POLITICAL CULTURE AND SOCIALISATION

1. POLITICAL CULTUREAND SOCIALISATION Government of UK & Ireland

2. INTRODUCTION • Political beliefs and attitudes have a significant impact on the political system and its system of government. Political culture is composed of the beliefs, attitudes and behavioural patterns of a political community, forming part of the more general culture of a society. • Perception is often as important as fact – if enough believe something to be the case and act accordingly, then reason and rational argument may count for little. • While elections can measure attitudes on the basis of ‘one person one vote’, they cannot measure intensity of preference. This can be done through opinion surveys. • How do attitudes affect behaviour – strength of views on issues shapes how will they be motivated to act.

3. BRITISH POLITICAL CULTURE(S) • Traditionally, the political culture of the UK was seen as embodying several characteristics - homogenous (or sameness/relative uniformity) - deference - consensual - tradition - sense of stability and historical continuity - national unity - the unitary state - cohesiveness (incl. urbanised communities) • Almond and Verba’s ‘The Civic Culture’ • “We live in a fortunate and relatively gentle part of the continent” (Norman Davies, Oxford Historian).

4. National ‘characteristics’ - capacity for innovation and invention - obsessive (pets, football, the weather) - tolerance - patience - love of the underdog - stoicism - red telephone boxes (!) - unarmed police/‘bobby’ on the beat - ‘humour Anglais’ – double entendre (Carry On, Monty Python, seaside slapstick comedy) - slow to rouse but leonine in battle - the corner shop - fish and chips, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - afternoon tea

5. Homogeneity - in GB, divisions of religion, region, language and even class are fairly rare; - religious differences largely confined to NI; - linguistic minorities confined to periphery; - an almost fully ‘urbanised’ society; - regional differences/disputes are low-key, despite strong local/regional variations • Threats to homogeneity - nationalist pressures in Ulster, Scotland & Wales; - mass immigration since 1945 occasioned greater division on ethnic/racial/religious lines especially in poorer urban areas; - inner-city/suburb divisions reflect economic change; - the ‘North/South’ divide - the rise of the socio-economic underclass and its consequences.

6. Nationalism on the march

7. Deference - typically, the populace (hoi polloi) defer or submit to a governing elite, especially Royalty and authority figures like the Police & other professional groups - working class support for the Conservative Party; - orderly conduct and sense of ‘shame’ as a restraint; - passive queues and social tolerance. • Threats to deference - economic decline/recession can strain social relations; - declining respect for authority, partly caused by revelations of scandal, sleaze and corruption; - rising crime, anti-social behaviour and disorder, possibly due to the demise of the traditional family; - disaffection with conventional politics/rise of protest - impoverishment of language/boorishness; - cynicism/alienation.

8. Consensus - agreement on the ‘rules of the game’; - substantial agreement on policies (especially defence, foreign affairs, terrorism and economic management) after 1945 to 1970s. • Threats to consensus - divergence of party policies during the 1970s & 80s especially over defence and the economy; - growing calls for constitutional changes to the ‘rules of the game’.

9. Tradition “Not only does tradition serve to attract the tourists. It evokes historical memories which add legitimacy to the overall political system. It impresses public office holders with the dignity and responsibility of their positions. It stimulates patriotism, national pride and unity amongst the British people. Democracy has been won through gradual reform. The evolution has been aided by the absence of political absolutism. The colonies offered an ‘exit’ option for many of those groups and individuals with religious or political grievances” (Frank Wilson, US political scientist).

10. A sense of stability and continuity In the study of comparative politics, England (read the UK or at least GB) is important as a deviant case, deviant because of its success in coping with the many problems of the modern world. Just as Alexis de Tocqueville travelled to America in 1831 to seek the secrets of democracy, so today one might travel to England (GB) in search of the secrets of stable representative government” (Rose, Politics in England, p.1).

11. This Sceptred Isle? • This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands, This blessed plot, this earth, his realm, this England From Richard II, Act 2 (Shakespeare)

12. POLITICAL SOCIALISATION • People are influenced by their environment • The process of acquiring knowledge, beliefs and attitudes is a political education • Usually, the greatest influence in younger people comes from parents but includes schools (peers and teachers), work, neighbourhoods, churches, clubs and societies. • The media, especially television, provides a continued stream of political commentary. • Governments and politicians also feed into the process of political socialisation, acting as opinion formers and seeking to win over the support of ordinary people by offering ‘popular’ messages. • Some governments and agencies go to extraordinary steps, especially if their own or national survival is at stake – propaganda, indoctrination and censorship are used in democracies as well as other forms of regime.

13. The family “They fuck you up your mum and dad. They may not mean to but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you” (Philip Larkin, poet, This be the verse, 1922-85) • “Far from being the basis of the good society, the family, with its narrow privacy and tawdry secrets, is the source of all our discontents.” (Edmund Leach, social anthropologist, BBC Reith Lectures, 1967).

14. Conclusions • All societies possess a political culture as part of their general culture. • The political culture of the UK has been characterised by a longstanding stability based on a large measure of deference and consensus. • Critics suggest that the fault lines in British society (based on class, gender and race) run far more deeply than is often portrayed in idealised interpretations. • Undoubtedly, whether through genuine contentment of the populace, or their apathy or sense of disaffection & alienation, the UK has enjoyed relative stability in its system of government, largely attributable to its particular political culture.