Having defined democracy, the next task that must be set is how to quantify democracy. To do this we must identify the nature of political culture, or, in other words, study the extent to which a particular country can be described as politicised. The political life of a country is most usually discussed with reference to representation and participation. Although representation can be examined at local, regional and national levels, for the purposes of this work it is only the national situation that will be discussed. Representation simply entails how the degree to which elected MPs are seen to represent the wishes of those who elected them while participation entails such things as voter turnout and membership of bodies involved in political activities, for example, trade unions, pressure groups and political parties.
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Political Identification |
Nature of citizenship. Political groups toward which one feels positively or negatively. Political units and groups with which one is most often involved. |
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Political Trust |
Willingness to work together with various groups in types of social action. |
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Regime Orientations |
Belief in the legitimacy of the regime. Involvement in political activity supporting or opposing the regime. |
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Rules of the Game |
How one feels political opinions should be expressed. Concepts of how government should take political decisions and of the political obligations of oneself and others. |
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Political Efficacy |
Belief that government is responsive to the opinions of the electorate and a belief in the importance of action and participation as part of citizenship. |
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Political Competence |
Knowledge of and interest in political events and their implications. |
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Input-Output Relationship |
Satisfaction with government policy being responsive to the wishes of the electorate. |
Table 1.
Measurements of Political Culture
(Adapted from Levine, 1979:132)
Mostly they are concerned with the question of why people participate in political activities and what they expect to get in return for doing so.
Firstly, the ‘Rules of the Game’. Simply explained this takes into account the most basic political instincts, how the government should take decisions and the responsibility on the individual to participate.
Political Efficacy takes into account the extent to which the government is perceived as being responsive to the wishes of the electorate and how political action outwith voting can have an influence on this.
Political Competence is linked to the awareness of voters of many issues, such as the possible implications a new piece of legislation might have, whether personal or with reference to a particular group or community. This is an important feature because it’s essence is how well informed or educated the populace is with regard to political decisions, something that was seen as central to the democratic ideal of Rousseau that was discussed earlier.
The Input-Output Relationship is one of the most interesting and important features because it is the one in which accountability enters the discussion. It takes into consideration the retributive power of the electorate and can be best discussed statistically, with comparison of voting statistics showing that poor performance and a lack of responsiveness to the electorate does not go unpunished.
These will be discussed further with reference to specific statistics from elections in New Zealand since the introduction of the new electoral system.
The New Zealand Electoral System