ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a general survey of the French sociological tradition from Montesquieu to Tocqueville; the German tradition of cultural philosophy from Immanuel Kant to Max Weber; and the scientific or so-called behavioral approach to political culture that, initiated in the postwar era, became the focal point of controversy in American political science during the late 1960s. Concentrating on the cognitive and subjective aspects of the structure of human knowledge and experience, Kant had a profound effect on the study of political culture in the German tradition. Political science has been experiencing nothing less than a renaissance of political culture. In light of this renaissance, it might be helpful to recall the conceptual history and genealogy of the study of political culture. Weber's work not only had a powerful impact on Geertz's interpretivist approach, but it also played a major role in influencing the thought of a number of American political and social scientists.
