles can be done in any walk of life. The process of acquiring values
based on universal principles.

5) Affective Socialization (emotional attachment to political beliefs based on

trust)- In affective socialization stress is only on emotional values. There is
very little role to rationality. The values get changed with the change of
emotions and such there is no stability

6) Pragmatic Socialization or Instrumental Socialization

In this type stress is not on emotions but on reasoning. The whole approach is
pragmatic and all are quite well planned, calculated and their good or bad
effects are fully understood. Not on emotions instead individual develop
political beliefs based on practical benefits, self interest and structural
calculation
Agents of Political Socialization
There are various agents of political socialisation. The most important agencies
are the following.
1. FAMILY: Family is the first important agent of political socialisation.
It plays a key role in moulding the character of child and his attitude towards
politics. The collective decisions in the family influence the children. The
children receive their primary political learning from the family. In the opinion
of Almond and Powell that manifest political socialisation by the family can
also have important effects. In developed liberal democracies, families are
found to play a very vital role in the manifest political socialisation.

2. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: The educational institution is the

second and powerful influencing agent of political socialisation. It provides
manifest transmission political knowledge to students. These are the important
centres of propagating political ideas , values and pattern of political behaviour.
Children getting education in a particular institution may develop particular
kind of mind setup. We find that all political parties consider these institutions
as a fertile land to politically educate the children as per their philosophy.

3. PEERGROUPS: Peer groups play an important role in shaping values

orientations. These groups being friendly in nature can easily influence others'
political views. Their interaction on political issues is spontaneous and not
formal. The members of the groups are most willing to accept majority view
about a political issue or value after discussion. In the liberal societies these
groups are found to be active.

4. MASS MEDIA: Mass media plays a significant role in moulding the

view of the children. In many cases political views are shaped on the basis of
newspapers and electronic media reports. At present their role is increasing
rapidly in the process of political socialisation and brought political change in a
number of countries. According to Lucian Pye , " Socialisation through the mass
media is the best short-run technique available and it is crucial to
modernization".

5. POLITICAL PARTIES: Political party is another important agent of

political socialisation. Political parties disseminate political education,
ideological teaching, political knowledge and values, mobilize political action
and train political leaders. It establishes a channel of communication between
the government and the people. Parties take an active role and interest to ensure
people's participation and make suitable people for the functioning of
democratic government.

6. RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS: The religious institutions play an

important role, particularly in the developing countries and theocracies states in
political socialization. The people get easily influenced about the view of
religious leaders on political issues. Religious influence is very high in Indian
politics, especially in regional politics. In India, many political leaders
organized Caste and tribes association on political lines and propagated their
viewpoints.
7. ROLE OF GOVT- Each state is governed by a government, which has
some political ideology. Even the staunchest supporters and followers of a
political ideology change their political affiliations after assessing success or
failure of policies being followed at home and foreign fronts by its party. This is
one major reason why political conscious people leave their old political parties
and either join some already existing party or form some new party.
Performance of the government is a major cause responsible for political
socialization in all awakened and advanced societies.

8) WORKPLACE OR EMPLOYMENT SITUATION- Workplace and

nature of employment which one gets in life, has too been a consideration in
political socialization. After completing education one makes efforts to settle in
life. His attitude towards political institutions and structures gets shaped with
ease or difficulty with which he gets jobs. He develops love or hatred for the
system accordingly. In addition, what type of job one gets and who are his work
associates, what is their political ideology and level of thinking, what
opportunity he gets to discuss his political ideas with his associates, how his
employer behaves and to which extent he is made a participant in decision
making process all are responsible for political socialization. Apart from these,
political orientations are shaped through participation in unions, collective
bargaining, demonstration and so on.

It is a difficult task to estimate the importance of different agents in socialising

people. The party, media, educational institutions all mould the political culture
and political socialisation.
 POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

Political development is a way of directional change and modernization

to re- structuring the entire social, economic and political system. Development
means the process of cumulative change and growth of a system. So political
development refers to that process of change and growth of the political system
as a whole. In the words of Rostow and Pye, political development aims at
“national political unity and broadening of the base of political unity and
boarding of the base of political participation.”
Lucian Pye is the pioneer to analyse the concept of development in depth.
In his book the ‘ Aspects of Political Development ‘ he explained directions of
political development.
• Political development as the political prerequisite of economic development.
• Political development as the political typical of industrial societies.
• Political development as political modernization.
• Political development as the operation of a nation state.
• Political development as administrative and legal development.
• Political development as mobilization and participation.
• Political development as the building of democracy.
• Political development as stability and orderly change.
• Political development as one aspect of a multi-dimensional process of social
change.

Lucian Pye observed three basic characteristic features of political

developments are: Equality, Capacity and Differentiation.

1.​ Equality- It means mass participation or involvement of the most of the

people in the political affairs of the country without discrimination on
artificial grounds like those of religion, creed, caste, wealth, descent,
colour of skin, sex etc. No section of the people should be deprived of
their rights and take active part in the politics of the country. A popular
rule should be established to ensure the principle of equality. It also
means that recruitment to public office should reflect standards of
 performance and not the descriptive considerations of a traditional social
system.

2.​ Capacity - It refers to the capacity of a political system to enforce laws to

maintain law and order by which it can convert 'inputs' into 'outputs' and
the extent to which it can affect the rest of the society and economy. Then
he has also included in that efficiency of the system i.e, the extent to
which it is capable of execution of public policy

3.​ Differentiation- Differentiation implies diffusion and specialization of

structures. The offices and agencies tend to have their distinct and limited
functions and there is an equivalent of division of labour within the realm
of government. It also involves the integration of complex structures and
processes. That is, differentiation is not fragmentation and the isolation of
different parts of a political system but specialization based on an
ultimate sense of integration. That means to perform specialized functions
, specialization of structures is necessary.

Crisis in political development

It highlights the difficulties states faces in achieving stable and effective
political development

1) Identity Crisis - The people should identify themselves with their political
system. They must recognize their national territory as their 'homeland' and also
feel that their personal identities are in part defined by the identification with
their territorial delimited country.

2) Legitimacy crisis - Legitimacy crisis means the relationship between nature

of authority and responsibility of the government. This problem of legitimacy
becomes serious in developing countries as compared with the developed ones
because in the case of former both religion and political bosses as well

3) Penetration Crisis- Penetration crisis means the problem of administration

reaching down to the society and affecting basic policies. To carry out
significant development policies, the government must be able to reach down to
the lowest level and touch the daily lives of the people.
4) Participation Crisis -Participation Crisis occurs when there is uncertainty
over the appropriate rate of expansion and when the influx of new participation
creates serious stains on the existing institutions. It includes difficulties in
integrating different social groups into the political process, particularly as
demand.

5) Integration Crisis - it is basically Struggle to maintain national unity and

social cohesion while accommodating diverse interests and identities.
Integration crisis deals with the extent to which entire polity is organized as a
system of interacting relationships, first among the officers and agencies of
government and then among various groups and interests seeking to make
demands upon the system and, finally, in the relationships between officials and
articulating citizens.
6) Distribution Crisis - Distribution crisis refers to the issue as to how
governmental powers should be used to influence the distribution of goods,
services and values throughout the society. It includes conflicts over the
allocation of resources, wealth and opportunities.

Variables of Political Development and Decay

Lucian W Pye and Almond analyzed the concept of Political Development.
They ignore its reverse side, which is called Political Decay. Samuel P
Huntington removes this deficiency of the liberal theory of political
development. In simple terms, it means that if the democratic system is
developing more and more in a country of the third world, it is
‘development’: if things are moving in the opposite direction, it makes the
case of ‘political decay;. For this purpose he uses four variables and their
antonyms to signify the marks of development and decay. These are the
following;

1) Adaptability
Adaptability means a long, regular and disciplined chain of leadership ready to
welcome new changes and adapting the political, social and economic
institutions accordingly. Its reverse aspect is rigidity which means that the
leaders are fanatics who oppose changes in the name of preserving their old age
institutions and patterns of life.
2) Complexity -
Complexity means that there is a network of institutions, each carrying its
responsibility in a more or less free manner without interfering into the domain
of others or without facing any interference from their side. Its reverse aspect is
simplicity which means that the mode of operation is old and traditional in
which there is no separation of functions.

3) Autonomy -
Autonomy means that all institutions have their clearly defined sphere of
activity and so one institution may not be a hindrance or a source of interference
to others. Its reverse aspect is subordination which means that the institutions
have no clearly defined area of activity of their own and so they remain under
the control of some powerful institution of the state.

4) Coherence
Coherence means a degree of consensus among different associations and
institutions due to which unity prevails in the system. Forces of disruption are
not there to disturb the operation of the political system. Its reverse aspect is
incoherence or disunity that means the absence of consensus necessary for
maintaining peace and unity in the state.
 POLITICAL MODERNIZATION

Modernization is the current term for an old process of social change

whereby less developed societies acquire the characteristics common to more
developed societies. Political Modernization is the process based upon rational
utilization of resources and aimed at the establishment of a modern society. It
refers to the development of a sufficiently flexible and powerful institutional
framework that should meet the growing demands and accommodate change. It
refers totality of change in political structures and cultures.
Huntington describes it as a multi- faced process involving changes in all
areas of human thought and activity. Thus Modernization is a process which
means change in all the fields , social, cultural, psychological, economic and
political but still it is an economic concept. It refers to change in the political
culture and political institutions as a result of the process of modernization.

Dimensions of Modernization

Modernization is a multi-faced process and it has several dimensions.

●​ At the psychological level it involves the change in the norms,
values, attitudes and orientations of people.
●​ At the intellectual level it involves a tremendous expansion of
man's knowledge about his environment and the diffusion of this
knowledge throughout the country through increased literacy,
institutional development and mass communication.
●​ At the demographic level, it implies improvement in the standard
of living and progress towards the mobility of the people and
modernization.
●​ At the social level it has the tendency to replace the focus of
individual loyalty to family and other primary groups, to voluntary
associations, social participations and involvement.
●​ At the economic level it involves the growth of the market,
modernisation in agriculture, improvement in commerce,
development in industrialisation and widening economic activity.

In this way Political Modernization increases the capacity and capability of the
political system to find and utilise the resources of the country. It also increases
the need for coordinated social action to solve all kinds of problems facing the
political system. Finally, it increases in political participation and political
demands from the members of the society

Indicators of modernization
On the basis of the above mentioned dimensions of modernization, we can
identify major indicators of modern society. They are as follows :- Growth of
Urbanization, Increased Per Capita income, Rise in GNP, High rate of Literacy,
Increased Political Participation, Secularization, Increase in the scope and range
of Political Authority, National Integration etc

Agents of political Modernization

1)​ In political modernization leadership is an important agent. It is the centre
around which the whole process revolves. Modernization depends on the
nature and character of the leadership. i.e whether the leader is
conservative or progressive, forward looking or backward looking,
believes in revolutionary or peaceful means and whether he has
legitimacy with the people or not.

2)​ Another important agent is the political party system. It means how and
what lines political parties are organized and extend to which these are
allowed to function freely without the influence of state. What is the
nature of party leadership and what is the party approach towards
modernization.

3)​ Political and other elites are also important agents of modernization. In
every society though they are a minority influences the rest of the
population to a large extent. Being elite, their views are considered by
society with due respect in both political and non political aspects. In case
the elite group is enlightened, educated and progressive favors
modernization. Then the progress will become easy. On the other hand if
they have a negative approach then the task of modernization becomes
difficult.

4)​ In most developing countries, the military has become an important agent
of modernization. In some countries it has captured direct powers. In
many others, it indirectly controls or influences modernization. Usually
the military comes to power when civil authorities, political parties, and
 political leadership create so much chaos and disorder in all walks of life
that they lose their legitimacy and the people get disenchanted with them.
When military authorities come to power then they have a good chance of
modernizing the society. Thus if military leadership is willing to
modernize the society, it can do so and prove a good agent of
modernization

5)​ In every society bureaucracy consists of awakened and enlightened

persons. It is its responsibility to run the administration. It is a
bureaucracy which advises the political bosses and is responsible for
implementing all policies and programs of the government. It can prove a
good agent of modernization.

6)​ In the modernization process international bodies also play a big role.
Developing nations which need modernization are backward in all walks
of life, social, economic and political on the one hand and in the area of
science, technology, industry and urbanization on the other. These need
massive assistance from international bodies. Modernization depends on
the role and attitude of international bodies and organizations towards
developing nations which have limited resources.

7)​ Like international bodies, Developed Nations too can prove to be an

important agent of modernization of developing states. These nations
provide a positive outlook and extend economic and technical aid suited
to developing nations for modernization.

8)​ In the past colonialism proved a good source of modernization. Colonial

powers, while fully protecting their own interest, tried to introduce
modern means of transformation and communication and also tried to
improve the political structures and institutions in a limited way.