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Chapter 7 Cultural Determinants of Democracy Primordialist arguments treat culture as something that is objective and inherited something that has been fixed since primordial times o culture exists prior tom and remains unchanged by political interaction o culture affects political behavior by providing ideological guidelines for collective action rather than political behavior by providing ideological guidelines for collective action rather than political behavior that shapes culture o Implies that democracy is not for everyone Constructivist arguments treat culture as something that is constructed or invented rather than inherited o Culture has a causal effect and that a democratic culture is required for democracy to emerge and prosper o Culture is malleable and not given once and for all Can change in response to social economic and political actors o Not impenetrable barriers to democratization o Speed with which cultures can change is likely to vary from culture to culture Classical cultural arguments Mill and Montesquieu Montesquieu o Claimed that monarchy was most suited to European states o Despotism most suited to the Orient o Democracy most suited to the ancient world o Best government for a country was that which leads men to following their propensities and inclinations and which best agrees with the humor and disposition of the people in whose favor it is established Mill o Argued different cultures were suited to different political institutions o Highly critical of those who believe culture prevents political actors from choosing the o Familiarity is a great help but much dwelling on an idea will make it familiar even when institution that they desire strange at first o Does not see particular cultural traits and necessary conditions for democracy Cultural modernization theory o Argues that socioeconomic development does not directly cause democracy instead economic development produces certain cultural changes such as the emergence of a civic culture and it is these cultural chanfes that ultimately produce democratic reform o Problems democracy Neither scholar specifically says exactly what it is about culture that matters for What particular morals are incompatiable Qhich customes are problematic Vague or nonspecificness that becomes non falsifiable Nonscientific Unclear causal relationship between cultural economic and political factors Which way does the casual arrow go Hard to discern what they thought the exact causual relationship was between these factors Does democracy require a civic culture Almond and Verba o Only culture could provides the psychological basis for democratization o Without it democratic survival was slim o Three basic types of political culture Parochial Subject Traditional political systems of African tribes Congruent with centralized authoritarian institutions like in the Soviet Union Participant Civic Only one compatible with democracy o Political culture determined by how individuals think and feel about the political system o Possible to study culture by conducting surveys and asking individuals about their feelings toward political institutions actors and processes a nation s political culture is simply the distribution of the responses to these survey questions Political culture reflects relatively coherent cluster of attitudes in society in this conceptualization Civic culture reflects particular cluster of attitudes Belief on the part of individuals that they can influence political decisions Positive feelings towards the political system High levels of interpersonal trust Preferences for gradual societal change o Civic culture conceptualized as a shared cluster of attitudes that includes things like a high level of interpersonal trust a preference for gradual societal change a high level of support for the existing political system and high levels of life satisfaction Necessary condition for democratic stability o Different societies are characterized to very differences are relatively enduring but not immutable and that they can have major political consequences one being that they are closely linked to the viability of democratic institutions Inglehart o Political culture is determined by levels of overall life satisfaction Levels of interpersonal trust Support for gradual societal change among the individuals of the nation o Political culture is a crucial intervening variable between economic development and democracy and that the relationship between economic development and the emergence and viability of mass based democracy is contingent on specific cultural changes Muller and Seligson o Levels of interpersonal trust in a country component of civic culture are determined by that country s level of democracy rather than the other way around o Life satisfaction has no noticeable effect on democracy o Level of support for revolutionary change is the only element of civic culture that increases democracy World Values Survey o University of Michigan o Conducted by network of social scientists at leasing universities all around the world o Interviews conducted with nationally representative smaples of more than 80 societies on all 6 inhabited continents o Often used to examine the relationship between culture and democratic institutions o Deigned to examine sociocultural and political change more broadly o Mass support for particular system of government and mass confidence in specific institutions provides politlcal systems with the legitimacy that they need to operate effectively o Mass support for democracy is seen by some as essential in delegitimizing doctoral rule and legitimizing democratic rule o Limitations Surveys can really only get a how culture affects democratic stability they are not well suited to addressing the question of whether a certain culture produces democracy Cannot conduct surveys in dictatorships Preference falsification Individuals can understand the same questions in vastly different ways Democracy may conjure up images of economic and political equality for some but may simply mean holding competitive elections for others If experts cannot agree on what they mean by democracy why would we expect individuals in different countries to have the same concept in mind when answering survey questions about it National history is likely to influence how individuals evaluate democracy It may not be possible to compare responses to survey questions concerning democracy across countries with any degree of


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FSU CPO 2002 - Cultural Determinants of Democracy

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Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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EXAM 1

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Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

Chapter 7

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Chapter 7

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CHAPTER 1

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Test 1

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Chapter 1

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Exam 2

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Notes

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