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Posted on December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 by kmcclain

Rice & Sundberg: Civic Culture

Rice and Sundberg examined the political culture of states through the framework of civic culture.  Civic culture is a political culture that is conducive to the development of an efficient, effective government that meets the needs of its citizens in a timely and professional manner.

Civic culture consists of the following elements:

  • Civic engagement – citizens participate in the policymaking process in order to promote the public good
  • Political equality – citizens view each other as political equals, with the same rights and obligations
  • Solidarity, trust, and tolerance – citizens feel a strong sense of fellowship with one another, tolerating a wide range of ideas and lifestyles
  • Social structure of cooperation – citizens are joiners, belonging to a rich array of groups

States with high civic culture have innovative and effective government.  States with low civic culture are less responsive to citizen demands.

Texas is considered to have a very low civic culture, ranked 43rd out of 50.

CategoriesConstitutions, Culture, & History Tagscivic culture, civic engagement, cooperation, political culture, political equality, Rice and Sundberg, solidarity, Texas civic culture, Texas political culture, tolerance, trust

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