Main Spheres of Social Life: The Political Sphere

Political Culture

The term "political culture" was first introduced into scholarly discourse in the late 18th century by the eminent Enlightenment thinker, the German philosopher J. Herder. Political culture refers to the system of political knowledge, concepts, values, and relationships that operate within society, as well as those that are transmitted and reproduced through the process of generational change. It can be defined as a qualitative state of political life conditioned by historical, socio-economic, and political contexts, reflecting the degree to which a subject—be it a society, group, or individual—grasps political relations, values, and norms, alongside the level of socio-cultural development and the extent of individual engagement in transforming political reality.

Political culture encompasses those elements and phenomena of social consciousness (or, in a broader sense, the spiritual culture of society) that are linked to socio-political institutions and processes, influencing the formation, functioning, and development of governmental and political institutions, and determining the overall direction of the political process as well as the political behavior of the populace. Significant factors influencing the political culture of societal subjects include elements of spiritual culture such as historical memory, the maturity of ethnic-national consciousness, and psychological-mental traits.

The political system and political culture are in constant interaction, intertwining in a manner that renders their existence mutually dependent. For instance, in a totalitarian political system, the dominance of a single party corresponds to a generally monolithic ideological orientation within the political culture of the populace; conversely, in a liberal-democratic political system, party pluralism aligns with a pluralism of ideological and political orientations.

Thus, while political culture manifests as a unity of political thought, consciousness, and behavior at the individual and group levels, it must be supplemented at the societal level by an integral element such as the culture of functioning within the political system and its constituent institutional structures. In this sense, political culture serves as a matrix of political life, reflecting its range, dynamism, and inherent contradictions.

This leads to several implications: First, political culture serves as an indicator of the level of political reality development within society, maintaining a dialectical relationship with it. Second, it acts as both an indicator and a criterion for assessing the level of political life development in society. Third, political culture encompasses both positive and negative political phenomena and trends. It is inherent to every organized human community but varies in content, level, and degree of development, which allows for classifications such as low, passive, democratic, liberal, totalitarian, and authoritarian political cultures.

Fourth, political culture reveals the real possibilities, directions, dynamics, and nature of political transformations within society.

Political culture fulfills specific functions within society, the main among which include:

• Normative-Regulatory Function: Aimed at ensuring the harmonious and stable functioning of the political system.
• Communicative Function: In which political traditions transmit models of political behavior.
• Predictive Function: Allowing for the identification of certain trends in political situations based on an analysis of the characteristics of the existing political culture within society.