Stable democratic systems are characterised by
the persistence and distinctiveness of political subcultures which offer alternatives to the status quo.
This case study describes the New Democratic sub-culture
in terms of its persistence and distinctiveness. The
data was drawn from a survey of New Democratic activists
in the Vancouver area.
The concept of political socialization was used
to examine the persistence of the New Democratic subculture. Primary and secondary agents of socialization
provide continuity of sub-cultural values overtime;
primary agents such as family and peer groups socialize
New Democrats to sub-cultural values, while secondary
agents provide socialization both to the general political
culture, which is primarily liberal democratic, and to
values which are consonant with the organic-socialist
New Democratic sub-culture.
New Democrats are strongly committed to their
sub-culture, but seem to be attracted to the liberal
culture in some degree. The liberal value of equality
of opportunity seems to be particularly attractive to New Democrats. But the New Democratic sub-culture is
distinctive in the very strong value placed upon the
ordinary working person's welfare. When New Democrats
contrast themselves with other sub-cultures, they see
themselves as the party of the working class, the underdog,
while other parties are for doctors, bankers, and
the status quo.
The study of political culture, especially of
political sub-cultures which together make up the general
political culture of a system, requires more study of
two problems which must be examined together. First, it
is necessary to establish a taxonomy of the values which
constitute a sub-culture. Second, the process of
socialization to those values must be studied in a manner
that will enable the researcher to make use of that
taxonomy of cultural values. An ideal research strategy
would combine ideographic testing with small group
methods. Political activists provide an excellent
laboratory for this kind of study.
Once we know more about the content of political
culture and the way in which it is modified in the process
of socialization, we will be able to study the interaction
of political sub-cultures in a much more systematic way. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41711 |
| Date | January 1967 |
| Creators | Oliver, Thelma Isabel |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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