Abstract

The paper deals with some theoretical and methodological issues of political culture typology. It examines the principal approaches and classifications and elicits their fractionality, eclecticism and diversity of criteria. It is emphasized that the differentiation of political cultures is supposed to occur on political grounds. The author understands the concept of culture as a specific system of values and models of political participation which are widely recognised in society and serve to structure the political process. Originally, they are not perfectly homogeneous and often act in various combinations with other types. The research proposes a typology of political culture based on the content-related and formative characteristics of the social phenomenon in question. The identified types present complex theoretical constructs which include variegated and non-random combinations of system-forming attributes and features. The author studies the role and types of political subcultures reflecting the impact of social, national, religious, geographic and other factors. He also substantiates the possibility of the esthetic evaluation of politics.

Keywords

political culture, type of culture, typology of cultures, political subculture, mass culture, aesthetic politics.