A METHODOLOGICAL CRITIQUE OF PYE,LUCIAN APPROACH TO POLITICAL-CULTURE

There have been many critiques of the concept, "political culture," and of Lucian W. Pye's work on this subject. Invariably, these question the utility and validity of Pye's cultural approach as an analytical tool by pointing to its limits and problems. The recent revival of "institutionalism" in political theory also challenges the cultural approach. Furthermore, it begs the question of whether the two seemingly incompatible approaches can be reconciled. This article undertakes a philosophical critique of several basic assumptions and underlying issues in Pye's political cultural approach. It contrasts Pye's defense of the cultural approach with the anti-cultural arguments in the works of, among others, Lowell Dittmer and Graeme Gill. The conclusion is that there are fundamental tensions between Pye's strong and weak theses as well as between hard and soft cultural determinism. Pye's strong thesis and hard cultural position should be rejected as unhelpful in the search for solutions. Also, to overcome the problems of psychological reductionism, cultural and institutional approaches should be combined. Three models of collaboration between institutional and cultural causal factors-namely, synchronic, diachronic, and hierarchic combinations-are examined.