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Political culture refers to the values and political conduct of individual or collective agents. As a concept it is as old as the analysis of politics itself. Aristotle wrote about a "state of mind" that could inspire either political change or stability; Machiavelli stressed the role of the values and feelings of identity and commitment; Burke praised the "cake of custom" that enabled political institutions to fulfil their aims; Tocqueville emphasized moeurs as the key determinants of the character of a particular society. But the contemporary understanding of political culture has been uniquely influenced by Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba's classic behaviorist formulation in the Civic Culture (1963), leading up to today's multicausal, relational, and mixed methods approaches to the study of the concept (Thompson, Ellis, & Wildavsky, 1990). As a result of this methodological diversity, political culture has ceased to be narrowly identified with the attitudes toward government of political agents, to be measured in the aggregate and then compared across political systems, or even more broadly conceived as a process in which political meaning is constructed in the interplay between the attitudes of individual citizens and the language and symbolic systems in which they are embedded. Contemporary analysis of political culture is a broad church, taking in everything from data collection on political opinions, attitudes, and values conducted by means of structured interviews with representative samples of citizens (e.g., Inglehart, 1997), to interpretive approaches that use a range of qualitative methods to clarify how political identities are generated, or how symbols and rhetoric can generate compliance or conflict, to discussions of why some ethnic identities become radicalized and others do not. The field has become so broad, that it is hard to pinpoint what is political culture and what is not.

On the basis of forty five days field survey as well as extensive survey of literature regarding political culture and democratization process in Russia this paper makes positive case for Russian democratization process, simultaneously this paper is also of the view that the simplistic account of Russian culture can neither help to understand the kind of political culture present in Russia nor its impact on Russian democratization process in particular and prospect of democracy in Russia in general.

В статье развиваются идеи А.А. Никишенкова о евразийских аспектах политической культуры современной России. Автор ставит два ключевых вопроса. Первый: действительно ли евразийская политическая культура диаметрально противоположна европейской? Второй: действительно ли евразийский фактор оказывал негативное влияние на формирование политической культуры нашей страны?Автор детально анализирует политические структуры и традиции народов Великой Степи, включая Средневековую Русь и древнее Русско-кипчакское государство, основанных на Азиатском способе производства. Он приходит к выводу, что эти общества были не деспотическими, а достаточно демократическими, способными к контролю за властью и самоэволюции. Эта черта кочевых обществ сближает их с демократическим Западом и противопоставляет деспотичному Востоку.Автор анализирует ряд исторических событий, включая последние «революции» на пост-советском пространстве (Грузия, Кыргызстан, Украина). Он приходит к выводу, что власть и оппозиция действуют и противодействуют на едином политическом поле, что характерно для европейской политической культуры. Он также противопоставляет Золотую Орду и Московскую Русь. Он доказывает, что Орда была не частью Русского государства, а внешней силой по отношению к нему. Следовательно евразийский, русско-кипчакский вариант политического развития был не «ориентализирован» или искажен, а лишь замедлен. Октябрьская революция ускорила этот процес руками горстки радикалов-западников. В итоге автор приходит к выводу, что современная Россия имеет один единственный путь политического развития – европейский. ; The author develops the ideas of Alexei A. Nikishenkov about the Eurasian aspects of political culture of contemporary Russia. The following two questions are explored in the article. First, is the Eurasian political culture completely opposite to the European one? Second, did Eurasian tendencies negatively affect the development of Russian political culture?The author analyzes in detail the political structures and practices of peoples of the Great Steppe, including Medieval Russia and the earlier Russian-Kypchak state, practising the so-called Marxism Asiatic mode of production. He notes that the societies were not despotic, but rather democratic, and capable of controlling their authorities and therefore to evolve. This feature brings nomadic, Great-Steppe societies closer to the Western (democratic) and not the Eastern (despotic) path of political development.The author investigates several historical events, including recent 'democratic revolutions' in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. He argues that the authorities and opposition were playing and competing on the same political field, which is European political culture. He also juxtapose s the Golden Horde and Russia. He argues that the Horde was not part of the Russian State, but an external power. As a result, the Eurasian, Russian-Kypchak way of political development was not 'orientalized' and changed but delayed. The October Revolution sped up this process through a handful of 'occidentalists-radicals.' The article concludes by arguing that contemporary Russia has only one – 'western-like' – way of political development.

Discourse ethics and the liberal political culture reciprocally presuppose each other as laws need to be legitimized through discourse in a democracy. Habermas' discourse ethics attempts to provide a practical solution to the problems of the legitimation of normative claims in pluralistc societies. It does this by understanding deliberative democracy as being situated within the life-world of its participants. through which the consensus of validity claims can be carried out. This understanding of the role of discourse ethics will be applied to the situation in Indonesia and the Philippines.

This essay charts the way some of Hannah Arendt's key texts travelled to the Arab world. On the one hand, it presents Arab intellectuals' engagement - translations, applications and criticisms - with her work, on the other, the essay identifies Arendt's engagement with Palestine as an important source of her political theory. The essay concludes with an invocation of Arendt's appraisal of the Hungarian revolution of 1956 to reflect on the Arab revolutionary moment of 2011 in the counter-revolutionary context of today.

This essay charts the way some of Hannah Arendt's key texts travelled to the Arab world. On the one hand, it presents Arab intellectuals' engagement - translations, applications and criticisms - with her work, on the other, the essay identifies Arendt's engagement with Palestine as an important source of her political theory. The essay concludes with an invocation of Arendt's appraisal of the Hungarian revolution of 1956 to reflect on the Arab revolutionary moment of 2011 in the counter-revolutionary context of today.

Every nation, to one extent or another, has the right to its own opinion and promotion of its own vision of political ideals and value contents. In this context, it should not go without mention other countries' negative experiences on their way towards modernization and transition from the industrial to post-industrial structure. Emphasis should be placed on the fact that even the best examples of disregarding the state national characteristics will not be accepted by the society, resulting in hostile attitude growth. Such changes are dangerous enough for Russia as a multinational state. Wrong interpretations of the methods to improve the population quality of life might lead to interethnic or inter-religious hostility, discrediting the democracy concept itself and inciting regress in the country development process. According to many researchers' opinions, the contemporary government is one of the most important research institutes of political culture determinants. Government appears as a result of the nation long-lasting historical development, its changes representing effective factors hindering or accelerating certain individual political culture patterns emergence. Nevertheless, a detailed overview of the respective issues requires studying the entry of the "political culture" concept, the interaction of this phenomenon's determinants, and becoming aware of the significance of government as an institute of research on the political culture elements and transformations in terms of the societal impact and attitude. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n1s1p594

In 1990, during reunification, West German democratic institutions and the existing political party system were expanded to the East German states. Even after 25 years, the people of eastern and western Germany still differ in their political engagement and attitudes. However, these differences do not apply across the board by any means. A detailed analysis of survey data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study shows that differences both in terms of general interest and active participation in politics cannot be identified statistically in many years. By contrast, there are considerable differences between eastern and western Germany in terms of party attachments and actual turnout in national and state elections. The gap in turnout at national elections is not only evident over the years but is also clearly recognizable across all age groups. There are also still distinct differences in the political party systems of eastern and western Germany. In particular, the Left (Die Linke) plays a major role in eastern Germany but despite some electoral successes in some state parliaments, this party has not been able to establish itself to the same extent in the former West German states. What is more, according to our data, individuals' attitudes to the welfare state in the two parts of the country, which differed significantly at the beginning of the 1990s, have converged since.

[Extract] Queensland has over recent weeks passed a number of laws declaring guilt by association for those who are members of or associate with "criminal" bikie gangs. Twenty-six gangs have been declared criminal organisations but a criminal organisation also includes three or more people who have as their purpose engaging in serious criminal activity. Under amendments to the Criminal Code, participants in a criminal organisation who are "knowingly present" in a public place with two or more other participants in a criminal organisation, are guilty of an offence charged with a minimum sentence of six months to be served "wholly in a correctional facility". A list of addresses – bikie clubhouses (though they are not named as such) – are "prescribed places" under the new laws. It is an offence under the Criminal Code for a member of a criminal organisation to enter any prescribed place. It is also an offence to wear or carry clothing and jewellery marked with the insignia or names of a criminal organisation into licenced premises.

Article gives a review of studies devoted to the political culture of Ukraine. Author presents main theoretical and methodological principles of political culture research, describes its structure and main typologies of key structural elements. The diachronic analysis of political culture in Ukraine was performed on the basis of several Ukrainian and international sociological surveys. Political culture of Ukraine is presented in a comparative perspective with other European countries.The diachronic analysis of the political culture of Ukraine demonstrated that parameters described by a pioneering research in 1991 stayed practically unchanged during the next two decades. The comparison with other European countries reveals that according to the measures of the main structural components of political culture Ukraine holds the last place out of 26 countries. One may conclude that Ukraine demonstrates a fi rmly low level of political culture.The only shortly lasting exception was the period of 2004–2005 (Orange revolution), when due to the active political mobilization and protest activities, a temporary positive dynamic in all basic elements of political culture of Ukraine became visible. But even at this short period of time Ukraine did not reach to the mean level of European parameters of political culture. As our research demonstrated, in 2013 at the background of further deterioration of all parameters of political culture in Ukraine, we observe a rise of protest moods and readiness of Ukrainian citizens to fi ght for their rights in all possible forms. Which can be described as a fi xation of prerevolutionary situation, which exploded a few months later. Keywords: political culture, element of political culture, classifi cation. ; Наведено огляд основних досліджень особливостей політичної культури в Україні. Обґрунтовано теоретико-методологічні засади дослідження політичної культури, розкрито її зміст і здійснено типологію основних складових політичної культури. З використанням матеріалів українських та міжнародних соціологічних досліджень проведено діахронний аналіз політичної культури українського соціуму. Виконано порівняльний аналіз проявів політичної культури в Україні та в інших європейських країнах. Ключові слова: політична культура, складові політичної культури, класифікація.

Article gives a review of studies devoted to the political culture of Ukraine. Author presents main theoretical and methodological principles of political culture research, describes its structure and main typologies of key structural elements. The diachronic analysis of political culture in Ukraine was performed on the basis of several Ukrainian and international sociological surveys. Political culture of Ukraine is presented in a comparative perspective with other European countries.The diachronic analysis of the political culture of Ukraine demonstrated that parameters described by a pioneering research in 1991 stayed practically unchanged during the next two decades. The comparison with other European countries reveals that according to the measures of the main structural components of political culture Ukraine holds the last place out of 26 countries. One may conclude that Ukraine demonstrates a fi rmly low level of political culture.The only shortly lasting exception was the period of 2004-2005 (Orange revolution), when due to the active political mobilization and protest activities, a temporary positive dynamic in all basic elements of political culture of Ukraine became visible. But even at this short period of time Ukraine did not reach to the mean level of European parameters of political culture. As our research demonstrated, in 2013 at the background of furtherdeterioration of all parameters of political culture in Ukraine, we observe a rise of protest moods and readiness of Ukrainian citizens to fi ght for their rights in all possible forms. Which can be described as a fi xation of prerevolutionary situation, which exploded a few months later. Keywords: political culture, element of political culture, classifi cation. ; У статті наведено огляд основних досліджень особливостей політичної культури в Україні. Обґрунтовано теоретико-методологічні засади дослідження політичної культури, розкрито її зміст і здійснено типологію основних складових політичної культури. З використанням матеріалів українських та міжнародних соціологічних досліджень проведено діахронний аналіз політичної культури українського соціуму. Виконано порівняльний аналіз проявів політичної культури в Україні та в інших європейських країнах. Ключові слова: політична культура, складові політичної культури, класифікація.

This study investigates the extent to which forms of prosocial behaviour and values of social responsibility are related to various domains of political culture among Australian youth. Using data from a survey of 1311 senior secondary students from the ACT and South Australia, it was found that 14 per cent had participated in one or more volunteer activities and 26 per cent scored highly on social responsibility values. Furthermore, it was found that at least one or the other of these prosocial measures was positively related to five of the six domains of political culture, the exception being the feeling of political efficacy. Students who were prosocial also manifested higher levels of political knowledge, political awareness, political activism experience, and positive attitudes towards political freedoms and towards human rights. The implications of these findings for family practices and school programs for volunteer activities and for the instilling of a sense of social responsibility are discussed.

This study investigates the extent to which forms of prosocial behaviour and values of social responsibility are related to various domains of political culture among Australian youth. Using data from a survey of 1311 senior secondary students from the ACT and South Australia, it was found that 14 per cent had participated in one or more volunteer activities and 26 per cent scored highly on social responsibility values. Furthermore, it was found that at least one or the other of these prosocial measures was positively related to five of the six domains of political culture, the exception being the feeling of political efficacy. Students who were prosocial also manifested higher levels of political knowledge, political awareness, political activism experience, and positive attitudes towards political freedoms and towards human rights. The implications of these findings for family practices and school programs for volunteer activities and for the instilling of a sense of social responsibility are discussed.

Ukraine is currently experiencing its worst crisis since obtaining independence in 1991. Violent escalation in Kyiv costing dozens of lives, separatist endeavours in Crimea and instability in the eastern provinces result not only from Russia's irresponsible great-power politics, but also from an elite prioritising its own self-interest. Viktor Yanukovych's corrupt and increasingly authoritarian regime was merely the most extreme expression yet of a political culture dedicated to serving special interests with no heed to good governance. With popular hopes of meaningful political change already dashed once after the Orange Revolution, how Ukrainian politicians handle their power now and in the future will be absolutely crucial. (SWP Comments)

Nationalism represents a serious challenge for the countries in transition. It is a factor which immensely influences and shapes the transitional process in politics in all South-Eastern European countries. It represents a challenge for the post-communist countries especially for countries like the former republics of ex-Yugoslavia, since, as Robert Kaplan points out in his foreword chapter to the book Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History, " in the Balkans, no wars are 'local' ". [1]Societies in Europe are experiencing remarkable changes especially in politics and economy through empowerment of their democratic political and economic systems. Nationalism and nationalist attitudes are present in political cultures in countries of transition despite efforts for implementing democracy, rapid changes and modernization of societies at institutional level and social structure and despite the newly established environment of these societies. Countries in transition borrowed the so-called 'copy-paste' action, and tried the implementation of such systems without considering the specifics of countries in transition which subsequently faced the variances, inadequacy and quite often the inability for the implementation of the latter. Therefore, this paper aims to focus on political culture of transitional countries, with a specific emphasis on Kosovo, covering nationalism and the process of democratization as a very important part of its political system and its political culture.