Politieke cultuur en de werking van de democratie

Abstract

This article is an extensive review of G. A. Almond and S. Verba, The civic culture: political attitudes and democracy in five nations, Princeton, N.J., 1963. The study is one of the first important works in the new branch in political science — comparative politics. It certainly is a trend setter in the behavioral approach to the cross-cultural study op political phenomena and as such its value can hardly be overestimated. The central question asked by the researchers is whether a significant correlation or congruence between the subjective experience among citizens exists — political culture — and the working of the political systems they live in. An effort is being made to measure the attitudes of citizens in systems ‘democracies’ towards their governments and their own place and role as citizens. The main criticisms are directed against the use of the concept ‘culture’ — exclusively operationally defined —, the more or less arbitrary way in which the democracies are differentiated and the fact that the authors do not pay much attention to intervening variables between what they call the micro level of attitudes and the macro level of systems variables — in spite of their promise to do this. These criticisms are mainly an expression of disappointment,, in view of the importance, scope and costs of this study.