Political culture defines different beliefs and attitudes towards the political system and politics itself. This notion defines the political culture of people and elites. Both significantly impact the flow of events in particular countries or governments.
The chosen article tells its readers about the current events in Europe, namely in Germany (CNBC, 2023). The situation is connected with the war in Ukraine, where Germany is planning to transport tanks to provide military help. Although, there is a fact that from the beginning of the Russian invasion, the German government did not show a big desire to provide massive help to Ukraine. “Individualist” political culture takes place here and is characterized by focusing on individual needs and personal aims (Krutz et al., 2021). This type of political culture influenced the German government’s hesitation because they did not want to spoil the relationship with the Russian government. So, Germany’s decisions were based not on the interests of the communities of Ukraine but on the government’s unique advantage. Another type of political culture found in this case is “participant.” Governments with this form try to promote citizens’ participation in various political forms (Krutz et al., 2021). The citizens of Germany protested against military help delays, so the government paid attention to this and made appropriate decisions. The third type of political culture is “parochial,” where citizens see themselves as a subject of the government rather than participants (Winkler, 2022). As a result, many Germans are not satisfied with the politics of their high officials because their point of view is sometimes not considered to the full extent.
Conclusively, all these three types of political culture are engaged in the situation described in the article. People have a right to change their governments, which is a result of their culture in politics. Germany has many reasons to be embraced by these types because it has a common historical past with the Soviet Union, which created all these political culture types in the relations.
References
CNBC (2023). German caution on Ukraine arms is rooted in political culture. Web.
Krutz., G. & Waskiewicz, S. (2021). American Government 3e. OpenStax. Web.
Winkler, J. R. (2022). Political culture. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.