Lecture 19 Political Culture in China.ppt

Lecture 19: Political Culture in China SOSC 152 Defining Political Culture “A particular distribution of political attitudes, values, feelings, information, and skills that affects the behaviour of a nation’s citizens and leaders throughout the political system.” what people know or feel about their political system affects their behaviour towards it. variations among countries can be measured through surveys. Three views of Chinese Political Culture System-wide characterization or “culturalist approach” towards China’s political culture Chinese culture as passive political culture Based on peasant, traditional, and Confucian cultures which accept hierarchy, respect for political authority Also result of patterns of child-rearing—after years of protection, children forced out into world—leads to mistrust and anxiety. a. System-wide characterization or “culturalist approach” towards China’s political culture RESULTS Popular demands for participation should be quite low; elites, therefore, not pressed to respond to social demands. Assumed comfort with authoritarian rule China unable to establish modern political institutions, particularly democracy Elite prone to mistrust, court politics, conflict and factionalism This approach highly susceptible to “reductionism” b. Political Culture Determined by Organizational Structures rules and incentives established in organizations determine how people behave Shirk and high school students – virtuocracy and competition to be seen as virtuous Highly related to “new institutionalism” in political science Affects what institutions are established c. Popular political behavior seen as result of measurable political attitudes Culture as an empirical factor affecting behaviour—easily measured through surveys. Culture as a Characteristic of an entire society Some values do vary across countries and can be applied to specific societies. Example of Chinese less willing to speak out in public settings or accept public display of conf