Political Culture

Political Culture Chapter Four Pearson Publishing 2011

What effect do differences in ethnicity, nationalism, and religion have on political culture? • How do political scientists study political culture? • Why is generalized trust important? • Premise of this chapter: Differences in political culture helps us understand why political institutions work differently in different societies, and the consequences they have for people’s capabilities. Political Culture Pearson Publishing 2011

Culture is a society’s broad sense of shared values, beliefs, norms, and orientations toward the world • Political Culture is more specific - a society’s shared values, beliefs, norms, and orientations toward politics • It helps shape how people think about their country’s political system, the decision-making process, and their role in that process • Political scientists primarily use three approaches to studying culture and political culture to explain similarities and differences among countries: • Social Character • Congruence • Social Capital Culture & Political Culture Pearson Publishing 2011

These pitfalls should be avoided: • Don’t rely on stereotypes - use evidence about what people actually believe • Don’t assume that people are all cultural robots - they’re not. Individuals can step outside cultural norms. • Be careful about making sweeping statements (i.e.: “Chinese believe...”) Pitfalls of Cultural Analysis Pearson Publishing 2011

Argues that deeply held cultural beliefs become embedded in state institutions • Ex: Differences in behavior and beliefs between the American colonies and Canada explain why the two countries developed very different political institutions • Seeks to construct political culture from a wide range of evidence, including survey questions • Contributes to our understanding of the kinds of beliefs that help create and sustain effective democracy Social Character Approach Pearson Publishing 2011

Strengths • Provides a rich sense of cultural nuance • Draws on a wide range of evidence • Weaknesses • Requires researchers to have considerable knowledge of the country they are studying, including language fluency • Is only effective for comparison when countries are very similar to each other - does not lend itself to comparing large numbers of countries Strengths and Weaknesses of the Social Character Approach Pearson Publishing 2011

Claims that a lack of congruence between a country’s political culture and institutions creates political instability • What kind of political culture is necessary to maintain stable democratic institutions? • One argument: (Almond and Verba) a mix of citizen involvement in politics is the best model • participants - do not do much more than vote • subjects - obey laws but are not politically active • parochial - ignorant about politics Congruence Approach Pearson Publishing 2011

In contrast: Inglehart and Welzel argue that an activist political culture is important to maintaining effective democracies • Self-expression values are key (freedom of speech, tolerance, trust in others) • Provide motivations to speak out and challenge authoritarian systems • Create societal bridging behavior, rather than bonding Congruence Approach Pearson Publishing 2011

Bridging Behavior Bonding Behavior People identify with their “in-group” based on ethnicity, race, language, or religion and discriminate against outsiders Views people as “in-groups” and “out-groups” and not as individuals Weakens generalized trust • Based on mutually agreed interests and empathy for others • Views people as individuals, not “in-groups” and “out-groups” • Strengthens generalized trust Bridging vs. Bonding Pearson Publishing 2011

Seeks to explain why people manage to collaborate in some societies, but not in others • Social Capital- the ability of members in a group to cooperate, based on “trust among people in a society and their ability to work together for common purposes” (Hamilton, xvii) • In other words, relationships matter • Social Dilemma - even if all understand the need for cooperation, it will only come about if individuals trust that others are also going to cooperate • Ex: tax collection in Russia compared to Sweden Social Capital Approach Pearson Publishing 2011

Societies require generalized trust to achieve this kind of cooperation • The belief that most people can be trusted outside of one’s close family and friends • The most basic element of social capital • Accomplished through bridging behavior • Generalized Reciprocity - trust will be reciprocated in the future, not just in the present • Has a mutually-reinforcing relationship with institutional performance Generalized Trust Pearson Publishing 2011

How have the internet and social networking sites affected social capital? Do they strengthen or weaken generalized trust? Is it bonding or bridging behavior? Generalized Trust Pearson Publishing 2011

In Brief: Comparing the 3 Approaches Pearson Publishing 2011

Individuals can have multiple identities • Ex: Catholic, Italian-American, Republican • The relative importance of these identities varies from culture to culture • Three identities play especially important roles in politics, driving political competition over recognition and government resources • Ethnicity • Nationality • Religion Politics of Identity Pearson Publishing 2011

“A sense of collective belonging based on language, history, culture, religion.” (Varshney, 275) • Very few countries are ethnically homogeneous • First and foremost a social identity • Three trends account for the political importance of ethnicity in advanced democracies • increasing ethnic diversity • rise of identity politics • adoption of multicultural policies Ethnicity Pearson Publishing 2011

Racial Categories are based on observable characteristics such as skin color, hair type, and facial features • Ethnic Identity is usually based on linguistic and cultural practices • These definitions are clearly not always precise and are often misused by people in power • Ex: In the American South of the 1930s a person was “black” if any ancestor was black, while in Brazil there are many gradations of mixed race In Brief: Ethnicity and Race Pearson Publishing 2011

Political struggles based on ethnicity can be pursued peacefully and within the confines of political institutions • In some countries these conflicts resort to violence: • mob violence • forcible removals of one ethnic group from a territory • Ex: the removal of Native Americans to reservations in the US • genocide • Ex: The Holocaust; Rwandan genocide in 1994 Ethnicity & Conflict Pearson Publishing 2011

A sense of pride in one’s nation and a desire to control a sovereign political/territorial state representing that nation • Nation - a group of people sharing a common identity that derives from either having a state of their own or desiring to do so • Unlike ethnicity, nationalism is inherently political • Sometimes appropriated by universities seeking to create senses of loyalty among sports fans (ex: University of Georgia’s “Bulldog Nation”) Nationalism Pearson Publishing 2011

Religious identity is not inherently political, but has become the basis of political conflict and violence in many countries • Ex: Hindus and Muslims in India • Three explanations exist for why violence erupts among ethnic, national, and religious groups • Primordialism • Instrumentalism • Constructivism Religion Pearson Publishing 2011

Explaining Identity Violence Pearson Publishing 2011

Political culture affects capabilities when it is used to construct ethnic or racial categories that privilege some people and penalize others • Example: • In many Latin American countries biased political cleavages have been created between descendants of Spaniards and indigenous peoples • Latin American countries with high percentages of indigenous people have the highest levels of inequality Political Culture, Identity, and the Good Society Pearson Publishing 2011

Another way political culture affects capabilities is associated with levels of generalized trust. • Citizens living in countries with high levels of generalized trust are more likely to be tolerant toward people different from themselves and support providing resources and opportunities to develop their capabilities. Political Culture, Identity, and the Good Society Pearson Publishing 2011

Hall and Lamont suggest that some cultural repertoires are better at helping people cope with “daily life” • Societies that share narratives extending a citizen’s moral community beyond their immediate family, ethnic, or racial group promote better overall health and societal support. Political Culture, Identity, and the Good Society Pearson Publishing 2011

Do higher levels of generalized trust promote higher levels of capabilities? • By looking at indicators such as infant mortality, literacy, and crime rates we see modest support for this hypothesis • There are numerous alternative explanations and outliers, however • There is no relationship between generalized trust and democracy Evaluating Generalized Trust Pearson Publishing 2011

Figure 4.1 Pearson Publishing 2011

Comparative politics uses three methods for studying political culture: social character, congruence, and social capital. • There are three major forms of political identity: ethnicity, nationalism, and religion. • Some societies experience violence related to identity differences. • This violence can be explained by three arguments: primordialism, instrumentalism, and constructivism • We also discussed the many ways political culture affects capabilities. Conclusions Pearson Publishing 2011

Why do political scientists make a distinction between culture and political culture? Why not simply use culture and dispense with the concept of political culture? • Why would the social character approach have difficulty explaining why Mexico and the United States have such different political institutions? • In The Civic Culture Almond and Verba suggest democratic stability does not require that all citizens be extremely well informed and active in politics. In fact, it is helpful for stability to have a mix of participants, subjects, and parochials. On the other hand, Inglehart and Welzel argue that high levels of self-expression values are essential for healthy democracy. Which set of authors do you believe has a better case and why? Critical Thinking Questions Pearson Publishing 2011

What does the social capital approach add to our understanding of politics beyond what the social character and congruence approaches contribute? • Why do most political scientists believe primordial and instrumental explanations of ethnic violence are unsatisfactory, and suggest social constructivism as a better explanation? Critical Thinking Questions Pearson Publishing 2011

Politicians in Kenya often win support by appealing to ethnic groups - once in office politicians then deliver patronage to their supporter groups to stay in office • The 2007 Presidential election is an example of violence between rival politicians and their supporting ethnic groups • President Kibaki (supported by the Kikuyus) was challenged by Raila Odinga (supported by the Luos and Kalenjins) • The election was rigged in favor of Kibaki, and angry mobs of Kalnjins began violently killing Kikuyus • The killings only ended when the leaders agreed to a coalition government in 2008 In Depth: Kenya’s Ethnic Violence and Capabilities Pearson Publishing 2011

Question Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: ethnic and religious diversity are the root cause of civil wars Hypothesis 2: state weakness is the root cause of civil war • Over the last 65 years civil wars are becoming more common and more destructive than wars between states - what causes them? Fearon and Laitin try to answer this question. Comparative Political Analysis:Is ethnic diversity the root cause of civil wars? Pearson Publishing 2011

Operationalizing Concepts Results There is no support for the hypothesis that ethnic diversity causes civil wars, while state weakness is a better explanation. • Civil War - fighting between states and non-state groups resulting in at least 1000 deaths, with averages of 100 deaths/year • Ethnic Diversity - an index based on the probability of two randomly drawn individuals coming from different ethnic groups • State Weakness - measured using per capita income Comparative Political Analysis:Is ethnic diversity the root cause of civil wars? Pearson Publishing 2011

Political Culture