Politics and Governance

Political Culture

Concept
o

“a broadly shared set of ways of thinking

about politics and government, a pattern
of orientations to political objects”
(Ranney, Austin)

different from the culture of the society

• society is composed of different systems

“people’s predominant beliefs, attitudes,

values, ideals, sentiments and evaluations
about the political system of their country
and the role of the self in that system”
(Diamond, Larry)

Political Culture * Property of STI

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 Politics and Governance

Political Culture
Three Types of Orientation (Political
o
Culture)

cognitive orientation
• refers to the level of awareness and
knowledge of the people
• can be affected by various socio-political
elements

affective orientation/political preferences

• consists of “feelings about the political
system” (Diamond)

a product of subjective mind of the people

• “political preferences do not have to be

logically consistent with one another”
(Ranney)

Political Culture * Property of STI

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 Politics and Governance

Political Culture
Three Types of Orientation (Political
o
Culture)

evaluational orientation (Diamond)

• a combination of cognitive and affective
orientations
• can be illustrated in the developed
countries like the United States and United
Kingdom

Some Differences Among Political

o
Cultures

patriotism
• high level of patriotism can be a positive
variable in political development

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 Politics and Governance

Political Culture
Some Differences Among Political
o
Cultures

trust in people
• it varies from different beliefs and socio-
political orientation

confidence in institutions
• it determines the legitimacy and credibility
of various institutions in the government

political efficacy
• education plays an important role in
political efficacy but it is still relative from
one nation to another

Political Culture * Property of STI

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 Politics and Governance

Political Culture
Some Differences Among Political
o
Cultures

citizens’ obligations
• similar to confidence in institutions because
these components involve the ideal political
role of the people

Interrelationship of Political Culture

o
and Democracy

the correlation of political culture and

democracy was institutionalized by
Aristotle
• he conceived the idea of “tolerance and
moderation”

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 Politics and Governance

Political Culture
Interrelationship of Political Culture
o
and Democracy

the Philippine political system is somehow

characterized with liberal democratic
features

the political culture in the Philippines was

greatly influenced by Western type of
liberal democracy

democratic consolidation in the Philippines

was easily achieved because of the notion
that democracy is one of the essential
factors of economic development and vice
versa

the issue about the level of democratic

maturity in the Philippines has also been
the topic of academic debates

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