| Abstract: | The effect of political culture on women 's political socialization emphasizes that politics is a masculine role to the detriment of female political participation in lower state legislative chambers. However, it would be extremely simplistic to assume this cultural bias has the same impact throughout the United States.This article utilizes Daniel J. Elazar's conceptualization that there are three ideal subcultures (Moralistic, Individualistic, Traditionalistic) which dominate the American states. Elazar specifies that a Moralistic subculture seems more open since its citizens and political leaders view politics to be a healthy endeavor in order to obtain the good society. Every citizen has a duty to participate in politics. States dominated by the Individualistic subculture view politics as a “dirty—if necessary—business, better left to those who are willing to soil themselves.” It is assumed that professionals can best perform in this competitive world. Finally, a Traditionalistic subculture which dominates the South emphasizes that politics is limited to maintaining the existing political patterns of authority. The characterization of what politics is and who should participate becomes extremely important since it may run counter to some female stereotypes which indicate women may be less intelligent, weaker and less competitive.Using Elazar's cultural concept as an independent, environmental variable, an analysis of variance found significant differences in women's representation between the three subcultures in 1971 and 1977. Even more important, the barriers to women's representation seem far less, longitudinally, in the Moralistic-dominated states than in the other sub cultural-dominated states. |
