Abstract
Gabriel Almond, the “dean” of contemporary political culture theory, begins by showing that culture—people’s cognitions, values, and affective commitments—has been central to important explanations of social life for over two thousand years. Moreover, he argues, the terribly destructive “irrational” events of twentieth century (in particular, World Wars I and II and the Holocaust) have underscored the importance of culture, in contrast to rationality, for explaining social life. Indeed, the efficacy of culture in this regard was bolstered at mid-century with developments in measurement theory, social survey techniques, and statistical analysis. Almond explores the origins of contemporary political culture theory, dismissing its critics perhaps too quickly. But his survey of contemporary political culture theory is sure-handed and optimistic about the centrality of future applications to the development of social science.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References and Further Readings
Almond, G. 1956. Comparative political systems. Journal of Politics 18: 391–409.
Almond, G. 1990. The study of political culture. In A discipline divided: Schools and sects in political science. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
Almond, G., and J. Coleman. 1960. The politics of developing areas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Almond, G., and G. B. Powell, Jr. 1966. Comparative politics: A developmental approach. Boston: Little, Brown.
Almond, G., and S. Verba. 1963. The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Almond, G., and S. Verba, eds. 1980. The civic culture revisited. Boston: Little, Brown.
Eckstein, H. 1961. A theory of stable democracy. Princeton, NJ: Center of International Studies, Princeton University.
Eckstein, H. 1988. A culturalist theory of political change. American Political Science Review 82: 789–804.
Eckstein, H. 1996. Culture as a foundation concept for the social sciences. Journal of Theoretical Politics 8: 471–497.
Elkins, D., and R. E. B. Simeon. 1979. A cause in search of its effect, or what does political culture explain? Comparative Politics 11: 127–145.
Inglehart, R. 1977. The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Inglehart, R. 1988. The renaissance of political culture. American Political Science Review 82: 1203–1230.
Inglehart, R. 1997. Modernization and postmodernization: Cultural, economic and political change in 43 societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Kaplan, A. 1964. The conduct of inquiry: Methodology for behavioral science. San Francisco: Chandler.
Lane, R. 1992. Political culture: Residual category or general theory? Comparative Political Studies 25: 362–387.
LaPalombara, J. 1964. Interest groups in Italian politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lichbach, M., and A. Zuckerman, eds. 1997. Comparative Politics: Rationality, Culture, and Structure. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Limerick, P. N. 1997. The startling ability of culture to bring critical inquiry to a halt. Chronicle of Higher Education (October 24): A76.
Lipset, S. M. 1963. The first new nation: The United States in historical and comparative perspective. New York: Basic.
Lipset, S. M. 1990. Continental divide: Values and institutions of the United States and Canada. New York: Routledge.
Lipset, S. M. 1991. American exceptionalism reaffirmed. In Is America different? A new look at American exceptionalism, edited by B. E. Shafer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lipset, S. M. 1996. American exceptionalism: A double-edged sword. New York: Norton.
Political Psychology. 1995. 16(1): 1–198.
Putnam, R., with R. Leonardi, and R. Y. Nanetti. 1988. Institutional performance and political culture: Some puzzles about the power of the past. Governance: An International Journal of Policy and Administration 1: 221–242.
Putnam, R. 1993. Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pye, L., and S. Verba, eds. 1965. Political culture and political development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Ross, M. H. 1997. Culture and identity in comparative political analysis. In Comparative politics: Rationality, culture, and structure, edited by M. Lichbach and A. Zuckerman. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Thompson, M., R. Ellis, and A. Wildavsky. 1990. Cultural theory. Boulder, CO: Westview.
Verba, S. 1965. Comparative political culture. In Political culture and political development, edited by L. Pye and S. Verba. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Verba, S., S. Kelman, G. Orren, I. Miyake, J. Watanuki, I. Kabashima and G. D. Ferree, jr. 1987. Elites and the idea of equality: A comparison of Japan, Sweden, and the United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Verba, S., N. Nie, and J. Kim. 1978. Participation and political equality: A seven nation comparison. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Weiner, M. 1967. Party building in a new nation: The Indian National Congress. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2000 Lane Crothers and Charles Lockhart
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Almond, G.A. (2000). The Study of Political Culture. In: Crothers, L., Lockhart, C. (eds) Culture and Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62965-7_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-62965-7_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-0-312-23300-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-62965-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)