Political culture is one of the most important elements of the political system, since the level of its development indicates the quality of this system itself. Reflecting the political and legal awareness of citizens, public and political figures and their political behavior, political culture has a great influence on the activities of political institutions, determines the nature of the relationship between the state and civil society.

Structural elements of political culture

To understand the social meaning and role of political culture it is important to take into account the unity and interaction of politics and culture. Both act as a measure of mastery, domination. Culture serves as a means of domination of people over nature, their subjective world, politics expresses the power of people over social relations, other people. Political culture influences the ways in which power is exercised, and its own development depends on political transformations. However, the fact that politics and culture are interconnected does not mean that they are identical. They differ in scope. The meaning of politics is in the development and transformation of power, the meaning of cultures is in the development and transformation of personality. Their unity and differences are united by the concept of "political culture". Political culture is an integral part of the national culture.

There are two main directions in the interpretation of political culture. One limits it to the sphere of the psychic, the other, along with the "examples" of political consciousness, includes in it the "examples" of people's political behavior. But the manifestations of culture in the sphere of the political are not exhausted by this. At the individual and group levels, political culture acts as a unity of the culture of political consciousness and the behavior of individuals and groups. At the public level, it must be supplemented by another element - the culture of the functioning of the political system and the structures that form it. The structure of political culture is made up of three interrelated elements:

• political experience;
• political consciousness;
• political behaviour.

The practical orientation of political culture to the regulation of political relations requires the presence of means of such regulation in its structure. These are the norms that have become the rules of conduct that are accepted in a given political community. A specific type of norms for politics are political symbols that help to unite large masses of people with a clear orientation of their political behavior. This is a conditional image of political values, ideals, a means of their propaganda. They are the coats of arms of states, the colors of national flags, emblems of political parties, orders. Taking into account the possibilities of the political system such components of political consciousness as political orientations and attitudes of citizens are formed. These include settings:

• On political institutions and structures (for example, the state can be perceived either as a coercive body that dominates society, or as an organizing and regulating institution).
• On laws and other regulations (for example, respect for the law or legal nihilism). This also includes the attitude towards specific political figures (political ratings) and the attitude of a citizen towards himself as a participant in the political process. As a result, a person develops an orientation towards certain patterns of political behavior.

Political behavior, forms of political participation are determined by political consciousness, on the one hand, and the level of political development of society as a whole, on the other. Includes:

• Forms and degree of participation of citizens in the activities of political organizations, mass movements, rallies. Forms of political behavior can be different: non-participation in political life, passive participation (voting, obedience to the law), active participation.
• Type of electoral behavior (for example, total voting in totalitarian societies).
• Forms and means of interaction of citizens with the state and other political institutions.

The structure of political culture at the level of the political system includes:

• methods of making political decisions (by whom, in what form, on the basis of the law or not);
• forms and methods of regulating socio-political conflicts (for example, the use of force);
• type of electoral process (elections).

Political culture has a threefold impact on political processes and institutions.

1. Under its influence, traditional forms of political life are reproduced, and this happens even if the political regime changes.
2. Political culture generates new forms of political life for society.
3. It can combine traditional and new forms of political life.

The main functions of political culture:

• cognitive- the formation of the necessary knowledge, views, beliefs among citizens;
• integration- ensuring the possibility of coexistence of various groups on the basis of generally accepted values ​​within a certain political system and political system;
• communications- ensuring communication, interaction of all participants in the political process based on the use of generally accepted terms, symbols and other means of information and the language of communication;
• socialization- the acquisition by a person of skills and properties that allow him to realize his civil rights and political interests;
• regulatory- the formation and consolidation in the public mind of the necessary political attitudes, goals, motives, norms of behavior.

Types of Political Cultures

The political culture of any country is formed under the influence of numerous and diverse factors (including historical, geographical, economic). This predetermines the diversity of types of political culture. The concept of "type of political culture" is used to reflect the specifics of the political culture of a certain historical community and captures the most common features of the political consciousness and behavior of people living at a certain moment in history and in the same historical environment.

The typology of political cultures can be based on various criteria. In modern political science, the classification of political cultures proposed by G. Almond and S. Verba in the book “Civic Culture” (New York, 1963) has gained particular fame. The authors focused on values, patterns of behavior and ways of organizing power. They singled out three main types of political culture:

1. patriarchal, which is characterized by the absence in the society where it dominates, the interest of citizens in political life;
2. characterized by a strong focus on the political system, but a low level of activity of citizens;
3. activist with an interest in the political system and active participation in it.

In practice, these types of political culture in their pure form are rare, but form, interacting with each other, mixed forms with a predominance of certain components. The most massive and optimal, in terms of ensuring the stability of the political regime, is, according to the authors, a combination of cultures - civil or "citizenship" culture, in which the traits of a subject-type culture predominate.

Another criterion for the typology of political culture is the orientation of society towards certain regulatory mechanisms within the political system. Here we can talk about market and bureaucratic political cultures. Market political culture understands politics as a kind of business, politics as a “commodity”, political decisions are the result of a “trade deal”. Private interests are the highest goal, and the state and other political structures are considered as a means of realizing interests. The statist political culture demonstrates the dominant role of state institutions in organizing political life and in regulating the political participation of citizens.

There are also more general criteria for typology. set, in particular, by the civilized features of the West and East, the values ​​and traditions of which are the foundation of almost all political cultures existing in the world.

Political culture of Russia

A political culture has developed in Russia, the features of which are determined by the geopolitical position, features of national psychology, historical traditions and other factors. The state in public life occupies a dominant position in relation to society and the individual. State interests prevail over the goals and interests of the individual. For centuries, the inhabitants of the country were guided by the norms of communal collectivism. A person felt the unconditional subordination of his "I" to group and collective interests. In the 20th century, the nature of political culture was strongly influenced by the destruction of entire social strata and nationalities by the totalitarian regime, the rejection of market regulators of the economy. This violated the historical continuity of generations, Russia's intercultural ties with the world community, and made it impossible to develop pluralistic values.

As a result, the political culture of modern Russia is a very contradictory culture, internally split, with the unconditional predominance of norms and values ​​of the patriarchal, traditionalist type. Most citizens demonstrate a desire to find a charismatic leader capable of leading the country out of the crisis, legal nihilism. The style of behavior of the majority of the population is characterized by a tendency to unsanctioned forms of protest, forceful methods of resolving conflict situations. Hidden and overt struggle of multidirectional political tendencies (democracy - authoritarianism, centralization - regionalization), the clash of various subcultures (communist, radical-liberal, national-patriotic), whose representatives use such different political language and argumentation that they do not understand each other, make it difficult to compromise , do not make it possible to develop common values ​​of the political structure of Russia, to ensure the internal integrity of the state and society. The predominance of such norms and values ​​hinders the establishment of democratic forms of organization of power in society, in some cases contributes to the activation of nationalist and fascist movements, and on the whole supports and reproduces in our society the features of the former, totalitarian statehood.

Thus, one of the urgent tasks of reforming Russian society is the transformation of political culture based on democratic values. The policy of the authorities should be aimed at establishing legal, civilized relations between citizens and the state, a real change in the civil status of the individual, creating mechanisms by which people could influence the policy of the authorities and make them under the control of the people, overcome the irresponsibility of political leaders, and the state to be the protector common interests.

Political socialization

Political culture is not transmitted through direct teaching. Each country has its own specific channels and mechanisms of political socialization, introducing people to political culture. It is customary to consider the family, the education system, the media, state, party organizations, religious and public associations, individual political events as such institutions (agents) of political socialization. Political socialization is a two-pronged process: on the one hand, it is the assimilation of the existing political culture by new generations, and on the other hand, its change, transformation due to the selective assimilation of these traditions and norms by the individual and their consolidation in the forms of political behavior. This process is continuous and goes on throughout a person's life.

Naturally, under the influence of various social and political circumstances, a person can perceive some guidelines and skills and sacrifice others, that is, political socialization is a process of simultaneous acquisition and loss of political properties by a person. Because of this, the level of political socialization cannot remain unchanged. Depending on the age, political experience and roles performed in politics, as well as the activities of agents of socialization, primary and secondary stages of political socialization are distinguished.

Primary political socialization(from three to five years old) - the child's initial, direct perception of political life, information about which he draws from the relations of his parents, their assessments, reactions and feelings. The peculiarity of this stage is that a person does not yet understand the essence and significance of the political world. Therefore, the naturalness and gradualness of inclusion in it provides for the initial perception of information in forms that are inextricably linked with everyday experience, the authority of the teacher, and an example of the activities of elders.

Secondary political socialization acts when a person has mastered the forms and methods of processing political information, exercising roles in the sphere of power and is capable of individual and independent revision of ideological positions, cultural norms and traditions, regardless of group pressure.

Differences in the mechanism of transmission of norms and traditions in various political systems allows us to highlight the following types of political socialization:

• harmonic, reflecting psychologically normal relations between a person and institutions of power, respect for the rule of law, the state, civic duties;
• hegemonic, which characterizes the negative attitude of a person to any social and political systems, except for "one's own";
• pluralistic, which testifies to the recognition by a person of equality with other citizens, their rights and freedoms, his ability to change his political preferences, move to new orientations;
• conflict, which is formed on the basis of intergroup struggle and therefore sees the goal of political participation in supporting one's group in its struggle against political opponents.

These types of political socialization express the dependence of the properties and qualities of a person on the influence of institutions of power that carry the norms and values ​​of the dominant political culture (that is, types of vertical socialization).

is a system of ideas, relationships between people and the results of their active interaction with nature. All parts of culture are intertwined into a complex whole. The totality of institutions, relationships, ideas that are functionally related to a certain element of culture is called cultural complex. For example, if taken as a separate element of culture, then all institutions, customs, traditions, ideas associated with the formulation, promotion and implementation of legal norms form a legal cultural complex.

Political culture- is a system of stable political beliefs, samples of the collective life of subjects, including models of the functioning of political institutions, ensuring the security of the community.

Beliefs consist of ideas and concepts substantiated by experience about various aspects of political life: about the political system and its institutions, the political regime, the mechanism of government bodies, holders of power, etc. The main place in political beliefs belongs to political values. The nature of political values ​​is especially clearly manifested in the attitude of subjects to political symbols: the flag, anthem and emblem of states, parties and other political organizations.

Patterns of collective life- these are prescribed by the authorities, as well as the actual forms of relations between the subjects of politics and the social institutions corresponding to these relations.

Typology of political culture

There are various typologies of political culture, in particular the typology of historical continuity.

In modern political culture, two main varieties are usually distinguished: democratic culture and autocratic. Most researchers consider the first to be the dominant type, the second to be secondary.

Main traits contemporary democratic political culture:

• traditionalism in the form of archaic elements inherited from the past political culture (loyalty, respect for authority, law-abidingness, etc.);
• moralism expressing commitment to universal moral values;
• individualism, standing on the positions that the main value of political culture is private interests, as opposed to collective ones; attraction to relationships based on trusting personal contacts and obligations;
• political activism, consisting in the conviction that active participation in all areas of life can bring personal success.

In recent decades, under the influence of various alternative movements (anti-war, feminist, youth, environmental, etc.), democratic political culture has absorbed new values: tolerance for dissent, civil consent, the fall of the authority of hierarchical power, etc.

Autocratic type political culture is mainly represented by two varieties: authoritarian And totalitarian political cultures.

The ideal of an autocratic political culture- a state with strong and uncontrolled power which almost excludes the rights and freedoms of citizens. Authoritarianism reflects an unsatisfied need for stability, support and unites all those who fear socio-political and economic changes, regardless of their social status. Essence authoritarian political culture- unlimited merging of public consciousness with the subject of power - the leader of a political party or a monarch with a strong willed character.

For the subjects of a totalitarian culture, what is significant, first of all, is what descends from the bearer of power. Totalitarian political culture characterized by a complete lack of pluralism in the sphere of political relations. Dissent is not only suppressed, but also warned.

Each society has its own type of political culture, due to historical features. Allocate three pure types of political culture:

• patriarchal when people have no interest in their political system. In patriarchal communities, the political orientation towards tribal leaders is not separated from their religious, socio-economic and other orientations;
• tributary, which is characterized by a strong orientation to the political system, but weak participation of people in its functioning. Here, specialized political institutions already exist, members of society are guided by them, while showing different feelings (from pride to hostility) and perceiving them as legal or illegal;
• activist in which people are interested not only in what the political system gives them, but also in whether they can play an active role in this system, fulfill their civil rights and obligations.

Types of Political Cultures

Political culture in the course of its historical evolution goes through a complex process of formation and development. Each historical epoch, each type of political system and social community is characterized by its own type of political culture. The typology of political cultures proposed by G. Almond and S. Verba is considered generally accepted:

1. patriarchal type - it is characterized by: low competence in political problems, lack of interest of citizens in political life, focus on local values ​​- community, clan, tribe, etc. The concept of the political system of society and how it functions is completely absent. Community members are guided by leaders, shamans and other significant, in their opinion, personalities;

2. subordinate type - focuses on the interests of the state, but personal activity is low. This type learns the performing roles and functions well, therefore it is easy to be manipulated by various kinds of politicians, officials, political adventurers. Individual political activity is quite low, interest in politics is weak. The concept of a political system is already present, but there is no idea of ​​the possibilities to somehow influence the government;

3. activist type - involves the active involvement of citizens in the political process, participation in the choice of government bodies and the desire to influence the development and adoption of political decisions. The interest of citizens in politics is quite high, they are well informed about the structure and functions of the political system and strive to realize their political interests with the help of constitutional rights.

It is quite difficult to determine the real state of the political culture of a society, especially if there is no democracy and openness in this society. For many decades, Soviet ideologists of Marxism tried to prove that the level of development of political culture in the USSR was much higher than in bourgeois countries. At the same time, as the main argument, they pointed out that socialism (in accordance with Marxist theory) is a higher stage in the development of society. However, established since the late 80s. 20th century Democracy and glasnost in Russia have shown that the state of political culture in our country is at a rather low level of development. According to research conducted by the author in the early 1990s, approximately 40-45% of the adult population of Russia can be attributed to the activist type of political culture, 30-35% to the subservient and 20-25% to the patriarchal type.

Any modern society, any political system is a complex structure consisting of various types of political subcultures, and the form of the political system and the political regime of power largely depend on what type of political culture dominates in society.

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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Branch of the St. Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics in Vologda

Department of General Humanitarian and Socio-Economic Disciplines

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discipline: Political science

Vologda 2013

Introduction

1. Political culture: concept, structure, functions

2. Main criteria and types of political culture

3. Political subcultures

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Politics is one of the most complex and fundamental social formations. Although the concept of "Politics" has habitually and firmly entered the scientific and everyday lexicon, it is not easy to define it, as well as to single out political relations from the totality of social relations. There are many interpretations and definitions of politics, which is due to the versatility of the phenomenon itself and, accordingly, the complexity of its knowledge.

Policy - one of the fundamental aspects of human existence, one of the most important spheres of human life. Everyone, in one form or another, deals with politics. Therefore, it is obvious that the selection and study of the political world from the totality of social institutions and relations is a difficult, but very urgent task.

One of the aspects of the political world is political culture, as an integral part of the general culture of mankind.

Political culture - quite a multifaceted phenomenon. It captures the level and nature of political knowledge, assessments and actions of people, as well as the content and quality of spiritual values, traditions, norms that regulate political relations. Thus, political culture is not limited to knowledge and beliefs. It contains a system of ways to implement this knowledge, value orientations, patterns of behavior of political subjects, that is, nations, classes, social groups. It characterizes the mode of existence of these subjects, acting as an objective given, which is not a simple external reflection of the essential features of the political process, but its internal, organic part.

The problem of political culture occupies one of the leading places in the course of political science. Political culture directly or indirectly affects the behavior of people and the activities of their organizations, the perception by the population of the phenomena of domestic and international politics, the assessment of political systems and regimes, the determination by a person of his place in the political sphere of public life. Because of this, knowledge of political culture opens up wide opportunities for political forecasting, the successful implementation of a competent policy.

To study in more detail the political culture: its concept, structure, functions; the purpose of this work will be to study the criteria and types of political culture.

1. Political culture: concept, structure, functions

The concept of political culture is becoming today one of the most popular and relevant not only in political science, but also in everyday vocabulary. It is used by professional politicians, journalists, and people who are far from politics. This concept has become a kind of integral characteristic of the political consciousness and political behavior of individual nations, peoples, and society as a whole.

In political science there is no single concept of political culture. This is evidenced by dozens of definitions of this phenomenon. The term "political culture" was introduced into scientific circulation by the German philosopher-educator I. Herder. He was introduced into political science by the American political scientist G. Almond, his concept of political culture today plays the role of a basic, fundamental one. In the article “Comparative Political Systems”, published in 1956, G. Almond calls political culture “a certain pattern of orientation towards political actions”, in which any political system is built. Later, in the book "Civil Culture" (co-authored with S. Verba), G. Almond clarifies his ideas about political culture and considers it as a set of values, opinions, customs and traditions. The classical definition of political culture, formulated by G. Almond and G. Powell, is as follows: “Political culture is a set of individual positions and orientations of participants in a given political system. It is the subjective sphere that forms the basis of political actions and gives them meaning. Specified individual orientations According to American scientists, include several elements:

· cognitive orientation - true or false knowledge about political objects and ideas;

affective orientation - a sense of connection, engagement, opposition, etc. in relation to political objects;

evaluative orientation - judgments and opinions about political objects, which usually involve the use of certain evaluation criteria in relation to political objects and events.

This definition has two salient features. Firstly, political culture is understood as a set of orientations towards political activity. This is not the activity itself, but only a subjective attitude towards it. Secondly, political culture appears as a structure of orientation, which includes: knowledge about the political system, its functions, decisions and actions; feelings about the political system and politicians (emotional orientations); judgments, opinions and ideas about the political system (evaluative orientations).

This concept of political culture is intended to explain the fact that similar political systems and their institutions in different countries function differently. In addition, this approach sets general objective criteria for comparative studies of political behavior in different countries.

So, political culture - this is a historically conditioned set of generally accepted methods of political interaction and the rules and norms governing them, reflecting the social experience, traditions and interests of social actors in the form of a system of fundamental political values, attitudes and behaviors.

Political culture is a polystructural, multilevel phenomenon. The diverse connections of political culture with various social and political processes predetermine its complex structure and organization. In the structure of political culture, researchers distinguish, first of all, the subject and the object. The subject of political culture can be both an individual with his attitudes, values, preferences, and various social groups (classes, nations, nationalities). At each of these levels, the subject of political culture is the bearer and custodian of certain political values.

No less important is the selection of the object to which the orientations and beliefs of the subject are directed. The political system itself and its individual components (political regime, political institutions, parties, organizations) can serve as such an object.

Structure political to ultura can be represented by a combination of the following elements (Table. 1):

Table 1

Political culture, like any other, is transmitted from generation to generation; its most important expression is the political behavior of people. Thus, political culture as its structural elements includes the culture of political consciousness, the culture of political behavior, as well as the culture of the functioning of political institutions. Political culture also includes political experience, stereotypes, political myths, ideology, political symbols, political socialization.

If we structure the political culture of an individual, then we should highlight:

· Political knowledge and beliefs. At the same time, the mastery of political culture involves not only the acquisition by an individual of certain knowledge and the development of strong convictions, but also the ability of a person to effective political actions, their qualitative implementation in the sphere of political relations.

· Political consciousness, political theories and doctrines. These spiritual elements reflect the achieved level of political relations. There is a dialectical relationship between political consciousness and political relations, and at the same time, they should not be equated. Political consciousness has a huge impact on political relations, ultimately it determines them.

· A culture of relations between political institutions and the masses, which accumulate and direct the will and energy of social groups and classes to achieve their political goals. The solution of these problems largely depends on the style and methods of work of state bodies, their relationship with the masses.

· National state symbols. A number of authors consider these symbols to be the cementing element of any political system and the underlying political culture.

· Political traditions, which are a legacy passed down from generation to generation and preserved in the political life of society for a long time. The traditions of political activity create the historical ground on which political culture develops.

There are other approaches to structuring political culture. It is impossible to consider all of them. It is only necessary to keep in mind that, highlighting the structural elements of the phenomenon under consideration, it is unreasonable to talk about a single model of political culture in relation to different regions and peoples. Each socio-political system corresponds to the basic model of political culture, which in any country manifests itself in nationally specific forms.

Character traits political culture are that it:

Fixes stable, recurring connections, relationships between elements of the political process, reinforces the stable aspects of political experience;

It is a product of the natural-historical development of society;

It has a total character: political relations are permeated, saturated with political culture;

Characterizes the political consciousness and political behavior of the bulk of the population.

Political culture is characterized certain functions in political life. Among the most important are the following functions :

W ANDidentification, revealing the constant need of a person to understand his group affiliation and determine acceptable ways for himself to participate in expressing and defending the interests of this community;

W Orientations, which characterizes a person's desire for a semantic reflection of political phenomena, an understanding of one's own capabilities in the exercise of rights and freedoms in a particular political system;

W prescriptions(programming), expressing the priority of certain orientations, norms and ideas, setting and determining a certain direction and boundaries for constructing human behavior;

W Adaptations expressing the need of a person to adapt to a changing political environment, the conditions for the exercise of his rights and powers of authority;

W Socialization characterizing the acquisition by a person of certain skills and properties that allow him to realize his civil rights, political functions and interests in a particular system of power;

W Integrations(disintegration), which provides various groups with the possibility of coexistence within a certain political system, maintaining the integrity of the state and its relationship with society as a whole;

W Communications, which ensures the interaction of all subjects and institutions of power based on the use of generally accepted terms, symbols, stereotypes and other media and the language of communication.

In the process of realizing its functions, political culture is able to exert a triple influence on political processes and institutions. First, under its influence traditional forms of political life can be reproduced. Moreover, due to the stability of value orientations in the mind of a person, this possibility remains even in the event of changes in external circumstances and the nature of the ruling regime. Therefore, even during periods of reforms carried out by the state, entire sections of the population can maintain the old political order, opposing new goals and values. This ability of political culture well explains the fact that most revolutions often end either with a certain return to the previous order (meaning the inability of the population to internally master new goals and values ​​for itself), or with terror (which can only force people to implement the principles of political development that are new to them) . Secondly, political culture is able to generate new, non-traditional forms of social and political life for society, and thirdly, to combine elements of the old and promising political structure.

In various historical conditions, and most often in unstable political processes, some functions of political culture may fade and even cease to operate. In particular, the communicative ability of political norms and traditions of state life can be very significantly reduced, as a result of which the controversy between various social groups inevitably escalates, and especially those that hold opposite positions regarding the government course. At the same time, in transitional processes, the ability of political culture to disintegrate systems of government based on goals and values ​​that are unusual for the population often increases.

2. Main criteriaAI and types of political culture

The political culture of any community is formed under the influence of various factors. This predetermines the diversity of types of political culture. The typology of political culture is based on certain criteria. Let's take a look at the main ones.

Depending on the level of generality: general (the most stable, typical features that characterize the political consciousness and political behavior of the bulk of the population) and subculture (a set of political orientations and models of political behavior inherent in certain social groups and regions).

By degree of consistency in the interaction of political subcultures in a particular country, an integrated and fragmented political culture is distinguished (Table. 2).

table 2

Economic factors have a special influence on the formation of an integrated type of political culture. Political stability is supported by: a high level of material well-being; developed system of social protection; numerous middle class, which acts as the social basis of political stability. Great Britain can serve as an example of this type of political culture. The core values ​​of the citizens of this country are: the idea of ​​government as acting for the common good; welfare and stability in the political process; wide participation of citizens in political life; representativeness of authorities; traditions; idea of ​​your country as a world power, a welfare state; high level of economic development, high per capita income; almost complete literacy.

An example of a "fragmentary" political culture is Italy. Its fragmentation was influenced by two main factors: the separatism of the Catholic Church in the pre-war and post-war times and the differences in regional political subcultures of the northern and southern regions.

Bycore values, to which this or that community is oriented in political activity or in the political process, the following types are distinguished:

o a culture of high citizenship - the basic value in this type is a person with his needs and interests;

o elite political culture - it is characterized by the fact that power or power structures of society (the state, elites) are perceived as the basic political value; a person acts as a means to achieve the goal set by the political elite; the main part of society is excluded from solving political problems; the level of political activity is low;

o archaic political culture - the main value of the carriers of this type of culture is the interests of the ethnic group (genus, tribe, nation), here the individual does not realize himself as a person, does not separate himself from the ethnic community.

Depending on the attitude to power: mainstream and counterculture.

Depending on progress: closed (aimed at restoration according to the pattern established by traditions) and open (oriented towards change, easily assimilating new values).

By behavior people in a given political system are divided into two types of political culture:

o subservient political culture is characterized by obedience; submission; execution by the participants in the political process, which, in fact, turn into objects of coercion;

o civic political culture is characterized by the participation of people in decision-making; the availability of opportunities and the right to choose and control power structures.

Depending on the type of political regime: democratic and anti-democratic.

Depending on the class approach: agrarian, proletarian, petty-bourgeois, bourgeois, etc.

Depending on religion: divine-traditional (recognizing the sacred nature of power, the immutability of a specific system of political relations of power, the immutability of a specific system of political relations and its political norms) and secular (characterized by pragmatism, empiricism).

One of the criteria for types of political cultures is society orientationA certain regulatory mechanisms.. History knows two main regulatory mechanisms: the market and the state.

The priority use of one or another mechanism in political life gives rise to the corresponding types of political culture:

o market political culture considers the political process through the prism of sales relations, the achievement of benefits as the highest goal of political activity; politics is a kind of business; a politician is a commodity or a businessman. It is focused on competition as a universal principle of the functioning of the political system. This is a culture of individualism, the highest goal is private (or group) interests. The state is a means of realizing goals;

o bureaucratic political culture (etatic) connects the solution of political problems with the operation of the mechanisms of state regulation of the political process, is focused on limiting and prohibiting competition; the interests of the state are recognized as prevailing over private interests.

There are other classifications of political culture, in particular social class. It is based on the connection of political culture with the nature of power in society, the political system. In accordance with this, three types are distinguished (table 3).

Special types are represented by political cultures in which the construction of theoretical models associated with a person living in the appropriate cultural and civilizational environment. In this regard, a comparative analysis of the main characteristics of Western and Eastern cultures can be presented (Table 4).

Thus, the political culture of the Western European type implies: the obligatory participation of citizens in solving common issues; civil sovereignty of the individual; religious values ​​of Christianity.

The Eastern type of political culture is due to: the peculiarities of the life of the communal structures of the Asian mode of production; influence of the Muslim, Buddhist, Confucian denominations.

People are the carrier of political culture. They are its subjects, as they have political experience, they know the norms, the goals of political activity, they have developed their own system of political beliefs. The following types are distinguished: dominant (official) and oppositional political culture; general and regional subculture; political culture of society, class, social group, leader, ordinary citizen. In addition, there are transitional models of political culture (from authoritarian to democratic).

Table 3

Table 4

The most famous and widespread classification of types of political culture was developed by American political scientists G. Almond and S. Verba and presented by them in the essay "Civic Culture". Comparing the political systems of Great Britain, the USA, Italy, Germany and Mexico, they identified three main types of political culture :

1) patriarchal, which is characterized by a lack of interest of citizens in the political life of the country and society, concern only with local problems, a low level of activity and participation in the life of society (it is predominant for underdeveloped - African and part of Asian - countries with strong remnants of tribal and compatriot relations, and in developed countries - for part of the inhabitants of rural areas);

2) tributary, with the prevalence of which people have general ideas about the political system and its institutions, but do not seek to actively participate in politics, perceive the state, power and politics as something "superior" in relation to their private life and expect from the authorities punishment for disobedience and encouragement for subordination and discipline (most often found in "transitional" and undergoing transformation societies, where new principles and forms of political relations are just being formed);

3) activist - under him, citizens are politically literate and conscious, are interested in politics and actively participate in political life, influencing state power in order to satisfy their own interests (developed democratic states).

Pure types of political culture, according to G. Almond and S. Verba, in reality appear in a creamy form. The existence in reality of elements of patriarchal and subservient political cultures determines the presence of a patriarchal-subordinate political culture, patriarchal and activist - patriarchal activist political culture, subservient and activist - subservient-activist political culture.

The classification of types of political culture proposed by G. Almond and S. Verba is not the only one, an example can be: Marxist typology of political culture ; Economic-centric political culture, put forward by A.S. Panarin; Ethnocentric political culture; Sociocentric political culture, etc.

In today's existing societies there are the most diverse types of political culture. At the same time, in each particular society, a certain type of political culture dominates. This, however, does not exclude the existence of various political subcultures in it. Subcultures are the political cultures of individual social strata, groups, political ideas, attitudes, ideas, values ​​and behavior which are significantly different from the dominant ones in society. Each political subculture includes both the general that characterizes the political culture dominant in society, and the specific that distinguishes this subculture. Its features are due to differences in the position of social groups in the economic and social structure, differences in ethnic, racial, religious, educational, gender and age and other characteristics.

For example, in Russian society, the political subcultures of various ethnic communities, the peasantry, youth, the emerging class of the new bourgeoisie, as well as the social strata, whose representatives the people call speculators, are denounced with significant specifics. Subcultures exist in other societies that currently exist. They differ especially significantly in societies in which social inequality is sharply expressed.

political culture subculture

3. Political subcultures

Political culture has a triple influence on political processes and institutions: under its influence, forms of political life traditional for society are reproduced; it is capable of generating new, non-traditional forms of social and political life for society; can combine elements of the old and future political structure. It cannot be absolutely homogeneous. The diversity of interests of various communities gives rise to models of political culture that differ from each other - subcultures that exist in all countries.

Subculture - a set of symbols, beliefs, values, norms, patterns of behavior that distinguish a particular community or any social group. Each community creates its own subculture. The subculture does not deny the universal culture, but at the same time it has its own specific differences. These differences are associated with the characteristics of the life of certain communities.

The theory of subcultures makes it possible to study the phenomena of cultural differentiation of modern society. The set and interaction of political subcultures determines the nature of political culture as a whole. Political subcultures are an important characteristic of a political system.

Political subculture - the political culture of individual social strata, groups, political ideas, attitudes, ideas, values ​​and behavior of which differ significantly from those dominant in society.

Relatively holistic ideas about political subcultures were developed in the late 20s of the twentieth century by American psychologists E. Mayo and F. Roethlisberger, in the process of studying the features of group psychology. Initially, the concept had a purely applied character and was used to describe the adaptation of ethnic groups in a foreign cultural environment. Then the political subculture began to be considered as a set of homogeneous value orientations and corresponding forms of political activity of citizens. Differences in people's choice of certain value orientations and methods of political behavior to a large extent depend on their belonging to social (classes, strata), national (ethnos, nation, people), demographic (women, men, youth, elderly), territorial ( population of certain areas and regions), role (elite and electorate) and other (religious, reference, etc.) groups. The development of value orientations (and corresponding forms of behavior) by people on the basis of group goals and ideals turns political culture into a set of subcultural formations that characterize the presence of significant (insignificant) differences among their carriers in relation to power and the state, ruling parties, in ways of political participation, etc. .d. In a number of basic parameters of the political cultures of different social groups in a single national and state community, there are certain differences. In some cases, the differences between these particular cultures from the general political culture are not of a fundamental nature, and they are integrated into it as subcultures, in others they are so different from the general political culture that they can be considered as independent countercultures. This means that in every society several political cultures can exist simultaneously: the dominant, or general, political culture, subcultures and countercultures. Differentiation of political culture can be based on social-class, national, religious, and other differences between social communities and individuals. The allocation of political subcultures can be based on both more or less significant variations of the same basic values ​​- and their qualitatively different varieties. In addition to rationally conscious views, each political subculture has a reflexively unformed relationship to reality, which strengthens common approaches, assessments and associations regarding political phenomena among the bearers of these values ​​and enhances the feelings of internal cohesion of their adherents.

Each subculture has a certain social scale, time of existence and varying degrees of rootedness in the minds and behavior of citizens. Differences in political subcultures inform the authorities of the source of evolution and self-development. Any political subculture includes both the general that characterizes the political culture dominant in society, and the specific that distinguishes this subculture, those features that are characteristic only of this group. In order to have the most complete picture of political subcultures, it is necessary to classify them.

There are the following political subcultures : political subculture of the intelligentsia, female, youth, farming, religious, regional, socioeconomic, ethnolinguistic, age and other subcultures.

Regional subcultures due to such differences between individual regions of the country, such as climate, the availability of certain natural resources, etc. This, in turn, gives rise to economic differences that affect the way of life of people, the general level of culture, and, consequently, their political and cultural level. The political culture of the region is significantly influenced by such factors as the economic specialization of the region, its place in the general system of division of labor. Thus, agrarian regions, as Russia's experience shows, are politically more conservative than industrial ones. They support the left spectrum of political parties, while showing a low level of political activity, that is, they limit themselves to participation in elections. However, the degree of participation of the rural population in elections is disproportionately higher than in other regions. In some industrial regions (in the Urals, for example), the population prefers highly active forms of participation - demonstrations, strikes, etc., sometimes socially unacceptable. In terms of the level of development of political culture, the central regions differ from the peripheral ones in the degree of political consciousness and activity. Regions that have the ability to ensure a certain level of economic and social well-being at the expense of their resources are characterized by a consistent political culture, loyalty to the existing regime, and a tendency towards political independence. A typical example for Russia is the Central Black Earth Region.

Socioeconomic subcultures are due to the existence in society of various groups (social strata, classes) with different economic status, and, consequently, differences in lifestyle, in interests that play a particularly important political role. Thus, for the entrepreneurial layer, the most relevant political values ​​are economic freedom, stability, control over the state by civil society, and participation in decision-making. In other words, what constitutes the immediate political conditions for the activity of the entrepreneur. Government decisions in the field of finance, taxation, and the budget directly affect the interests of this social stratum, hence the need for active political participation (influence on power structures) already at the stage of preparing such decisions. Representatives of this subculture use various ways and methods of influencing power. In turn, this makes it necessary to know the features of the political system, its individual institutions, the decision-making mechanism, etc. The entrepreneurial stratum prefers such active forms of influence on the government as the widespread use of the media, lobbying government structures, and the creation of political parties that claim to participate in power.

Ethnolinguistic subcultures associated with the linguistic, ethnic characteristics of the respective social groups. The political culture of these groups is determined by such factors as ethnic identity and national character. Political values, preferences and attitudes are usually secondary to ethnic factors.

Religious subcultures arise when religion is the main all-penetrating element of the common culture of a certain group of people. Islamic fundamentalism, for example, is not so much a religious as a political ideology.

Age subcultures reflect different systems of political values ​​among representatives of different generations. These subcultures exist mainly in politically reformed societies. The older generations, whose political culture has developed in the conditions of an obsolete political reality, have political views that are different from the system of political attitudes of young people who are not burdened by the practice of the old political regime. However, age differences have a relatively smaller impact on the political culture of people in stable systems.

Classifying the subcultures existing in society, G. Almond divided them into: vertical and horizontal.

vertical subculture differ in social and demographic characteristics, this is the difference between mass and elite subcultures.

Horizontal subculture- these are subcultures based on religious, ethnic, regional characteristics.

Also interesting is the classification of political subcultures proposed by D. Eleizar. He identifies individualistic, moralistic and traditionalist subcultures.

individualistic political subculture focused on individual values, the hierarchy of political preferences of an individual.

moralistic political subculture considers unity, cooperation of all members of society as the basis of democracy. The goal of politics is declared to be the good of the whole people, the good of the whole society, for the sake of which government intervention in private life is allowed. The moralistic subculture requires every citizen to participate in political life. Politicians are also required to strictly follow the norms of morality. In the moralistic subculture, the type of politically neutral administration is allowed, and the attitude towards the bureaucracy remains restrained.

traditionalist political subculture focuses on maintaining the existing structure of society, the power of the elite, whose members inherit their privileges. The traditionalist subculture attaches special importance to family ties and relationships within local communities, and parties are given a secondary role. The attitude towards bureaucracy is negative.

Due to the social heterogeneity of society, various political subcultures that exist in it can turn out to be a source of destabilization of socio-political life. It is possible that the degree of compatibility between different subcultures will be the main factor influencing the political stability of a given country. Various political subcultures can easily get along with each other, interacting within the framework of a single political culture for the whole society. Such unity is a source of social stability. In a socially heterogeneous society, there is also a counterculture: directed against the dominant relations and playing the role of "troublemaker". With the appearance of serious disagreements, the discrepancy between the interests of cultures and subcultures, there is a threat of the collapse of a single and the formation of a fragmented political culture. It is characterized by the loss of common ideals and values, the priority of parochialism, nationalism, and group egoism. Fragmentary political culture is an inevitable attribute of revolutions, critical periods of social development. An example of a fragmented culture is the political culture of Canada. Studies done in this country have shown that Canadians do not identify very often with the federal government. When asked which government is closer to them - federal or provincial, the majority of respondents named the latter. Germany, France, Italy and a number of other countries also have a fragmented political culture. Serious grounds for the formation of different political subcultures are socio-ethnic differences. There can hardly be any doubt that the political cultures, for example, of the peoples of the Baltic and Central Asia do not coincide in their qualitative characteristics. These subcultures cannot be divided according to the principle "better - worse", "high - low". They are simply different, conditioned, first of all, by the peculiarities of the socio-cultural development of these peoples.

Conclusion

Summing up the results of the work done, it should be noted that, due to objective circumstances, the country will always feel the need for a strong, efficient state, which cannot but affect the political culture.

The formation of the political culture of the individual occurs with the help of a social mechanism, which is a system of interacting elements and links. The first of these links is political experience. A personality is formed by assimilating a certain part of the experience that accumulates in the political culture of a society or group. First of all, a person learns norms, stereotypes and patterns of political values.

An important link in the mechanism of formation of political culture is education, which implies the construction of a system of knowledge about social life and, in this regard, about the laws of political life.

The process of formation of political culture goes on almost throughout a person's life. Scientists have developed criteria that can be used to measure the level of political culture of a particular person in a given time period. These are empirically verifiable indicators, that is, the measurement is carried out using the methods of a specific sociological research.

According to some modern political scientists, only those who are directly involved in politics can have a high level of political culture, and the more active this participation, the higher the level of political culture. One can hardly agree with this, firstly, because, as practice shows, not all people who voluntarily and consciously engage in politics have a high level of political culture; secondly, because all people are not obliged to engage in politics, this is the lot, first of all, of professionals. A surge in the political activity of citizens manifests itself most often periodically during voting (election campaign) or as a form of expressing dissatisfaction with something in the policy of the authorities. It is at these moments that the level of political culture of citizens is most clearly manifested. Therefore, the criterion of the formation of the political culture of individuals can be defined not as the degree of regular participation in politics, but as the ability and willingness to take part in it by civilized methods as needed.

The political culture of any community is formed under the influence of various factors. This predetermines the diversity of types of political culture, for example: depending on the level of community: general and subculture; according to the degree of consistency: integrated and fragmented; according to basic values: culture of high citizenship, elitist, archaic; and many others that are presented in my work.

The most famous and widespread classification of types of political culture was developed by American political scientists G. Almond and S. Verba; they identified three main types of political culture: patriarchal, subservient, activist.

It should be noted that these types are rare in their pure form. One can only speak of the predominance of one type or another in a mixed political culture. Combining in a certain combination and proportion, they form the civil culture of the society.

Political culture can be discussed in connection with the analysis of society as a whole, as well as in connection with the analysis of its individual components. In this case, within the framework of a single political culture of society, more or less autonomous structured formations can be distinguished, which in political science are called subcultures. We are talking about subsystems of political orientations and models of political behavior that are characteristic of a particular group or region and differ in their systemic integrity from the orientations and models inherent both in other groups and in the nation as a whole.

Political subcultures are formed on different grounds. They can arise on the basis of social-class, national-ethnic, religious-political and regional differences. Perhaps the emergence of subcultures due to demographic factors. For example, youth, women's subcultures, etc. A number of researchers within the framework of political culture distinguish "elite" and "mass" subcultures. As a rule, the national political culture and the subculture of the elite coincide.

The political culture of a society is not the sum of political subcultures. It incorporates the most stable, typical features that characterize the political consciousness and behavior of the bulk of the population, i.e. political stereotypes that prevail in a given society.

WITHlist of used literature

1. Introduction to political science: a textbook for students of higher educational institutions studying in the direction and specialty "Political Science" / V. P. Pugachev, A. I. Soloviev. - Ed. 4th, revised. and additional - Moscow: Aspect Press, 2010. - 448 p.;

2. Kravchenko A.I. Political science: textbook. M.: Prospekt, 2011. - 447 p.

3. Fundamentals of sociology and political science: a textbook for students of secondary specialized educational institutions / L. M. Kulikov. - Moscow: Finance and statistics, 2011. - 333 p.;

4. Political culture of Russia of the XX century: a textbook for university students / I. B. Orlov. - Moscow: Aspect Press, 2008. - 224 p.;

5. Political science: basic course: textbook / K. S. Gadzhiev. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: Yurayt, 2011. - 505 p.;

6. Political science: a course of lectures / V. N. Lavrinenko, Zh. B. Skripkina, V. V. Yudin. - Moscow: Wolters Kluver, 2010. - 387 p.;

7. Political science: textbook / O. Z. Mushtuk. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: MFPA, 2011. - 474 p.;

8. Political science: textbook / R. T. Mukhaev. - Moscow: Prospect, 2011. - 640 p.;

9. Political science: a textbook for bachelors: for students of higher educational institutions / ed. V. A. Achkasova, V. A. Gutorova; St. Petersburg State. un-t. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: Yurayt, 2011. - 803 p.;

10. Political science: a textbook for students / ed. ed. A. G. Gryaznova - 3rd ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: INFRA-M, 2012. - 394 p.;

11. Political science: a textbook for students of higher educational institutions / R. T. Mukhaev. - 4th ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: UNITI, 2010. - 663 p.;

12. Political science: a textbook for students of higher educational institutions studying in the humanities and socio-economic specialties / ed. ed. V. K. Mokshina; 2nd ed., revised. and additional - Moscow: Academic project, 2010. - 574 p.;

13. Political science: a textbook for students of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions / S. A. Lantsov. - Moscow [and others]: Peter, 2011. - 536 p.;

14. Political science: a textbook for students of higher educational institutions / G. I. Kozyrev. - Moscow: ID FORUM: INFRA-M, 2009. - 367 p. 19.12.2013

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POLITICAL SCIENCE

Subject: " Basic criteria and types of political culture. Political subcultures»

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student ___ course ______ spec. ______

Group _____________ No. credit. ______ books

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Saint Petersburg

CONTENT

Introduction 2
4
5
Types of political culture of society. 7
The role of traditions in the formation of political culture. 11
The main criteria of political culture 13
Political subcultures 18
CONCLUSION 24
BIBLIOGRAPHY 25

Introduction

The concept of political culture.

Political culture: functions

theoretical-cognitive;
satisfaction of political needs;
integrative;
communicative;
educational 3 .

Types of political culture of society.

the presence of a certain level of knowledge about politics in general and in its various areas;
the ability to give an independent assessment of political phenomena, parties, movements and individuals; the ability to participate in political activities, express their own position and will, both in the field of political struggle and political compromise, consensus;
the ability to manage the emotional side of political actions, to carefully and soberly evaluate both the actions of opponents and one's own. These elements can be both positive and negative. It is in this sense that they influence the state of the entire political system, either positively or negatively, which allows us to assert that political culture is an integral element of the political system.

in long historical periods, political culture modifies the political system;
the political system actually functioning in a given society reflects the history of its political culture;
political culture is relatively independent in its functioning, although it is a subsystem of the political system.

The role of traditions in the formation of political culture.

The main criteria of political culture

The political culture of any community is formed under the influence of various factors. This predetermines the diversity of types of political culture. The typology of political culture is based on certain criteria. Let's take a look at the main ones.
By degree of consistency in the interaction of political subcultures in a particular country, an integrated and fragmented political culture is distinguished.

A) definition;

B) Typology;

C) Factors influencing the formation of political culture;

D) Modern concepts.

What is a political subculture.

Types of political subcultures.

Religious subculture.

Ethnolinguistic subcultures.

subculture of women.

The role of political subcultures.

Bibliography.

The role of political subcultures in the political culture of society

1. What is political culture

Political culture is an integral part of the national culture. This is, first of all, the political experience of mankind, social communities, large and small social groups, obtained in the course of historical development. Existing in certain forms, this experience has an impact on the formation of the political consciousness of people and, ultimately, is expressed in their political orientation and attitudes, which, in turn, determine the political behavior of people.

Typology of political culture

Differentiation of political cultures is carried out in accordance with one or another criterion. One of the criteria is the degree of consistency in the interaction of political subcultures in a particular country. On this basis, two types of political culture can be distinguished: integrated (homogeneous) and fragmented (diverse).

Another criterion for distinguishing types of political culture is the basic values ​​that this or that community is guided by in political activity. In accordance with this, three types of political culture can be distinguished.

Citizenship culture. The basic value is a person with his needs and interests. The political system as a whole and all its structural elements are democratic.

Elite political culture. The basic political value is power or power structures. A person acts as a means to achieve the goals set by the political elite.

Archaic political culture. The main value is the interests of the ethnic group to which they belong (genus, tribe, nation). Here the individual is not aware of himself as a person and does not separate himself from the ethnic community.

Another criterion is the orientation of society towards certain regulatory mechanisms within the framework of the political system (market, state). The priority use of this or that mechanism in political life gives rise to the corresponding types of political culture - market or bureaucratic.

Factors influencing the formation of political culture

It is known that countries with similar socio-political systems can differ significantly from each other in political and cultural terms. These differences are predetermined, among other things, by the so-called “external”, non-political factors: the specifics of the historical development, the geopolitical position of the country, and especially economic factors.

Modern Concepts

Psychological approach(school of G. Almond): political culture is considered as a set of psychological orientations to socio-political objects and processes.

Comprehensive, generalizing approach(D. Merwick, R. Tucker, L. Dittmer): everything that happens in politics is attributed to political culture. It is either identified with the political system, or reduced to political relations, and, ultimately, has no specific content.

Objectivist (normative) interpretation(L. Pay, D. Paul): political culture is defined as a scoop of norms and patterns of behavior adopted by the political system.

Heuristic concept(S.Huntington): political culture is understood as a hypothetical normative model of desired behavior.