Analysis of conceptual developments in political culture (The Case of Web of Science database from 1985 to 2024)

Abstract
The concept of political culture is one of the oldest and most fundamental topics in the field of political science, with its roots intertwined with the discipline's history. Its contemporary meaning dates back to the 1930s, emerging alongside the concept of national character. This study employs a three-dimensional theoretical framework (semantic, functional, and contextual) to analyze the evolution of the concept of political culture from national attitudes to a digital and globalized political culture. Using bibliometric methods, this research systematically examined 942 articles from the Web of Science database between 1985 and the end of 2024. The findings indicate that the peak of publication volumes occurred in 2015 and 2017. Cocitation analysis identified four main research areas: political culture and democratic developments; political culture and challenges to order in changing societies; federalism and multi-level governance politics; and ideology, culture, and historical-cultural transformations. Additionally, co-occurrence analysis categorized the research into seven thematic clusters: governance and institutional changes, political culture and power structures, political systems and power dynamics, education, attitudes and political participation, media, ideology and political communication, cultural transformations and societal values, and citizenship and political culture.
Abstract