Contemporary issues of political culture

Political culture is a multidisciplinary concept which first appeared in a systematic methodological framework with claims of theoretical-conceptual self-determination, in the early 1960s. Another empirical and classic milestone in the emergence of this new field of political research is the empirical-comparative study of the American constructivists Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba, The Civic Culture (Almond & Verba, 1963). In their seminal study, Almond and Verba define political culture as “the particular distribution of patterns of orientations in political objects among the members of a nation” (Almond & Verba, 1963: 14-15), arguing that the stability of any political regime depends on it political culture being congruent with its political structure. Because the authors project the English model as exemplary for a “democratic state”, where civic culture is an amalgam of “participant”, “subject” and “parochial” political orientations, thus ensuring the relevance of structure / culture. With this cultural mix that is civic culture, “political action, participation and rationality are balanced by passivity, traditionalism and adherence to provincial values” (Almond & Verba, 1963: 32). This model influences most comparative research and theoretical studies of political culture until today. It was criticized in the early 1970s, based first on the general theoretical critique of the American school of construction by Marxists and radical sociologists and political scientists, and second on specific issues raised by Almond and Verba's research. As for the second part, this critique pointed to the ethnocentric and conservative nature of the research, calling for overcoming the molecular way of conceiving the “social”, exploring the role of the “ideology” and renewing the traditional concepts of approach of politics in the new developing nations (Cot & Mounier, 1974). In conjunction with this critique, other studies, which were carried out with the impetus of the new stereotypes of political practice and behavior that emerged from the social “protest movements”, attempts are made to study the unconventional and / or “illegal” political orientations and to explore in depth the role of the value scale. At the same time, efforts are being made to redefine basic concepts of political culture in different concepts, to analyze new models of research, and to transfer the concept and empirical analysis to autocratic contexts Based on the above historical and theoretical orientations of the political culture concept, this section attempts to include new aspects of this research by analyzing the role of political culture on citizenship, nation building, political stability and change, welfare policies structure as well as public opinion and political representation. We invite both theoretical and empirical papers using qualitative or quantitative methods and employing a comparative or case study perspective. We suggest the following panels: Panel 1: Political Culture and citizenship This panel focuses on the crucial issue of citizenship and prospective papers will analyze the role of political culture on building citizenship in old in new democracies. Citizenship is a concept which includes issues of political and social integration, formal and informal processes and characteristics. The research on the way that political culture influence citizenship aspires to offer new understandings as well as comparisons among different paradigms. Panel 2: The role of political culture on political stability and change Societies change as well as the world changes faster than ever. Transformations in production and employment, political transformations as well as changes in everyday life influence stability and create new challenges for societies and political structures. Often political culture of consensus or no-consensus may critically influence the way that transformations are made, the formation of political structures as well as the policies implemented. The financial crisis and especially the new pandemic have created enormous transformations and comparisons are inevitable in understanding the origins of differentiations among policies implemented. This panel offers the chance to discuss the influence of political culture on political stability and change dimensions. Panel 3: The political culture of welfare policies Welfare state has undergone enormous transformations during the last four decades. The related theories try to distinguish between different models of welfare according to differentiations on political structure, societal parameters and historical issues. The study and analysis of the political culture behind welfare policies will offer new understandings on differentiation in welfare policies implementation among welfare states during their evolution as well as during crises, such as the current pandemic. Panel 4: Political culture, public opinion and political representation Democratic culture cultivates democratic people and offers them the opportunity to participate and act towards public issues. This basic democratic characteristic also influences public opinion. Political culture has been considered as a crucial parameter which may influence the stances of public opinion and the forms as well as the levels of political representation. The analysis and comparison of different aspects of such influence will offer the chance for fruitful discussion on contemporary political representation and public opinion in different political culture contexts. References Almond, G. & Verba, S. (1963). The Civic Culture. Political attitudes and Democracy in five nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Cot J. P. & Mounier, J. P. (1974). Pour une sociologie politique. Paris: Seuil.