The role of various agencies of political socializsation is viewed in terms of their imparting a supportive political culture. However, some New Left theorists, Gramsci and Althusser view agencies of political socialization in a capitalist society necessarily as apparatuses of non-coercive domination and means of creating conditions favourable for maintenance of the capitalist system. In… Continue reading Political Socialization or Hegemony and Cultural Reproduction
Month: February 2023
Political Socialization and Its Agencies
In classical democracy, political training of citizens has been considered as an important condition for its success. Through political training, citizens are made aware of the requirements of a democratic government and process, expectations from them as participants and their rights and obligations. People form certain opinions and collectively manifest it as part of public… Continue reading Political Socialization and Its Agencies
Political Sub-culture
The discussion above suggests that the population as a whole may not display one type of political orientation. Political sociologists generally agree that diverse political orientations exist in society in different groups towards political objects. It means political culture is not homogenous but heterogeneous. Political sub-culture refers to existence of particular type of orientations, propensities… Continue reading Political Sub-culture
Types of Political Culture
Degree and nature of political orientation in terms of cognitive, affective and evaluative can become the basis of classifying political cultures. These include level of knowledge (cognitive), nature of feeling (affective) and opinion and judgment (evaluative) about: Further, orientation towards ‘self’ as an active political actor and participant also becomes an important factor in classifying… Continue reading Types of Political Culture
Political Culture as ‘Civic Culture’
Gabriel A. Almond and Sidney Verba’s The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations (1963) presented a study of political cultures of five democracies—Britain, Germany, Italy, Mexico and the United States. The study seeks to locate the attitudinal and behavioural aspects of the people, their orientation towards authority, political objects and political system, reconciliation of… Continue reading Political Culture as ‘Civic Culture’
Political Culture and Public Opinion
Traditionally, we have been appreciating the Aristotelian notion that a large middle class with a balanced socio-economic position is crucial for stable democracy. Similarly, the Lockean notion that majoritarian consensus is important for democratic consent and decision-making, has been an integral element of our political thought. J. S. Mill and Alex de Tocqueville, however, introduced… Continue reading Political Culture and Public Opinion
Introduction
England is a parliamentary democracy, so is India. There are Members of Parliament, political parties, interest and pressure groups, and electorates in both countries. This means there should not be any fundamental differences in the functioning of the two democracies. However, political parties, pressure and interest groups, electorates and their representatives behave differently in the… Continue reading Introduction
Hegemony as Power
Gramsci, also a neo-Marxian theorist, gave importance to the superstructure, politics, state, ideology and cultural and educational institutions. He advocated the relative autonomous view of the state and suggests that politics has autonomy of its own and should be ‘distinguished form the realms of economics, morality and religion.’79 Gramsci suggests that the domination of the capitalist… Continue reading Hegemony as Power
Neo-Marxian Revision on Distribution of Power in Capitalist Society
The orthodox Marxian position as explained above, has been slightly revised by some neo-Marxian thinkers. In this, the capitalist class is seen as cohesive and their power unified. Exercise of political power is viewed as class power because the ruling class is also the politically governing class. This means the capitalist class organically, ideologically and… Continue reading Neo-Marxian Revision on Distribution of Power in Capitalist Society
Orthodox Marxian Position on Distribution of Power
To explain the distribution of power, Marxian distinction of base and superstructure should be understood. Marx divides the whole society into two categories. One relates to economic activity and production, private property, machinery, equipments, technology and techniques of production, labour force, etc. and another, to the rest of other activities such as politics, culture, law, etc. While the first… Continue reading Orthodox Marxian Position on Distribution of Power