• Civic Culture In Comparative Politics

Civic Culture In Comparative Politics

The issue of civic culture has become popular again recently. Robert Putnam’s ( ) study on why democracy works, the idea that culture is an important determinant in contemporary society, the rise of political apathy among voters in advanced industrial democracies, the widespread decline of political trust among mass publics, the difficulties of (re)establishing civic society in Eastern European countries, the assumed growing levels of intolerance, the assumed weakening of norms of civility, and the supposed decline of good citizenship have all fueled the debates about the good society, good governance, and the future of democracy. It is generally accepted that the latter cannot exist if citizens are indifferent, uncommitted, not engaged, and not involved, and are lacking the attitudes and behaviors that are supportive to democracy and democratic processes.The civic culture was a hot and much discussed topic in the 1960s, not in the last place because of Almond.

A civic culture or civic political culture is a characterized by 'acceptance of the authority of the state' and 'a belief in participation in civic duties'. The term was first used in and 's book,. Civic political culture is a mixture of other political cultures namely parochial, subject and participant. Almond and Verba characterised Britain as having a civic political culture. In 'Is Britain Still a Civic Culture?' And discuss the extent to which Britain can still be regarded as having a civic political culture.