It is particularistic because their limited definitions of politics and participation highlight their ideological commitments. Is the criticism of PC culture overdoing it? As Willis argues, although the lads manage to penetrate, to some extent, the ideological veneer of capitalism, this penetration is incomplete. This suggests that a high degree of ideological cohesion may be necessary for the rulers, but not the ruled. So when a particular section of the society is clearly distinguishable from others in the same political system, then we find that it has developed a distinct political sub-culture of its own, France is the classic example of such sub-cultures. ... Perhaps the more interesting question is, “Why do the intellectuals who focus on social control of political speech at elite institutions seem to interest such big slices of the public?” An answer suggests itself. Despite the fact that only 46 per cent of the British interviewees said they were proud of their system, Almond and Verba see Britain as perhaps the most successful democracy in the world (Held, 1996: 210). So, this concept conveys conflicting ideas. As Coates (1991: 130) argues, because of the impact of ruling-class ideology, ‘resistance to the inevitability of “capitalist social life” has been, and remains, very vestigial, ephemeral and episodic’. What this suggests is not that cultural factors are unimportant, but rather that material and cultural factors combine to seal the fate of many members of the working class. Behaviouralism emphasises the importance of behavioural effect at the cost of institutional effects: … Such a view acknowl­edges political culture as a dynamic process that is intimately con­nected to social change (Welch, 1993: 164). Political parties and pressure groups (interest groups) fall in this category and decide for themselves what role they can play. Throughout an erratic campaign, Trump consistently blasted political correctness, blaming it for an extraordinary range of ills and using the phrase to deflect any and every criticism. Thirdly, it has encouraged political scientists to take up the study of social and cultural factors which are responsible for giving a political culture of a country its broad shape. virtually continuous assessment, re-evaluation, and criticism of the political culture concept's theoretical grounding, methodological implications, and substantive results. Almond and Verba’s own figures on the impor­tance of participation in ‘non-political’ institutions in building sub­jective feelings of political competence suggest that a truly democratic system depends upon a much wider definition of politics than the narrow and gendered conception employed in The Civic Culture (Al­mond and Verba, 1963:348-54; Pateman, 1989:151-4). Almond and Verba do in fact embrace an atomised view of individuality: citizens are abstracted from the economic and social structures that in practice constrain and influence political participation. As Pate- man (1989:143) contends, large differences in levels of political activity and political competence between men and women, and between different social classes, are largely ignored by the authors of The Civic Culture. There the people are aware of the governmental system whether they like it or not. In its sociological usage, a range of sociological variables is said to account for the level of democracy within a state, whereas in their comparisons across states the stability of democracy is explained ‘in terms of pre-existing political cultural conditions’ (Welch, 1993: 15). Although individuals may not fully internalise the dominant culture, the context in which they act is shaped by it. This, despite the fact that in the surveys he draws support from (1975: 84-8), 61.5 per cent of respon­dents asked in 1964 agreed with the statement that ‘nothing I ever do seems to have any effect upon what happens in polities’, while in 1970 only 27 per cent professed to having voiced a political opinion! Before publishing your articles on this site, please read the following pages: 1. I noted how a set of value orientations towards a political system may not be the product of historical accident, but may represent a conscious attempt by the ruling class to legitimise their rule through the promotion of a set of supposedly universal values.