University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository Psychology Scholarship College of Liberal Arts (COLA) 6-1997 Legal socialization effects on democratization Ellen S. Cohn University of New Hampshire - Main Campus, [email protected] Susan O. White University of New Hampshire - Main Campus, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/psych_facpub Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Cohn, E. S. and White, S. O. (1997), Legal socialization effects on democratization. International Social Science Journal, 49: 151–171. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2451.1997.tb00014.x This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts (COLA) at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Scholarship by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. social zation effects on democratiz; tion* Ellen S. Cohn and Susan 0. White Much has happened in the few short years since power controlled by something called the rule the 1989 revolutions that freed the Central and of law. Eastern Europe countries from Soviet domi- The rule of law ideal was voiced not only nation and started them towards democratiz- in the streets but also in the new halls of power. ation. The promise of these upheavals was By many accounts it continues to be a working almost as great as our surprise that they hap- ideal even for those who are struggling with pened at all. It is safe to say that observers the hard political realities produced by new around the world, as well as the participants experiences with economic uncertainties and the themselves, have been watching developments conflicts inherent in democratic politics (see, for since 1989 with a mixture of fascination and example, Markovits, 1995). The prominence of doubt, curious to see if this concept in the process stable democratic processes Ellen S. Cohn is Professor of Psychology, of democratization that cur- can take root where and Susan 0. White is Professor of Polit- rently characterizes political repression reigned for so ical Science, at the University of New activity in the former Soviet long. The fact that the con- Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA. satellites gives rise to a ditions for change are They have collaborated on several publi- number of questions. Who cations that focus on legal socialization holds this ideal and what extreme, both politically and the development of legal culture, and economically, makes including kgal Socialization: A Study does it mean to them? Is it the unfolding spectacle of Norms and Rules (1990), and held only by the new elites particularly powerful. ‘The Relationship Between Legal in their activist political ‘The rule of law’ is a Reasoning and Behavioural Context’, rhetoric? Or is the rule of venerable concept in Droit et Sociize‘ (1992). law concept widely distrib- theories of liberal demo- uted in the political beliefs cracy, but Western and aspirations of ordinary observers were somewhat citizens? What place does it startled to hear it as a rally- have in the development of ing cry for these revolutionary movements. It democratic institutions? To what extent is the was particularly striking that those who took concept ‘rule of law’ related to concepts about to the revolutionary streets day after day rights and duties, political freedom, and a con- seemed to be pursuing an ideal of freedom and stitutional foundation for state authority? democratic participation that did not fit any As the struggle between brutal past and existing polity. The focus on the rule of law difficult present is played out, one important and constitutionalism in the rhetoric of revol- focus for research is the strength of those cul- ution seemed to demonstrate that people who tural norms that would support or undermine the have been repressed by arbitrary power for democratization process. In particular, is there many years still have the capacity to believe support for the rule of law and for legal values that power can be limited and the abuse of such as individual rights, fairness, equality and ISSJ 15Z1997 0 UNESCO 1997. Published by Blackwell Publishers. 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 IJF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden. MA 02148, USA. 152 Ellen S. Cohn and Susan 0.White political freedom? How necessary are support- national comparison of attitudinal data from six ive cultural norms to the transitional process of democracies: Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Spain, democratization? Indeed, how necessary are France and the United States. Arrayed on a they for the maintenance of a stable democracy? continuum from new to old democracy, these The data to be presented in this article cannot six countries approximate to a rough scale of provide answers to the whole range of such democratization. The populations of three new questions. But perhaps they can contribute to democracies have until recently lived (to a better understanding of the transition from slightly varying degrees) under repressive and repressive regime to more democratic insti- corrupt legal regimes for fifty years or more, tutions, i.e., a better understanding of the pro- while the populations of three older democracies cesses that we refer to as democratization. have experienced legal regimes that, for varying Political theorists have long argued that the lengths of time, have offered approximations to factors that comprise civil society are necessary the rule of law. Second, we present a micro- ingredients in a stable democracy. There is con- level comparison of attitudinal differences siderable debate, however, over what these across groups within these populations rep- necessary factors are, where they come from, resenting different generations and age cohorts, and how they interact with other variables over and elite versus mass socialization. time. For example, it has been variously argued that adherence to specific values, childhood soc- ialization, experiences with relevant institutions, Legal socialization and legal and level of interpersonal trust are critical to culture the maintenance of stable democracy. There is also debate over whether civil society variables Theoretical bases are causes or effects of democratization. That these debates are unresolved speaks to an as Legal socialization refers to the processes yet inadequate empirical conceptualization of through which members of a society acquire its democracy, one which renders speculative our legal values, such as fairness, equality, and jus- attempts to identify critical aspects of societies tice, and its norms of rule-governed behaviour. which are moving from repressive regimes The primary socializers of legal values may be towards democracy. families, schools, peers, religious groups, or the We will not argue that the variations in state itself, depending on the relative influence political and legal culture variables that we of these agents in the culture and the extent to present in this article can predict the course of which a society is traditional in its orientation democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, to authority. In heavily policed societies such or, in and of themselves, explain differences in as Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary during Soviet the legal systems currently developing there. domination one might expect legal values to Instead, our purpose is primarily descriptive: to conform fairly rigidly to ideological definitions. map the existing legal cultures in these areas Likewise, in societies where social control is and place them into a broader context of demo- less a function of the state one might expect cratization by comparing them to older Euro- more variation in legal values. pean democracies. Since our data are cross- There is considerable debate in the litera- sectional, from 1995 surveys, and not longitudi- ture about how and when socialization to legal nal, they cannot provide contemporaneous infor- and political values takes place (Cohn and mation about the effects of socializing experi- White, 1990; Renshon, 1977; Sigal, 1989; Tyler, ences. Nonetheless, we will also present some 1990, 1994). Experiences in childhood have analyses that indicate how socialization pro- attracted extensive attention, but a number of cesses interact with stages along a continuum social scientists from several disciplines have from repression to democratization. focused primarily on the adolescent/youth Specifically, the purpose of this article is ‘stage’ (variously defined) as a uniquely to compare legal cultures, focusing especially important formative period for the development on support for the rule of law, in the following of social and political beliefs and values (see, ways. First, we present a macro-level cross- for example, Adelson and O’Neil, 1966; Delli 0 UNESCO 1997 Legal socialization effects on democratization 153 Carpini, 1989; Jennings and Niemi, 1981; issues are fought over this well-defined territory. Mannheim, 1952). It is at this stage that cogni- Our focus on the role of law in democratization tive development reaches a critical period of inevitably forces the conceptual framework to disequilibrium, rendering the individual more widen because of the diverse cultures and polit- open to new ideas and to the role-taking opport- ical histories it must now encompass. It may unities that become the basis for moral recip- also suggest that the predominantly Anglo- rocity and a