According to Almond and Verba there are three pure types of political culture. In the parochial political culture citizens are only indistinctly aware of the existence of government, whereas citizens of a participant political culture contribute to the system they live in, as well as they are aware of its existence. A subject political culture refers to a system in which citizens see themselves not as participants in the political process but as subject of the government, as it is the case in dictatorships.
Civic culture thus refers to a mix of all three political cultures which leads to the most stable political system. The ideal conditions for democracy emerge when subject and parochial attitudes provide ballast to an essentially participant culture (Hague&Harrop, 2004, p. 89-90).
