INTBUS 6 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Mass Media, Communitarianism, Conservative Force
25 Sep 2020
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Task 4, Political socialization
What is political socialization and its main actors?
- Political socialization: process through which individuals acquire political beliefs and values, and
by which these are transmitted from one generation to the next.
o ‘Primary’ agents > family and school
o ‘Secondary’ agents > workplace, peer groups and media
▪ Media keeps gaining power
• Social media penetrates everyday life
• Media corporation are major global players > government cannot ignore
them anymore due to economic and market power
What is political culture, how is it established?
- Political culture definition
o ‘pattern of orientations' to political objects such as parties, government and the
constitution, expressed in beliefs, symbols and values’
- Different approaches
o Civic-culture approach
▪ Set of beliefs and values vital to make democracy work.
▪ Civic-culture is a blend of these 3
• Participant > citizens pay attention to politics, popular participation is
desirable and effective
• Subject > citizens are more passive, recognize they only have limited
capacity to influence government
• Parochial > absence of a sense of citizenship, have no desire nor ability
to participate in politics
▪ Critique:
• If a system is good or not should not be measured by participation
• Treats political culture as homogenous > pays little attention to political
subcultures
o Marxist approach
▪ Class-specific
• members of the class with similar experiences, economic position and
interest will likely have similar ideas, values and beliefs
• Proletarian ideas strongly different from bourgeoisies ones
▪ Bourgeois ideology
• Ideas of the ruling class (ideology) become ‘ruling ideas’
o Political culture is thus bourgeois ideology
• sees culture, values and beliefs as form of power
o Function of ideology is to reconcile working class with their
exploitation (bourgeois hegemony) through myths and
falsehoods > false consciousness
• Repressive tolerance, successful because it operates behind illusion of
free speech
• To achieve socialism the ideas of the bourgeois need to be challenged
by proletarian values and ideas
o Conservative approach
▪ View political in form of tradition and 'traditional values' (culture bedrock)
• Wants values to be strengthened > linked to family, church and nation
• Communitarianism: belief individual identity is shaped by civic-society
Document Summary
Political socialization: process through which individuals acquire political beliefs and values, and by which these are transmitted from one generation to the next. Secondary" agents > workplace, peer groups and media: media keeps gaining power, social media penetrates everyday life, media corporation are major global players > government cannot ignore them anymore due to economic and market power. Pattern of orientations" to political objects such as parties, government and the constitution, expressed in beliefs, symbols and values". Ways to revive: make representation better. Leaders should encourage compliance with ethical rules: transparency in government, competitive election, more proportional system > parties are encouraged to campaign, electoral systems that encourage candidate to engage more directly with citizens and build contact with citizens. The role of media: media is principal mechanism through which information about issues and policies is presented to public, social and technological changes that affect media.
