Civic Political Culture Research Articles

The Intersection of Culture and Politics: Understanding Women’s Underrepresentation in Indian Democracy

The representation of women in Indian politics has been low and inadequate, with women comprising only 14.4% of the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Despite numerous policy measures aimed at promoting women’s political representation, the underrepresentation of women remains a persistent challenge. This study seeks to understand the intersection of culture and politics in explaining the underrepresentation of women in Indian democracy. The research explores the civic political culture of women’s political participation. The findings suggest that a change in the civic political culture, through a multifaceted approach, is crucial in breaking down the glass ceiling in Indian politics.

Роль волонтерского движения в сфере гражданско-патриотического воспитания: опыт Нижегородской области

The article analyzes the program-target approach in the field of civic and patriotic education and the practice of its implementation at the regional level. The purpose of this work is to determine the specifics of the role of the volunteer movement (volunteerism) in this area on the example of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The author of the article highlighted the main parameters of the work of public authorities at various levels to promote the spread of volunteerism in general in Russia and in the region. Special attention is paid to the activities of Nizhny Novgorod volunteers who contribute to patriotic education and the formation of civic political culture in the region in the context of the implementation of the institute of volunteerism. The research interest is also rooted in the plane of youth policy. The main results, illustrating the features of the experience of the named region, are summarized. Firstly, it is concluded that the institute of volunteerism in the Nizhny Novgorod region is being strengthened every year, its goals and objectives are being updated under the influence of the policy pursued by the federal and regional authorities. Secondly, civil-patriotic actions and events are the foundation of volunteer activity in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Thirdly, the federal center is actively involved in the training of volunteers in the region and the consolidation of the volunteer movement here. Fourth, the prospects for the development of volunteerism in the Russian Federation and the Nizhny Novgorod region, problems and risks within the framework of the civil-patriotic block of the volunteer movement are identified. Fifthly, it can be stated that the expansion of the tools of public associations leads to the fact that the sphere of activity of Nizhny Novgorod volunteers is filled with another direction – cultural education, which is one of the vectors of preserving historical memory and an important factor in preserving patriotic values.

Postal ballot in unconsolidated democracy: Poland's case

PurposeAs the democratic world debates and in some cases replaces physical voting with postal ballots and on-line voting, it is important to refrain from advocating a generic approach to the issue and in particular to distinguish between consolidated and unconsolidated democracies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper argues that unconsolidated democracies are not fit for the introduction of non-physical (postal ballot and on-line) voting methods, which rather than broadening the scope of democracy may in actual fact be derailing it. The key reason for this distinction is the lack of political consensus for constitutional rules, the weakness of the rule of law and persistence of parochial and subject-based political cultures in many countries of the region, including Poland.FindingsReplacing physical voting with postal ballot, attempted during Presidential elections in the summer 2020 in Poland, eventually failed and was replaced with conventional physical vote. However, the Polish case demonstrates that in the system with weak checks and balances, postal ballot could be used to consolidate illiberalism not democracy.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper demonstrates that further research on defining consolidated and unconsolidated democracy is needed. In particular there is a need to factor in the research on political culture into the definitions of democratic consolidation.Practical implicationsEU membership for Poland and some other Central European states – such as Hungary – failed to prompt the process of democratic consolidation. In fact the opposite happened as the impact of EU conditionality lost relevance. It is important that any change of electoral law in Poland and other rule of law violators in the region is viewed with great care and scrutiny.Originality/valueThe paper’s conceptual approach rests on the definition of consolidated democracy as put forward by Przeworski (1991) and developed by Linz and Stepan (1996). According to these definitions, Poland is not yet a consolidated democracy and as argued in the paper, it has actually experienced an expansion of illiberalism in recent years. The paper also posits that the concept of “consolidated democracy” should be augmented to include the existence of civic political culture as a necessary condition for the maintenance of a healthy democracy.

A mixed-methods assessment of civil political culture during a democratic transition. The case of Tunisian civil society organisations

Democratisation theory has stressed the importance of active civil society participation (Schedler in J Democr 9: 91–107, 1998), (Diamond in Developing democracy: toward consolidation, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1999). This article uses Democratisation theory to argue that for civil society to have a positive impact on a state's democratisation process from a minimalist or electoral democracy to a pluralistic liberal system, it must have and exhibit a political culture conducive for supporting and promoting democratic ideals: a civic political culture (CPC). Welch’s conceptualisation of political culture (2013) determines that the latter manifests dualistically as discourse and practice. Therefore, this paper argues that to examine and test the extent to which a civil society’s political culture is democratic, a research approach that captures both the practises and discourses of political culture is essential. This article contributes to political culture research by advancing an effective application of Welch’s theory. Through a mixed-methods research design, this paper bridges the positivist-interpretivist methodological gap characteristic of political culture research. The application of the mixed-methods approach produces results with greater nuance and validity and provides evidence that post-2011 Tunisian civil society organisations (CSOs) are developing CPC.

When will the “dawn of new civism” rise over Russia?

The article deals with theoretical approaches to the formation of the civic culture in nowadays Russia. As a particular type of political culture, it acts as a part of the mechanism, which serves to implement social demands, maintaining democratic principles, and ensuring social unity. The author outlines the major features of the civic culture: connection with social needs of the community; involvement in regulating its vital activity on the basis of state institutions; responsibility and obedience to law; orientation towards political order and stability; the citizens’ active political participation, etc. The civic culture contributes to controllability of the society promoting to political order and democracy. The article reveals the role of the state in the formation of civil society and the civic political culture. Considerable attention is paid to the bearers of political civic culture, as well as the role of civic and patriotic education of Russian citizens.

The Civic Political Culture: Social Barriers and Educational Resource of Modernization

The article analyzes and characterizes the content, empirics of scientific research and the practice of implementing the methodological foundations of the political culture of students, as the basis for the formation of a civic national identity and ultimately the formation of the unity of the Russian nation. The relevance of the article is due to the aggravation of the socio-political situation in the Russian Federation in recent years, which is associated with an increase in the need for peaceful resolution of conflicts, the need for preparation for civic participation in the life of society and the state, and the insufficient level of political culture of all participants in the events. It is shown that at present, the educational system of Russia contains a large-scale error of violating ideological continuity between basic general / secondary / education and higher professional education. In particular, the Federal State Standard for Basic General Education dated 2010.12.10 indicates the orientation of education in the Russian Federation “to ensure the formation of the Russian civic identity of students”, but the Federal State Educational Standard on humanitarian directions of training do not have the ideological principles contained in the standards of general and secondary education and including in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The research problem is connected with the search for methodological foundations for the implementation of the requirements of educational standards and the continuity in higher education of the formation of the Russian civiс identity of students, their testing and dissemination of the progressive experience available in our country.

ORTHODOX RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND EUROPEAN VALUES: SUPPLEMENTS OR OPPOSITES?

The processes of European integration taking place on various levels and in diverse spheres of life are full of contradictions and obstacles. What bonds present-day inhabitants of Europe at the level of mass consciousness, the so-called European values are an object of heated discussion. Religion and religious values may well unite and contribute to the sense of common collective identity at different levels. At the same time, religion may lead – and in actuality often led – to ferocious and bloody conflicts. Christianity that has determined civilizational identity for the overwhelming majority of European nationstates is not unified. Orthodoxy tradition of Christianity is conceived of by elites and general public in the countries of ‘core Europe’ as a rather contradictory phenomenon. The author attempts to answer a research question: Does Christian Orthodox tradition exhibited in people’s religious identity contradict to the modern European values and, subsequently, slow down European integration? This article uses secondary quantitative approach to undertake an exploratory analysis and test religious identity effects on European value systems in six countries with predominantly Orthodox religious profile. Preliminary findings testify that two phenomena at question are not antipodes, in opposition to what is widely believed. The Orthodox faithful differ from non-believers and adherents of other confessions by several value attitudes, but these dissimilarities validate more pro-democratic and pro-European values of Orthodox believers. In particular, the latter show stronger support for democratic values, including democratic political system, and civic political culture. Strong Orthodox believers hold a more consistent system of values and worldview than non-believers, who mostly demonstrate consumerist and ego-centric attitudes.

‘Fate Worse than’ artificial borders is the insidious African elite politics: the Somali case

ABSTRACTThe debate centred on the artificial nature of colonial political bounders in Africa and their enduring legacy continues. What is not directly addressed by this literature is the parallel and, even more, destructive political-economic culture left behind by colonial rule, reified by factions of the political elite in Africa, and that appears to be on the march in several parts of the continent. This paper examines the long-term consequences of political ethnicity and corruption in inducing new boundaries within the nation and that is ominously undermining the vitality and further development of civic political culture in the continent. Somalia, arguably the most culturally homogenous nation-state in the continent, provides historical evidence to sustain the argument.

정치 문화 개념의 일고찰 : 서구 시민정치문화의 형성과 발전을 중심으로

이 연구는 알몬드와 베르바의 정치 문화 개념의 한계를 파악하고, 이 한계를 극복하기 위한 한 방안으로서 서구 유럽 봉건주의 시대의 정치 문화적 유산을 분석했다. 알몬드와 베르바의 정치 문화 분류는 정치 문화 연구의 이정표적 가치를 지니고 있으나 정치 발전의 근본적인 동인은 포함되어 있지 않다. 본 연구는 봉건주의 시대를 거친 서구 유럽 국가들의 ‘지방형 정치 문화’와 ‘신민형 정치 문화’적 유산이 알몬드와 베르바의 ‘시민정치 문화’의 형성에 기여하고 있다는 것을 분석했다.

Contradictory tendencies in the political culture of Croatian youth: unexpected anomalies or an expected answer to the social crisis?

ABSTRACTA successful democratic consolidation of post-socialist societies depends, among other things, on their citizens’ political culture, younger generations included. Moreover, youth civic engagement today and in the future is a guarantee of the continuity and development of democracy, which means that scientists need to gain insight into young people’s political culture. In this paper we look at political values, institutional trust and participation as relevant components of the civic political culture. The analysis is based on quantitative data collected in the empirical studies of Croatian youth, carried out between 1999 and 2013. Based on longitudinal study results, a downward trend is identified regarding selected political culture indicators: acceptance of liberal-democratic values, trust in social and political institutions, interest in politics and party preference. However, there is a simultaneous increase in participation in various types of organizations, especially political parties. The interpretation of established tendencies is placed in a broader context of an inherited democratic deficit, economic recession and social crisis. Current trends are both indicators and consequences of young people’s inadequate political socialization as well as weaknesses of political institutions and various actors during the transition and consolidation period.

Civic political culture, participatory governance and political development: an X-ray of its interdependent context

This study x-rayed the significance of civic political culture on participatory governance and its potentialities on political development. It adopted theoretical postulations in analyzing the subject matter. The analytical model showed a diagrammatic presentation of the relationship among participant culture features, elements of participatory governance and its effects on political development. Literatures were largely drawn from secondary sources. The content(s) of data gathered were appropriately analysed. This study, therefore, concluded that civic political culture has direct significance on participatory governance: it makes the creation of law and social order to be people-driven; and enhances citizens’ involvement in the political self-determination. Keywords: Participatory Governance, Civic Political Culture and Political Development

Formation of the Institute of Youth Political Elite in the Context of Political Transformation in the Russian Federation

The article discusses the features of the formation of the institute of youth political elite in the Russian Federation. The author proved that the formation of youth political elites directly dependent on the fulfillment of opportunities and professional development of representatives of the youth community and requires a systematic campaign in the formation of the young man and his political socialization. Revealed aspects in the context of which it is necessary to consider the formation of the institute of youth political elite: the socio-economic, political, cognitive. Proposed key methods and forms of interaction between state institutions with the younger generation. The conditions, the implementation of which is necessary for the formation of the institute of youth political elites in Russia: the current administrative and managerial elite has to be aware of the need to create such an elite institution for young people; the existence of regulatory and organizational methods of the activities of youth leaders; a reflection of the youth leader action together communicative interactions; subject-object position of the individual in the current political process of socialization; foster civic political culture, "foundation" which are the concepts of citizenship and patriotism. In conclusion, it is concluded that the development of the political system of education and the building of the Institute of Youth elites should be based on scientific and sociological studies of actual data, reflecting the dynamics of the youth mentality and preferences. A special attention on the part of government actors should be given new urgency to inclusion of young people in the processes of formation of state policy.

Diversity and voice: The political participation of young people in the European Union

There is widespread concern about declining public involvement in established democracies. Europeans are turning away from mainstream electoral politics towards new forms of political engagement. This is particularly the case for younger citizens. If young people are ‘reinventing political activism’ (Norris, 2002), in which forms of participation and in which countries is it most true? Drawing on data from the European Social Survey, the following article compares and contrasts young people’s politics in the 15 old member states of the European Union. Youth engagement generally reflects a country’s civic-political culture. However, there are significant differences in levels of youth participation, in ratios of youth participation (compared to the adult population as a whole) and in the relative popularity of different forms of political action. The United Kingdom stands out, however, with a disturbingly large gap between the political engagement of young people and older adults.

Civic political culture: Serbia in Europe

Civic political culture: Serbia in Europe

European Sociopolitical Mentalities: Identifying Pro- and Antidemocratic Tendencies

ABSTRACTThe article focuses on citizens’ predispositions for democracy and discusses the concepts of democratic mentality, demos, and demoi. Democratic mentality was operationalized by attitudes, values, and behavioral tendencies which promote civility and civic political culture. Theoretical analysis is followed by an empirical assessment of diverse intranational and international mentalities: prodemocratic, antidemocratic, and nondemocratic tendencies. Constellations of attitudes were explored by secondary data analysis of European Values Study (EVS wave 4, 2008–2010 period, 44 countries, 73 questionnaire items). Individual citizens (N = 63,281) were classified by k-means cluster analysis into: (1) ‘secular democrats’, (2) ‘religious democrats’, (3) ‘nondemocratic skeptics’, (4) ‘antidemocratic intolerant economically deprived traditionalists’, and (5) ‘antidemocratic religious radicals’. All mentalities occurred in each country; countries differed by the incidence of democratic (1 + 2), nondemocratic (3), and antidemocratic (4 + 5) mentalities. Democratic mentality was prevalent in the Northwest (especially in Scandinavia) and among elites; its average incidence in Europe was 40.9%. The results manifested trans-nationally shared political mentalities of European citizens, indicated that democrats were significantly present in every country, and confirmed presence of a robust demos in the North-Western Europe. International democratic mentality (trans-national demos) can be viewed as a possible source of democratic peace (Pax democratica). Civility was an important component of democratic mentality. It was demonstrated that democracy can function without prevalent active political participation but it is hard to conceive democracy without widespread civility. Whenever democracy is being exported or restored, the process must primarily focus on civility and not be limited to mere cultivation of political culture.

Realpolitik Versus Principled Politics: Nitobe, Shidehara, Shirasu and the Hollowing out of the Japanese Peace Constitution

It is argued that the current debate surrounding the revision of article 9 of the Japanese peace constitution has shifted from a debate on non-violent ideals and principles rooted in the pacifism of Shidehara, spiritual father of article 9, to a more pragmatic logic of military action and Realpolitik which lacks intellectual depth, foresight and historical awareness. The article questions the inherent logic that tries to give a purpose to the military and gain international reputation by reinterpreting article 9 indiscriminately. Since 2004, the overseas dispatch of SDF forces into the Iraq combat zone has split the nation more than ever and a national consensus on what article 9 should stand for is further threatened by Government attempts to extend the application of article 9 to military activities outside Japan under the banner of collective defense. Ahead of the 2009 general election for the Lower House opposition and ruling parties have apparently agreed that time has come to review the text of article 9 for the first time after the war based on the premises of Realpolitik. Article 9 in its current wording still represents a very cherished core principle to the nation as a whole despite the military buildup and despite the tacit acceptance of the SDF and of the right to limited self-defense. The current popular mood against collective self-defense, against the overseas deployment of SDF, against the unequitable US-Japan Security Treaty and against nuclear weapons- termed “negative pacifism”- differs from the voluntarist security policies in the election platforms of the LDP and DPJ. Ordinary citizens in and outside Japan have challenged the political elite by teaming up to preach the peaceful spirit of article 9 to the world. It is asserted that the intended revision of article 9 has caused lasting changes in civic political grass-root culture.

THE TWO CULTURES: CONNOISSEURSHIP AND CIVIC HONOURS

The political culture of the Hellenistic poleis put great importance on honours for benefactors; hence the development of a particular genre of public sculpture, the honorific portrait, usually a life‐size bronze statue. At first sight, this genre has nothing to do with the replication of ancient Greek masterpieces. Yet there are intersections between honorific statuary and replication: honorific statues of famous and, perhaps, not so famous men were replicated; honorific statuary borrowed from the resources offered by type and replication, for its own purposes. Replication meant different things in different contexts; yet the two cultures, arthistorical connoisseurship and civic political culture, did not exist in isolation, but each derived meaning from each other's existence and functioning.

Searching for the Origins of civic community in Central Europe: Evidence from Eastern and Western Germany

Although many scholars stress the importance of a civic political culture for a functioning democracy, there is little consensus about where such a culture originates. The ‘bottom-up’ approach argues that the civic culture has centuries-old, enduring roots that in turn shape political and economic institutions. The ‘top-down’ approach implies that political culture itself can be shaped by political institutions. Both schools of thought, however, stress the interrelatedness of civic behaviours; voluntary group membership, newspaper readership and voting are all expected to be high in civic cultures and low elsewhere. In contrast, this article argues that these three components of ‘civicness’ are differently influenced by contemporary political institutions and are therefore less interrelated than previous scholars have hypothesized. Germany and other German-speaking areas of Central Europe provide excellent cases for investigating these conflicting hypotheses about the origin of the civic community. If the ‘bottom-up’ approach were correct, there would be no differences in the level of civic community between the eastern and western parts of Germany and Central Europe because they were separated by the Iron Curtain for only four decades. If the ‘top-down’ approach were correct, 40 years of communist rule would have indeed reduced the level of civic community in eastern Germany and eastern Central Europe. Instead, the article finds marked differences in voluntary group membership across the former Iron Curtain, but much less divergence in terms of newspaper readership and voter turnout.

Parish Civil Society (An Analysis of Swedish Case)

This article deals with the paradoxical from the theoretical point of view phenomena – civic political culture in the Swedish parishes. It is assumed that civic political culture is not only and mostly connected with the participation in national political struggles, but active involvement, cooperating with neighbours, into the local public affairs. Swedish political culture is now labeled as consensual, but as such it rests upon the foundations, which were laid down by the collective communal order or so called “communalism” of the 19 th century. Article is mainly based on the analysis of protocolles from the parish or village community meetings (sockenstämmor and bystämmor). These protocolles one can find in the Umeå, Skellefteå and Härnösand archives. It is attempted to throw light on the specificity of village vommunity in Northern Sweden, to disclose features of of its organizational flexibility and to trace impact of lutheran church on the emergence of civic communality. Article shows as well main Lithuanian differences from Sweden in the sphere of communalism.

Civic Portraiture and Political Culture in English Provincial Towns, ca. 1560–1640

In recent years the investigation of urban political culture prior to the Civil War has benefited greatly from three historiographical initiatives, all of them suggesting in one way or another the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to the subject. Though it deals with a later period, the work of Peter Borsay and others on what he has labeled “The English Urban Renaissance” has fleshed out a wide variety of cultural forms, verbal and nonverbal, and documented their development in the urban milieu. These studies have implicitly raised the question of antecedents from the pre-Civil War period and have suggested some possible lines of development. Yet by viewing urban culture as largely developing out of the cultural and social demands of the landed classes, rather than from concerns which were indigenously urban, and by not specifically connecting culture with politics to begin with, this work remains limited in its influence on the investigation of the earlier period.A second tradition has emphasized the importance of Protestant, and especially Puritan, ideology in urban political culture before the Civil War. Such scholars as Paul Seaver, Patrick Collinson, and David Underdown have illuminated the force of those religious and moral concerns on the governing process and have explored such cultural forms as the sermon and the lecture as part of this effort. Their approach has been more explicitly political, and—even if the objective is often to assess the role of Puritan ideology in English politics leading up to the Civil War—it has still told us a great deal about the politics and culture of towns themselves in this period.