6.2: Culture

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Define culture and norms.
• Consider the implications of cultures that have strict or loose norms.
• Distinguish between different political culture systems.

Introduction

Culture, broadly defined, is the combination of customs; social institutions; art; media; and social, economic, and political achievements of a social group. In many ways, culture is a "catch-all" for many factors that influence social behavior, habits, and traditions found in a society. This includes norms, which are standard practices, rules, patterns, and behaviors considered acceptable in a society. In some situations, the inability or unwillingness to abide by norms can result in punishments and violence, and some scholars argue that norms have significant influence on political behaviors.

Michele Gelfand (2018), for instance, argues that states that enforce strict adherence to norms tend to have greater control over their own populations, which manifests in lower crime rates and the promotion of self-control among individuals. In contrast, states that do not promote strict adherence to norms may be more disorganized and have higher crime rates. Yet, the states without strict adherence to norms may also be more open to other ideas and cultures, and they may perform better economically. In explaining how cultures tend to adopt strict or loose adherence to norms, Gelfand writes:

There’s a hidden logic for why these differences evolve: Groups that have experienced a lot of threat tend to be tighter. The threat can come from a variety of sources, such as a high level of natural disasters and famine, a scarcity of resources, the potential of invasions, a high population density, economic uncertainty, etc. It makes sense: Groups under threat need rules to coordinate to survive. Cultures that have less threat can afford to be more permissive.

Cultures therefore develop as a result of a combination of factors, including historical origins, present-day strains and stresses, and ambitions to acquire or attain certain goals. Cultural norms evolve to adapt to their environment. In evaluating data on political, social, and economic measures among 30 different countries, Gelfand finds that cultures with either too-strict or too-loose adherence to cultural norms have lower levels of happiness and higher rates of suicide. Conversely, cultures that have more moderate adherence to norms are among the happiest and most economically successful countries.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Gelfand’s book argues that different adherence to cultural norms affects political and economic outcomes within a state. (Source: Gelfand, M. (2018). Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire our World, Scribner.)

Political Culture

While societal culture and norms fundamentally shape the political system, we must also consider the narrower concept of "political culture." Political culture is a shared set of ideological views and beliefs held by a population about the political system under which they live.

A number of factors relate to how political culture manifests in different states. First, trust, the extent to which citizens believe in the reliability and validity of their government, plays a significant role in political outcomes. For instance, if citizens do not trust the electoral process, they may be unwilling to accept election results. As discussed in Chapter 4, accepting election results is a foundational feature of any democracy. If trust does not exist, democratic institutions are unlikely to perform their functions effectively. The odds for political conflict, and even political violence, may increase as the level of trust within a given political culture decreases. Second, "post-materialism" influences how political culture manifests in a given state. Post-materialism is the extent to which a political culture focuses on or cares about issues that are not of immediate physical and material concern, such as human rights and environmental concerns. 

While we highlight only two (of many) factors that influence political culture, we can also identify three distinct types of political culture that relate to political participation and regime type. As Almond and Verba (1963) describe in The Civic Culture, there are three systems of political culture: a parochial system, a subject system, and a participant system. A parochial system is a type of political culture in which citizens are not involved, engaged, or interested in the political operations in their state. A subject system is a type of political culture in which citizens are somewhat aware and responsive to their governmental systems, but their involvement is heavily controlled and legislated by their governments. In this system, there is no room for opposition or dissent; citizens are merely subjects to the government and must abide by the laws or face punishment. This system tends to align with non-democratic regimes. The participant system is a type of political culture in which citizens are aware of government actions and able to influence and participate in governmental decisions, but they still must abide by the laws of the state. This system tends to align with democratic regimes.