What is the Difference Between Political Culture and Political Socialization?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚Political culture and political socialization are two distinct concepts in political sociology, but they are interconnected. Here are the key differences between the two:
Political Culture:
- Refers to the beliefs, practices, and attitudes of people that influence their behavior in politics.
- It plays a crucial role in shaping the political arena and the behavior of individuals within it.
- Comprises the system of government in a given area and how people act within that system.
Political Socialization:
- Refers to the process of becoming a part of the political culture through acquiring various beliefs, attitudes, and practices.
- Involves the teaching of democratic and citizenship values, beliefs, and behaviors.
- Occurs through interactions with various social agents such as family, government, religion, peers, and others.
- The process of political socialization is mostly haphazard, informal, and random in the United States, with no standard set of practices for parents or teachers to follow when passing on political orientations.
The relationship between these two concepts is that political socialization allows individuals to be a part of the political culture. The political culture of a society is sustained through the effective maintenance of political socialization. In summary, political culture represents the enduring beliefs, practices, and attitudes that influence political behavior, while political socialization is the process through which individuals acquire and develop these beliefs, practices, and attitudes.
Comparative Table: Political Culture vs Political Socialization
The difference between political culture and political socialization lies in their definitions and the processes they describe. Here is a table summarizing their differences:
| Political Culture | Political Socialization |
|---|---|
| Refers to the system of government in a given area and how people act within that system. | The process by which people learn about their government and acquire the beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors associated with good citizenship. |
| Includes the psychology of the nation in regard to politics. | Involves interactions with agents of socialization, such as parents, teachers, friends, coworkers, church associates, club members, sports teams, mass media, and popular culture. |
| Can be observed in different political subcultures, such as elite, mass, participant, subject, and parochial cultures. | The political socialization process in the United States emphasizes the teaching of democratic values. |
| Varies from one nation to another due to differences in political structures and people's perceptions of their roles within the system. | Differs over the life course, with young children developing a basic sense of identification with a country and college students forming opinions based on their experiences. |
In summary, political culture refers to the system of government and how people interact within it, while political socialization is the process by which individuals learn about their government and develop the beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors associated with good citizenship.
- Cultural vs Social
- Education vs Socialization
- Political Science vs Politics
- Social Change vs Cultural Change
- Government vs Politics
- Political Philosophy vs Political Theory
- Social Behavior vs Culture
- Social vs Cultural Capital
- Social vs Cultural Factors
- Society vs Culture
- Primary vs Secondary Socialization
- Social vs Cultural Anthropology
- Policy vs Politics
- Culture vs Civilization
- Social vs Societal
- Culture vs Subculture
- Culture vs Tradition
- Culture vs Lifestyle
- Politics vs Diplomacy