ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses three important components of the conceptual framework and methodology of political study, namely: a discussion of political cultural processes and my concept of them, specifically the relation between political systems and political development, an overview of some theories of political development and some remarks on the method of investigation. Political culture was first formulated as the methodological and theoretical framework for studying some political affairs, especially in comparative politics. There are four trends in comparative politics, namely, systems theory, culture theory, development theory and class theory. The theory of political culture is rooted in the study of culture itself. It was Karl Marx who recognized the relation between politics and culture for the first time. Marx explained culture in relation to its dependence on social, economic and political factors. In democratic cultures, legitimacy includes the restriction of political power used by political leaders.