- Learning objectives (bullet-point list of brief items)



Political Culture and Ideology

I. Learning Objectives

The three overarching goals of this chapter are for students to:

• understand key concepts related to the broad concepts political culture and political ideologies

• apply these concepts to the TIC countries to appreciate the meaning and significance of each concept, as well as to understand similarities and differences among these countries

• employ these concepts and examples from the TIC countries in (in-class) critical thinking exercises related to the issues at hand

Related to the three goals above are several more specific objectives, which are grouped below according to their place in chapter.

Regarding the objectives in each group, students should be able to apply the concepts at hand to the TIC countries, as well as complete critical thinking exercises that require mastery of these concepts and illustrations from the TIC countries.

Culture

• understand the concept of culture

Political Culture

• understand the concept of political culture

• understand the five main components of political culture

Where Does Political Culture Come From?

• understand the sources of political culture regarding events, experiences and socialization

• understand the concept of socialization

• understand how culture can spread globally

Political Ideologies:

• understand the meaning of various ideological labels regarding the State’s role in promoting a redistribution of wealth or certain kinds of values

• understand how some ideological labels can be placed on right-left spectrum

Comparative Exercise

• use properly the key terms introduced in this chapter

• understand the methodological concepts involved in testing two hypotheses related to cultural globalization

Critical Thinking

• understand the difference between the conceptualizations of culture as a set of values and as a system of meaning

• understand the positives and negatives of socializing individuals into a prevailing political culture

• appreciate why a particular ideological perspective is more or less popular than another

• participate effectively in the class discussion/team projects specified below

III. Chapter Outline

1. Introduction

• Chapter objectives

• Brief introductory section on the chapter

o This opens with the story of a female candidate for public office in Oaxaca, Mexico to illustrate how political culture can structure political behavior

2. Culture

-Culture is defined as both ‘underlying values’ and ‘systems of meaning.’ It is difficult to generalize about the aspects of a country’s culture when it exhibits cultural heterogeneity compared to cultural homogeneity.

• Components of Political Culture

-This section identifies and explains five general types of components of political culture. These are later identified in each TIC country. The five components are:

o Beliefs about authority

o Values regarding group welfare versus the interests of the individual

o Values regarding tradeoff between liberty and security

o Beliefs about the legitimacy of the political system

o Identification with a political community

-This section ends by noting a Deepening Your Understanding feature contained in the companion website, which identifies some of these components in American political culture.

• TIC Sections

o Political culture in the UK, Germany, France, and India

▪ A box in this section applies Almond and Verba’s ‘civic culture’ theory to the UK

o Political culture in Mexico, Brazil, and Nigeria

o Political culture in the Russian Federation, China, and Iran

3. Where Does Political Culture Come From? Events, Experiences, and Socialization

-This section identifies three main sources of political culture: ‘defining events, experiences (especially those that last for years), and socialization. The latter is defined as ‘the process of transmitting values and systems of meaning, usually from one generation to the next.’

• Globalization, Socialization, and Political Culture

-This section points out how values and systems of meaning are spread globally. This section is related to the part of chapter 3 that examined economic globalization.

• TIC Sections

o Socialization, Experiences, and Events in the UK, Germany, France, and India

o Socialization, Experiences, and Events in Mexico, Brazil, and Nigeria

o Socialization, Experiences, and Events in the Russian Federation, China, and Iran

▪ This section includes one box that applies Ronald Inglehart’s theory Postmaterialism to China and another box that applies Benjamin Barber’s framework of Jihad versus ‘McWorld’ to Iran.

4. From Values and Systems of Meaning to Blueprints for Society: Political Ideologies

-This section defines political ideology as “a set of guiding principles about the proper design and functioning of politics and society. It is both normative and prescriptive, combining a sense of what ought to be with a blueprint for putting it in place.”

• Ideological Positions on Social Change and Redistribution of Wealth

-This section focuses on how some ideologies emphasize the role of government in fostering social change and redistributing economic wealth. The following ideologies are discussed: Marxist, social democratic, progressive, moderate, conservative, libertarian, and reactionary. A figure in this section shows how these can placed on a left to right spectrum.

-The final paragraphs in this section point out that some ideologies refer to issues other than wealth distribution, such as values, identity and religion

o Ideology in the UK, Germany, France, and India

o Ideology in Mexico, Brazil, and Nigeria

o Ideology in the Russian Federation, China, and Iran

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