ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the ‘serious issues’ involved in understanding the concept of political culture. Thereafter, by selecting a few of those issues for more in-depths analysis, and further evaluating their content, it assesses their implications. By doing so, this chapter reveals a ‘gap’ that exists in political culture research and provides a context from which this analysis will proceed. In other words, this chapter evaluates the importance of political culture, defines it, critiques the manner in which political culture research is undertaken and, thereafter, locates the ‘gap’. Subsequently, it articulates how that ‘gap’ circumvents understanding political culture in Muslim polities. Last, it explains the necessity of using an alternative methodology for Muslim polities by scrutinizing Pakistan. Granted, the scholarly works reviewed contain many differing approaches for understanding political culture per se. And this chapter describes those differing approaches and places it in the context of the theories found in the material overviewed. Of course, there are certain points of convergence and those are highlighted. Still, they are, as will be evident, largely insufficient in offering an effective explanation of political culture in Muslim polities.
