Page 91 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes • These changing values have also reshaped the policy agenda of industrial democracies; more
citizens are asking government to restore the environment, expand social and political
freedoms, and emphasize policies to ensure social equality. Politicians in these democracies
are struggling to balance these new policy demands against the continuing policy needs of
the past.
• Development of education and communication skills may encourage a flourishing of literature
in a local language whose previous tradition has been informal and oral. This development
can further intensify awareness of common symbols and history.
• This democratization trend reflects long-term responses to modernity as well as immediate
reactions to current events. Modernization gradually eroded the legitimacy of nondemocratic
ideologies, while the development of citizens’ skills and political resources made their claim
to equal participation in policy-making (at least indirectly) more plausible.
• In 1964, three-quarters of Americans said they trusted the government; today only a third of
the public say as much—and the malaise is spreading to Western Europe and Japan. Recent
research shows that citizen support for democratic norms has not waned; in fact, democratic
norms and values have strengthened over time as democracy has developed in the West.
• The trend toward marketization is a response to a long period of increased government
intervention in economies. At the moment, no particular mixture of free market and
government intervention seems ideal. We expect much further experimentation; the current
trend to marketization may also encounter reversals or countertrends in the future.

4.5 Key-Words

1. Ethnicity : It is a population of human brings whose members identify with each other,
either on the basis of a presumed common genealogy or ancestry, or
recognition by others as a distinct group, or by common cultural, linguistic,
religious, or territorial traits.
2. Parochials : Relating to a parish as a unit of local government.

4.6 Review Questions

1. What is the concept of political culture? Discuss.
2. Discuss the trends in contemporary cultures.
3. Explain the three levels of political culture.
Answers: Self-Assessment
1. (i)(a) (ii)(b) (iii)(d) (iv)(b) (v)(c)
4.7 Further Readings

1. Almond, G.A. et., 2000: Comparative Politics: A World View, New York: Harper/
Collins.
2. Palekar, S.A., 2009: Comparative Politics and Government, New Delhi, PHI
Learning Pvt. Ltd.
3. Johari, J.C., 2006: New Comparative Government, New Delhi: Lotus Press

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