Comparative Analysis of Political Cultures in Present-Day World Politics. The Contribution of the Cognitive-Developmental Approach

Abstract

Political sciences do not provide an appropriate theory of the human being required to understand different political cultures both in present societies as in that of the past history. The structural-genetic theory program has evidenced that humankind went from preoperational over concrete-operational to formal-operational stages, the latter one coming into being late in history. Even in the most advanced nations of today there was a continuous development of the formal-operational stage during the last generations, causing the establishment of higher stages of political consciousness, honing sensibility for human and liberty rights, and fostering a more civilized conduct both in domestic and international politics. Accordingly, political cultures in current developing and threshold nations manifest patterns of a less elaborated and rougher standard. It is maintained that political sciences must resort to the cognitive-developmental approach to be able to understand political institutions, political behavior, and political consciousness.