Political Culture in Eastern and Western Europe. The Role of Political Correctness

Abstract

Political culture research has neglected political correctness as a possible aspect of contemporary political culture, especially of political elite culture. Political elite culture includes sets of beliefs and conduct codes, including “rules” how to communicate and what to say and not to say in public. This paper has three parts: The first theoretical part concentrates on differences regarding the acceptance of political culture between Eastern and Western Europe and discusses political correctness as a possible component of contemporary political culture. The second part presents political culture as seen by its critics, and analyzes some forms of political correctness in Eastern and Western Europe for the example of migration. The third part draws attention to the non-existence of political correctness in Eastern European political culture, and points to some challenges for a democratic political culture in Eastern and Western Europe.