ABSTRACT
The method of analysis that yields studies in psychological anthropology when applied to "primitive" peoples has its analogue among studies of large-scale societies in a varied assortment of investigations on what is called national character. A topic suitable to purpose, one of interest and importance, is the relation of national character to the political systems found in modern national states, and more specifically, to the establishment and maintenance of democracy. National character as institutional pattern approach, most common among political scientists, the national character is epitomized by the dominant, or typical and representative, institutions, particularly those concerned with politics and economics. The identification of national character with the allegedly "inborn" and presumably biological characteristics of a group is one of the oldest and most common approaches, and in modern social science the one most severely criticized, if not actively abhorred.
