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The Functions of Political Orientations: A Typology*
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2011
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This article introduces a functional typology of political orientations. The term “political orientations” is used here to refer to politically relevant symbols, whether cognitive, evaluative, or affective. It is equivalent to any one or any combination of the value, belief, and expressive symbol components of Parsons' cultural system that have political relevance. 1 The typology is not concerned with the specification of the substance or components of political orientations. Rather, it represents an effort to identify their functional significance.
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References
1 Parsons, Talcott and Shils, Edward A., eds., Toward a General Theory of Action (Cambridge, Mass., 1951), 7–8, 21–22, 55, 66–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For recent reformulations in Parsons' concept of a cultural system, see Kroeber, A. L. and Parsons, T., “The Concepts of Culture and of Social System”, American Sociological Review, XXIV (October 1958), 582–83Google Scholar: Parsons, T., “A Rejoinder to Ogles and Levy”, American Sociological Review, xxiv (April 1959), 246–50Google Scholar: Parsons, T., “The Point of View of the Author”, in Black, Max, ed., The Social Theories of Talcott Parsons (Englewood Cliffs 1961), 342–56Google Scholar; Parsons, T. and others, eds., Theories of Society (New York 1961), n, 979–80.Google Scholar
The term “political orientations” corresponds roughly to the technical meaning given the term “political culture” by Almond and Beer. In this connection, see Young C. Kim, “The Concept of Political Culture in Comparative Politics”, to appear in the May 1964 issue of Journal of Politics.
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6 This is an adaptation of Deutsch's usage; cf. Deutsch, Karl W., Nationalism and Social Communication (Cambridge, Mass., 1953).Google Scholar
7 The term is used in a narrower sense than Erickson's concept of identity, in that the dimension of deliberateness is injected here. See Pye, Lucian W., “Personal Identity and Political Ideology”, in Marvick, Dwaine, ed., Political Decision-Makers (New York 1961), 290–311Google Scholar. For the distinct usage of the term “identification” in psychoanalytical literature, see U. Bronfenbrenner, “Parsons' Theory of Identification”, in Black, ed., 191–213. The usage is not unrelated to identification as used here, in that a state becomes a model or object of generalized cathectic attachment.
8 Identification orientations become attachment orientations through the passage of time. At a particular time when an observer is considering the dimension of deliberateness, the distinction is useful.
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11 This is broader than Lasswell's “political doctrine”, which is equated with Merriam's “credenda.” “Doctrine” as used here embraces “miranda.” It is transformed into ideology as the stability of a political system increases.
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17 Orientations in this category represent articulated interests, expectations, and demands that are brought to bear by a public on its relations vis-à-vis the decision-makers. E and F together constitute the substance of Easton's “inputs.” It will be noted that G and H are particularly relevant to Almond's analysis of institutional interest articulation, while F corresponds roughly to the substance of orientations characteristic of Almond's associational interest groups. “Non-associational” and “anomic” interest articulation are largely covered by E.
A sharp distinction between E and F is not always feasible. F1 for example, may represent E1 in an intense form. However, it is useful to distinguish between the two according to the dimension of deliberateness, for decision-makers will find it more difficult to formulate and execute policies that are incompatible with deeply internalized or articulated orientations. It does not appear to be useful to set up a counterpart to E2 with a deliberate dimension.
18 This is not to deny the existence of Eg with regard to this issue.
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21 This is somewhat equivalent to Katz's “knowledge function” and what Smith, Bruner, and White call “object-appraisal”, though the deliberate dimension is emphasized here. Katz, Daniel, “The Functional Approach to the Study of Attitudes”, Public Opinion Quarterly, xxiv (Summer 1960), 163–204CrossRefGoogle Scholar: Smith, M. Brewster and others, Opinions and Personality (New York 1956), 41.Google Scholar
22 Janis's comment on modes of resolving postdecisional conflicts is pertinent here. Janis, I. L., “Motivational Factors in the Resolution of Decisional Conflicts”, in Jones, Marshall R., ed., Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (Lincoln 1959), 198–231.Google Scholar
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26 This is consistent with the view of Malinowski and Homans that magic and religion function to reduce anxiety.
27 A concept that links the three categories of government orientations relevant to four different sets of relations is that of role. A role is constituted of norms of behavior associated with a given position. The subcategories of government orientations specified above subsume the components of Professor Wahlke's role concept. His core-role sector would be equivalent to the normative aspect of scope orientations (dd), and his clientele-role sector to the normative aspect of scope orientations (dp), and so forth. Wahlke, John C. and others, The Legislative System (New York 1962), 3–28.Google Scholar
The self-conception of a role entertained by the occupants—say, the decision-makers—may or may not be congruent with the norms and expectations that a public has of a position. A challenging question for political scientists is to identify the factors associated with the different modes of resolving such an incongruity.
28 Political scientists have long been aware of the relationships between attitudes and inner motivational dynamics; e.g., Lasswell, Harold, Psychopathology and Politics (Chicago 1930).Google Scholar
29 Sarnoff, 267–69. For example, orientations of certain Indian leaders regarding Communist China—namely, their refusal to perceive a stimulus that had threatening implications—may have been a function of denial. Festinger's theory of dissonance reduction is relevant here. Festinger, Leon, A Theory of Dissonance (New York 1957); and Janis, 204–10.Google Scholar
30 See Hadley Cantril's study of protest voters, The Politics of Despair (New York 1958), 28–76.Google Scholar The hypothesis seems consistent with findings of the studies of prejudice by Campbell, Bettelheim, Janowitz, and Shils.
31 In addition to the voting studies of the Survey Research Center, see Milbrath's sociality-dominance-esteem syndrome and its correlation with political participation. Milbrath, L. and Klein, W., “Personality Correlates of Political Participation”, Acta Sociologica, VI (1962), 53–66CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also a preliminary report of a study by Almond and Verba for the relationship between political participation and what they call “subjective competence.” Sidney Verba, “Political Participation and Strategies of Influence: A Comparative Study”, ibid., 22–42.
32 See Hypothesis 7.
33 At the sublevels of E (pd) and F (pd), the decision-makers would prefer some affective, diffuse, and particularistic elements, though the democratic theory and rationality of bureaucracy presuppose universalistic, specific, and affectivity-neutral orientations.
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35 Spiro's four phases of flow of policy are identical with Parsons' four functional problems. When considered in terms of Parsonian terminology, Spiro's categories (flexibility, efficiency, effectiveness, and stability) become more readily comprehensible. Spiro, Herbert, “Comparative Politics”, American Political Science Review, LVI (September 1962), 577–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar