**Political culture, including core beliefs and values that address the tension between order and liberty, shapes the relationship between a state and its citizens.**
TOPIC 3.1 Civil Society
DEFINITION
DEFINITION
- Civil society comprises a range of voluntary associations that are autonomous from the state, including local religious and neighborhood organizations, news media, business and professional associations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
- The strength and variety of civil society organizations differs depending on the regime type in which they operate. Civil society organizations can be limited by government registration and monitoring policies.
- Though civil society organizations are not necessarily political, a robust civil society serves as an agent of democratization.
- Across the course countries, civil society organizations, to varying degrees, can monitor and lobby the government, expose governmental malfeasance, represent the interests of members, and provide members with organizational experience.
- Across course countries, the placing of restrictions on NGOs and civil society tends to highlight violations of civil liberties protected under foundational documents.
TOPIC 3.2 Political Culture
Explain how political culture relates to citizen behavior and the role of the state.
Explain how political culture relates to citizen behavior and the role of the state.
- Political culture is the collective attitudes, values, and beliefs of the citizenry and the norms of behavior in the political system. It sets expectations about the exercise of power to establish a balance between social order and individual liberty.
- Political culture is influenced by factors of geography, religious traditions, and history, forming a population’s values and beliefs about the role of government, the rights of the individual, and the extent and role of citizens in controlling government policy making.
- Political culture is transmitted through the process of political socialization, which is the lifelong process of acquiring one’s beliefs, values, and orientations toward the political system.
- Family, schools, peers, religious institutions, media, and social environments, including civic organizations, play a crucial role in the socialization process and help develop political attitudes and values.
- Though many agents of socialization (e.g., family, school, peers, media, and government) are similar across regime types, authoritarian regimes apply more concerted governmental pressures to socialize their citizens around conforming beliefs than do democratic regimes.
TOPIC 3.3 Political Ideologies
A political ideology is a set of values and beliefs about the goals of government, public policy, or politics, as represented by:
A political ideology is a set of values and beliefs about the goals of government, public policy, or politics, as represented by:
- a. Individualism—belief in individual civil liberties and freedom over governmental restrictions
- b. Neoliberalism—belief in limited governmental intervention in the economy and society; supports privatization, free trade, deregulation, and the elimination of state subsidies
- c. Communism—belief in the abolition of private property with near total governmental control of the economy
- d. Socialism—belief in the reduction of income disparities and the nationalization of major private industries
- e. Fascism—extreme nationalist ideology that favors authoritarian rule and the rights of the ethnic majority over that of ethnic minorities and the political opposition
- f. Populism—political philosophy that supports the interests and rights of the common people over that of the elites
TOPIC 3.4 Political Values & Beliefs
Explain how political values and beliefs frame policy choices to address particular political problems.
Explain how political values and beliefs frame policy choices to address particular political problems.
- Contrasting political ideologies, including rule by law as opposed to rule of law, affect how the state treats its citizens and deals with specific problems, such as political corruption.
- a. Political beliefs associated with authoritarian regimes tend to rely on rule by law, in which the state uses the law to reinforce the authority of the state.
- b. Political beliefs associated with democratic regimes tend to rely on rule of law, in which the state is limited to the same rules as its citizens.
- a. Political beliefs associated with authoritarian regimes tend to rely on rule by law, in which the state uses the law to reinforce the authority of the state.
- Beliefs about social and economic equality can be held by citizens in both democratic and authoritarian regimes but can be contrasted by the amount of enforcement responsibility transferred to the government and the amount of choice afforded to citizens to protect their health and material well-being (ranging from limited governmental social protections to a welfare state).
- Post-materialism refers to social valuing of self-expression and quality of life that leads to applying pressure on governments to address environmental issues and social and economic equality.
**The way a regime uses power and authority to support or suppress its citizens establishes a balance between order and individual liberty.**
TOPIC 3.5 Nature & Role of Political Participation
Explain the nature and role of political participation as related to a regime’s use of authority and power.
Explain the nature and role of political participation as related to a regime’s use of authority and power.
- Political participation can be voluntary or coerced and may occur at the individual or group level.
- Political participation can range from behavior supportive of a regime (either independently or under state direction) to oppositional behavior that seeks to change governmental policies or overthrow the regime.
- Certain political conditions make it more likely that citizens will engage in violent political behavior, including when citizens feel that more conventional options for political participation are ineffective or unavailable.
- Formal political participation (including casting ballots in elections) can be encouraged across regime types to enhance legitimacy, gather input, act as a safety valve, or apply a check on governmental policies, though authoritarian regimes are more likely to use citizen participation to intimidate opposition or give an illusion of influence, while democratic regimes hold elections to allow citizen control of the policy-making process.
- Referenda allow citizens to vote directly on policy questions and are used for a variety of reasons, including as a means to promote democratic policy making, to allow a chief executive to bypass the legislature, and to oblige citizens to make difficult and potentially unpopular decisions on public policy issues. The United Kingdom has used referenda to decide questions about the devolution of powers to regional assemblies, the separation and creation of an independent nation-state, and their withdrawal from the European Union.
TOPIC 3.6 Forces that Impact Political Participation
Explain how political participation affects and is affected by democratic or authoritarian regime types.
Explain how political participation affects and is affected by democratic or authoritarian regime types.
- Authoritarian and democratic regimes support similar forms of participation to influence policy making (including casting votes in public elections) but differ in how much impact citizens have on policies and policy making based on how open and competitive elections are. In many elections in authoritarian regimes, there are few if any opposition candidates—those advocating differing views from that of the controlling party/elite—who are allowed to run for office. The government often intervenes in these elections to ensure that its preferred candidates and parties win.
- Informal participation, such as protests and political criticism expressed through social media, is treated differently across regime types. In authoritarian systems, there is less tolerance of critical viewpoints that may challenge authoritarian regimes.
- Both authoritarian and democratic regimes regulate formal political participation by placing restrictions on voting access and disallowing disruptive and violent protests, but authoritarian regimes manage and limit citizen participation to a much greater extent.
- Authoritarian regimes tolerate mass political protests and movements less than democratic regimes do, valuing public order more than individual liberties and civil rights.
TOPIC 3.7 Civil Rights & Civil Liberties
Explain the extent to which civil rights and civil liberties are protected or restricted in different regimes.
Explain the extent to which civil rights and civil liberties are protected or restricted in different regimes.
- Protection of key civil liberties differs across the six course countries.
- Both democratic and authoritarian regimes impose constraints on the media to protect citizens and maintain order, but democratic regimes generally tolerate a high degree of media freedom to encourage citizen control of the political agenda and check political power and corruption.
- A government is transparent when it allows information about government and policy making to circulate openly; authoritarian regimes tend to prefer secret or closed proceedings to maximize order.
- Competitive authoritarian regimes act as a hybrid of democratic and authoritarian regimes; Russia is characterized as a competitive authoritarian regime or illiberal democracy, holding contested elections but with limited degrees of competitiveness and providing minimal civil liberty protections and governmental transparency.
- Comparing data that shows the extent to which governments protect or restrict civil liberties over time can determine regime placement on an authoritarian/democratic scale.
- Stronger authoritarian regimes monitor and restrict citizens’ media access to a greater degree to maintain political control, as represented by:
- a. The Chinese Communist Party’s use of the Great Firewall to limit political criticism on social media
- b. The Iranian court’s suspension or revocation of media licenses when a jury finds owners guilty of publishing anti-religious material or information detrimental to the national interest
- c. The Russian government’s nationalization of most broadcast media and rigid controls on opposition news segments
**How governments respond to social and political divisions affects interactions between citizens and long-term regime stability.**
TOPIC 3.8 Political & Social Cleavages
Describe politically relevant social cleavages.
Describe politically relevant social cleavages.
- Social and political cleavages can be described as internal divisions that structure societies and may be based on class, ethnicity, religion, or territory, as represented by:
- a. In China, ethnic and regional divisions between the majority Han ethnic group and at least 55 recognized ethnic minorities, such as the Uighurs in the northwest and the Tibetans in the southwest, and between areas that have developed at different rates.
- b. In Iran, religious divisions between the Shi’a Muslim majority and members of other religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, have resulted in a threatening atmosphere despite official recognition; within practitioners of Islam, there are divisions between the Shi’a majority and those who are Sunni. There are also ethnic cleavages between the majority Persians and several ethnic minorities, including Azerbaijanis and Kurds.
- c. In Mexico, ethnic divisions between the Amerindian (indigenous) population and whites and mestizos, and regional divisions between the north and the south.
- d. In Nigeria, ethnic divisions among more than 250 ethnic groups (including Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, and Igbo), and religious and regional cleavages between the north (predominantly Muslim) and the south (where Christians and animists are concentrated).
- e. In Russia, cleavages between ethnic Russians, who are more than 80 percent of the population and tend to be Russian Orthodox, and minority, non-Russian populations (including the Chechens in the Caucasus region, who are predominantly Muslim).
- f. In the United Kingdom, ethnic and regional differences between nations such as the Scottish, English, Welsh, and Irish; religious differences between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland; and racial tensions between whites and non-European minorities whose heritage is related to the United Kingdom’s colonial history.
- Major social and political cleavages differ across course countries and affect voting behavior and party systems as well as informal political networks.
- Course countries have responded differently to social cleavages and their political consequences.
- a. Even stable regimes are increasingly dealing with radical/terrorist religious elements that have sprung from long-standing cleavages.
- b. State responses can range from brute repression to recognition of ethnic/religious minorities and creation of autonomous regions and/or representation of minorities in governmental institutions.
- Examples of the use of social and political cleavages to strengthen legitimacy and hold onto power can be found in all course countries. Such cleavages may also lead to conflict and undermine legitimacy.
- Social cleavages have different impacts in course countries.
- a. Separatist movements have emerged in China, Iran, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom as a result of the social cleavages.
- b. Other groups demanding autonomy, but not independence, have emerged in Mexico and the United Kingdom.
- c. Ethnicity has played a more significant role in Nigeria than in Mexico because of different colonial histories and a greater diversity and politicization of ethnic/religious identities in Nigeria.
- a. Separatist movements have emerged in China, Iran, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom as a result of the social cleavages.
TOPIC 3.9 Challenges from Political & Social Cleavages
Explain how political and social cleavages in course countries affect citizen relationships and political stability
Explain how political and social cleavages in course countries affect citizen relationships and political stability
- Challenges governments face in securing stability in multinational states include:
- a. Conflicting interests and competition among groups and political parties
- b. Perceived lack of governmental authority and legitimacy
- c. Pressure for autonomy/secession, intergroup conflict, terrorism, and civil war
- d. Encroachment of neighboring states that sense government weakness and vulnerability
- a. Conflicting interests and competition among groups and political parties