Political Behavior free essay sample

Every nation exhibits different political behavior. Political behavior depends on the political system adopted by the state and it is through this system that citizens develop political culture and political socialization. Some governments dictate the political culture and socialization of their citizens so that programs and political ideologies can be implemented and structured properly with total support from the people. These types of government usually resort to violence in enforcing reforms and do not tolerate dissent among its people. Though political cultures are dependent on the political system, these are not static. They do change overtime as people acquire new political perspectives based on the experience they developed inside their own political organization or through the political issues encountered by other people in other parts of the world. In the Philippines, political behavior is influenced by many factors and one of the dominant factors is our colonial history. The strong cooperation between the state and the church during the Spanish era left a remarkable deep seated belief to Catholicism that affects our political culture and socialization. Even our political perspectives are attached to the doctrine of Catholicism. The political arena is combined with religious affiliation and political affiliation. The other influence of political behavior which shaped our political culture and socialization is the system introduced by the American government. The republican ideology adopted by the Philippines during the American regime help developed our concepts of what a government should be, its political process and the political participation of people. After the independence, we struggled to keep the ideals of American political behavior but the successions of political leaders have changed or altered our acquired political values. This module will discuss political culture and socialization, its levels and classifications and agents of political socialization. Political behavior Political behavior explains the influences that define the political participation, political views and ideology of a person or group of people in a society. Political behavior is heavily dependent on the political system which in return shapes the political culture and socialization. Political culture Political culture can be defined as the orientation of the citizens of a nation toward politics, and their perceptions of political legitimacy and the traditions of political practice. In addition, political culture is a public attitude which defines the level of role of the individual within the political system. How the people recognize the importance of participation in the political process will greatly affect the political system. Three levels of political culture 1. System level – attitudes towards the organization of the system   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Examples: National pride, national identity and legitimacy of government 2. Process level – what the public expects from the political process Examples: Principles of government, role of citizens, perceptions of political rights    The level of involvement of the citizens in the political process. How citizens view their political roles. Types of political culture 1. Participant – citizens are involved in the actual political process and because of their active participation they are able to influence the government in various ways. 2. Subject – citizens are passively involved in the operation of government and because of passive involvement there is little scope for dissent. 3. Parochial – citizens are not aware or hardly aware of government and its policies and live regardless of the decisions taken by the state. 3. Policy level – attitudes and expectations towards policy and implementation Examples: Role of government and government policy priorities 1. Cultural congruence – it rests on the idea that political system depends on the culture of a nation and that some political structure may not be acceptable to other nations. Cultural congruence may be possible if leaders and citizens alike respect the diversity of culture and political ideologies. 2. Consensual political culture –citizens tend to agree on the appropriate means of making political decisions and on how to solve problems that may arise out of the decisions 3. Conflictual political culture – citizens are sharply divided on both the legitimacy of the regime and the solutions to major problem. 4. Political subcultures – often emerge when deeply divided political conflict persists over time. Classifying political cultures 1. 1. Democratic political culture * Tolerate diverse points of view including unpopular or dissenting opinions * Respects political rights of the citizens * Backs up moderation, accommodation, restrained partisanship system loyalty and trust 1. 2. Consensual culture * Citizens tend to agree on basic political procedures * Citizens support government policies and how to solve them 1. 3. Conflictual culture * Highly polarized by fundamental differences * Deep ideological divisions Other cultural classifications 1. Revolutionary or Marxist political culture 2. Confucian political culture 3. Hindu culture 4. Islamic culture Philippine political culture For decades Philippine political culture has not improved in a level that other Asian nations have improved. Though we prided ourselves as having a highest literacy rate in Asia, Filipinos displayed illiteracy level when it comes to their expression of political participation and selection. The manner to which they exercise their political rights is uncivilized as evident of the electoral fraud and other political killings. Political leaders are elected on the basis of family name, popularity and social status and political institutions are dealt with by political leaders and the elites as if they owned it or part of their business empire. Leon Ma. Guerrero expressed his analysis of Philippine political culture: The experience of the Filipinos†¦had been of parties that were not parties but unprincipled coalitions of the rich, the powerful and the unscrupulous; of elections that were essentially meaningless exercises in fraud, terrorism, bribery and demagoguery; of politicians who represented no one but themselves. The people’s capacity for self-government had been trapped in a political mechanism they had not learned to work or control, and their capacity for indignation and generosity, sacrifice and service to the country, left to wither and decay. Lewis Gleeck’s view The Philippine political culture is†¦personalistic but violent, religious but superstitious, corrupt but tolerant, hierarchical but distributionist, solicitous of form but not of content, legalistic but careless of equity, media obsessed and nationalistically vociferous with respect to rights but negligent to obligations. American author David Timberman (1991; 22) also explained his observation of Filipino political culture: The exclusiveness of the Filipino family, the importance of patron-client ties, and the strength of regional and linguistic affinities cause Filipino politics to be highly personalistic and particularistic†¦Most Filipinos believe that the decisions and events that shape their lives are determined more by particular individuals that by impersonal systems and institutions. Consequently, the maintenance of good personal relations with those in powers is critical. As a result of the personalization of public life there has been relatively little concern with institutions or ideologies on the part of leaders or the public. Political socialization It is the process whereby individuals become aware of tenets of political culture, political facts and political values. Active and direct political socialization of individuals must be properly supported by the state because it is the state that is responsible for teaching, and shaping the political attitudes of the citizens.