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InThe Civic Culture, perhaps the best known study of political culture, Almond and Verba say that 'the relationship between political culture and political structure [is] one of the most significant researchable aspects of the problem of political stability and change'. I want to look at the way this relationship has been treated in one particular area, an area very relevant to questions of political stability and change in our own society; that is, in studies of political participation and apathy, especially research into the sense of political efficacy or competence. This is the area with whichThe Civic Cultureitself is largely concerned, and it is now well established that individuals low in a sense of political efficacy tend to be apathetic about politics; indeed, Almond and Verba consider the sense of efficacy or competence to be a 'key political attitude'.

Politics, Law and Psychology are fields that come together in the symbolic. This text takes evidence from those three areas to develop an analysis of political symbols and political transitions. The development of the analysis goes through three stages. The first succinctly describes the concept of transition and its meaning. The second closely examines the notion of the symbol, in terms of its definition, to explain aspects that allow us to understand it, characterise it and make its functions clear. Finally, from the author's experience as a witness and as an actor, I suggest three ways of understanding symbols in the processes of political transition: as symbols of change, as symbols of acknowledgment, and as symbols of support.

The 26th UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, will take place in Glasgow in November. Can it succeed? What does 'success' actually mean in the context of the climate crisis?