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Unit 4: Political Culture

and politics. They may be illiterates, rural people living in remote areas, or simply people who Notes
ignore politics and its impact on their lives.
As shown in Figure 4.1, in a hypothetical modern industrial democracy a sizable proportion (for
instance, 60 percent) are participants, another third are simply subjects, and a small group are
parochials. Such a distribution provides enough political activists to ensure competition between
political parties and sizable voter turnout, as well as critical audiences for debate on public issues
by parties, candidates, and pressure groups. At the same time, not all citizens feel the need to be
active or concerned about the political system.
The second column in Figure 4.1 depicts the pattern we expect in a industrialized authoritarian
society, such as the former communist nations of Eastern Europe. A small minority of citizens are
involved in a one-party system, which penetrates and oversees the society, as well as decides
government policies. Most other citizens are mobilized as subjects by political institutions: political
parties, the bureaucracy, and government-controlled mass media. People are encouraged and
even forced to cast a symbolic vote of support in elections and to pay taxes, obey regulations, and
accept assigned jobs. Because of the effectiveness of modern social organization and mass
communications and the efforts of the authoritarian power structure, few citizens are unaware of
the government and its influence on their lives. If such a society suddenly attempts to democratize
its politics, many citizens must learn to become participants as well as democrats.
The third column shows an authoritarian society that is partly traditional and partly modern, such as
in Egypt or China. In spite of an authoritarian political organization, some participants—students and
intellectuals, for example—oppose the system and try to change it by persuasion or more aggressive
acts of protest. Favored groups, like business people and landowners, discuss public issues and engage
in lobbying. Most people in such systems are passive subjects, aware of government and complying
with the law but not otherwise involved in public affairs. The parochials—poor and illiterate urban
dwellers, peasants, or farm laborers—have little conscious contact with the political system.

100
Participants Participants Participants
90

80
Participants
70 Subjects

60 Subjects
Subjects
Percentages 40
50

30
Subjects Parochials
20
Parochials
10
Parochials Parochials
0
Democratic Authoritarian Authoritarian Democratic
industrial industrial transitional preindustrial

Figure 4.1: Model of Political Culture: Orientations
Toward Involvement in the Political Process

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