The Theory of Political Culture

300 Pages·2013·1.47 MB·English

by  Stephen Welch

THE THEORY OF POLITICAL CULTURE
This page intentionally left blank
The Theory of
Political Culture
STEPHEN WELCH
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP,
UnitedKingdom
OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship,
andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof
OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries
#StephenWelch2013
Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted
FirstEditionpublishedin2013
Impression:1
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe
priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted
bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics
rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe
aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe
addressabove
Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform
andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Dataavailable
ISBN 978–0–19–955333–4
PrintedinGreatBritainby
theMPGPrintgroup,UK
To Archie Brown
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Preface xi
Introduction 1
WhyaTheoryofPoliticalCulture? 1
WhatisaTheoryofPoliticalCulture? 5
1. TheoreticalMarginalization:ThePositivistMainstreamof
PoliticalCultureResearch 11
1.1 Introduction 11
1.2 PhilosophicalResources:Positivism,Falsificationism,
andRealism 12
1.3 DisciplinaryFactorsintheInceptionofPolitical
CultureResearch 17
1.4 TheoreticalResources:Parsons’sTheoryofSocialOrder 21
1.5 MethodologicalResources:TheTheoryandMeasurement
ofAttitudes 24
1.6 DisciplinaryConsolidationandtheBifurcationof
PoliticalCultureResearch 29
1.7 Conclusion 34
2. TheoreticalDenial:TheInterpretiveAlternativein
PoliticalCultureResearch 37
2.1 Introduction 37
2.2 BeforeInterpretivism:CulturalismandHistoricism 40
2.3 WeberandInterpretiveSociology 45
2.4 InterpretivisminAnthropology:Benedict,Sahlins,andGeertz 52
2.5 Conclusion 59
3. TheoreticalDisplacement(I):MaterialistAlternativesto
PoliticalCultureResearch 63
3.1 Introduction 63
3.2 RationalChoiceTheory 64
3.3 Marxism:Culture,Ideology,andHegemony 70
3.3.1 OriginsoftheProblem:TheGermanIdeology 71
3.3.2 Gramsci:TheTheoryofHegemony 74
3.3.3 ApplyingtheTheoryofHegemony:SocialHistory
andCulturalStudies 78
3.4 Conclusion 82
viii Contents
4. TheoreticalDisplacement(II):DiscursivistCritiquesof
PoliticalCultureResearch 85
4.1 Introduction 85
4.2 FromHegemonytoDiscourse:Post-Marxism 86
4.3 Foucault:DiscourseandPower 90
4.4 TheDiscursivistCritiqueofCultureinAreaStudies 96
4.5 TheDiscursivistCritiqueofCultureinAnthropology 101
4.6 Conclusion 108
5. TheDualisticOntologyofCulture(I):PhilosophicalArguments 111
5.1 Introduction 111
5.2 Causality,Intelligibility,andCulture 112
5.3 Wittgenstein:RulesandPractice 117
5.3.1 TheInterpretiveandtheAnti-TheoreticalWittgenstein 117
5.3.2 TheCommunitarianandtheIndividualistWittgenstein:
FromPolaritytoDuality 120
5.4 Polanyi:TacitandArticulateKnowledge 125
5.5 Searle:TheBackground 131
5.6 Conclusion 133
6. TheDualisticOntologyofCulture(II):PsychologicalFindings 135
6.1 Introduction 135
6.2 CulturalPsychologyandPsychologicalMechanisms 138
6.3 TheTheoryofAttitudesRevisited 141
6.4 AutomaticityandConsciousWill 146
6.5 Conclusion 152
7. TheInertialDynamicsofPoliticalCulture 157
7.1 Introduction 157
7.2 TheTheoryofPractice 159
7.3 TheDynamicsofSkills 165
7.4 SkillsandPoliticalCulture:Resistance,Persistence,
andAdaptiveInertia 171
7.4.1 Resistance:De-SkillingandtheLimitsofControl 171
7.4.2 Persistence:TheDistinctivenessofPost-Communism 174
7.5 Conclusion 178
8. TheFluidDynamicsofPoliticalCulture 179
8.1 Introduction 179
8.2 TheRelationshipofDiscourseandPractice 182
8.3 DiscourseandCausality 186
Contents ix
8.4 TheMarketDynamicsofDiscourse 190
8.5 DiscursiveDynamicsandPolitical-CulturalChange 194
8.6 Conclusion 200
Conclusion 203
Notes 213
Bibliography 257
Index 279