Suchergebnisse

We can consider values as culturally objectified, abstract ideas of phenomena. Such ideas are of lasting significance to the satisfaction of needs of political subjects. These ideas are a subjective reflection of the objective needs of social subjects; they express the subject's attitude toward its own needs. Therefore, it seems right to call values ideas of needs. All values, whether they are ideas (models) of activities, or ideas of social relations, or abstract ideas, or specific objects which are needs in themselves, are according to this approach, ideas of needs. The last are ideas of needs in the strictest sense of the word. Therefore, they may be called primary values, for they serve an essential motivating function. The remaining types of ideas (of activities, of the desired type of social relations, and so on) also result from a recognition of certain needs (Karwat, 198). From Almond and Verba's pioneering study in the early 1960s to Inglehart's work into the 1990s, the theory and methodology of this set of approaches to social culture study have served to emphasize certain aspects of social actuality and to obscure others, generating partial (in both senses) explanation that is, at best, only weakly circumstantial, and, at worst, contrived. The purpose is to summarize and analyze the features of social culture study that have left it so vulnerable to criticism - and indeed, that have led numerous social scientists to rebuff the concept outright. Here I present, initially, a debate of practical problems, and then a debate on the conjectural problems of social culture approaches.

The ideaof political culture has remained intuitively appealing as a framework for political explanation and assessment, despite a large body of compelling criticism that has accumulated since its introduction three decades ago. However, even recently, adherents of the political culture approach have been unsuccessfulto address the fundamental shortcomings of the concept and its application. This book has two goals. First, a thoroughanalytical critique is undertaken of a dominant strand of political culture theory, closely examining major formative works (e.g.Almond and Verba) as well as numerousrecent studies (e.g., Inglehart). Secondly, on the basis of this critique, a recasting of the concept is presented.The thesis underlying the examinationis that theoretical and methodological problems were built into the concept of political culture at the outset. The chief conceptual problems identified are that: 1) the conceptual melding of the broader culture with political culture has muddled the identification of causes and subverted the investigation of political structures and procedures; 2) the assumption of cultural continuity has left change to be explained only outside the model; and 3) the insistence upon national units of analysis has obscured the significanceof subnational political groupings. Major political trends in recent decades defy explanation in terms of the predictableapproach to political culture, forprominent subculturalcleavages and rapid changes in collectively held political attitudes imply not only important effects emanating from the functioning of politics itself, but also a lack of uniformity across subnational groupings. Political cultures are shaped, not of broader cultural forces, but of individual subjective perceptions gleaned from a limited variety and quantityof interactions with the structures and processes of politics. Theseperceptions produceexpectations, assumptions, choices, and incentives concerning the functioning of politics, all of which comprise political cultures. In this model, political cultures manifest themselves not in terms of national political cultures, butrather of political cultural subgroupings based on differentialperspectives on politics (e.g.socioeconomic, demographic, regional.). The book concludes with discussions of the model and of its implications for research.

Relationships between value orientations and political attitudes are usually analyzed as linear and additive associations. Since values are commonly conceived as lacking independence of each other, particularly in politics where they usually appear in the shape of 'ideological packages', the paper examines how values interact when generating their political effects. We investigate the interactive effects between postmaterialism, religiosity and ethnocentrism when they are required to explain ideological and party preferences. The outlined problems are examined using the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (DPES) data. Results show that political expression of some values (e.g., ethnocentrism) is dependent on the level of the other values (e.g., postmaterialism).

Relationships between value orientations and political attitudes are usually analyzed as linear and additive associations. Since values are commonly conceived as lacking independence of each other, particularly in politics where they usually appear in the shape of 'ideological packages', the paper examines how values interact when generating their political effects. We investigate the interactive effects between postmaterialism, religiosity and ethnocentrism when they are required to explain ideological and party preferences. The outlined problems are examined using the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (DPES) data. Results show that political expression of some values (e.g., ethnocentrism) is dependent on the level of the other values (e.g., postmaterialism)

The paper analyzes the political consequences of religiosity, post-materialism and nationalist attitudes. According to modernization and secularization theses, ideological orientations such as religiosity and (ethno)nationalism are supposed to decline in political relevance as modernizations progresses. On the other side, in the era of political de-alignment and re-alignment, political space is supposed to be determined by the 'new politics' ideological dimensions, of which post-materialist orientation is the most familiar. In order to examine the implications of these theoretical perspectives, this paper analyzes the ability of the aforementioned orientations to explain various aspects of political attitudes and behavior, such as the support for democracy, party preference, or ideological identification. The outlined problems are examined using data the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (DPES). Several features make the Netherlands an appropriate case to address these problems. These include the sharp trend of secularization, but accompanied by the persisting religious political cleavage. More recent trends of post-materialist and anti-immigrant politics have also been early and vividly expressed in the Netherlands. The main findings show that ideological orientations such as post-materialism, religiosity, and ethnocentrism, continue to be important for explaining various aspects of political attitudes and behavior in the Netherlands. The results also indicate that modernization and 'post-modernization' theories are imperfect explanations for the observed trends.

The paper analyzes the political consequences of religiosity, post-materialism and nationalist attitudes. According to modernization and secularization theses, ideological orientations such as religiosity and (ethno)nationalism are supposed to decline in political relevance as modernizations progresses. On the other side, in the era of political de-alignment and re-alignment, political space is supposed to be determined by the 'new politics' ideological dimensions, of which post-materialist orientation is the most familiar. In order to examine the implications of these theoretical perspectives, this paper analyzes the ability of the aforementioned orientations to explain various aspects of political attitudes and behavior, such as the support for democracy, party preference, or ideological identification. The outlined problems are examined using data the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (DPES). Several features make the Netherlands an appropriate case to address these problems. These include the sharp trend of secularization, but accompanied by the persisting religious political cleavage. More recent trends of post-materialist and anti-immigrant politics have also been early and vividly expressed in the Netherlands. The main findings show that ideological orientations such as post-materialism, religiosity, and ethnocentrism, continue to be important for explaining various aspects of political attitudes and behavior in the Netherlands. The results also indicate that modernization and 'post-modernization' theories are imperfect explanations for the observed trends.