An Emerging Civic Culture? Ideology, Public Attitudes, and Political Culture in the Early 1990s

Ideology, public attitudes and political culture may play three different roles in the process of transition to democracy. First, ideology, public attitudes and political culture are important preconditions which may influence the process of transition. Second, they may become a dynamic force for change. Finally, they may operate as a serious hindrance which eventually will complicate or even prevent the transition from totalitarianism. The role of political culture in the transition from totalitarianism to democracy—as a precondition and a dynamic force but also a hindrance—may be even more important than that of the ideology. A transition to democracy requires that certain values, which together can be called a civic culture, emerge independent from totalitarian power structures. Higher levels of trust in new alternative political structures may be regarded as evidence supporting the possible emergence of a civic culture and democratization.