Using survey data collected from a larger comparative survey project employing a multistage, stratified, random sampling design administered in 1994, this article analyzes the gender gap in political culture and participation in China. We found a persistent gender difference, with male respondents scoring significantly higher on media attention, political knowledge, interest, internal, and external efficacy, and non-electoral participation. In accounting for the gender gap, the article also attempts to validate the prevailing socialization, situational, and structural theories. In terms of socialization theory, we found that women respondents were more passive towards achievement, more accommodating in conflict situations, and had a higher preference for conflict mediation by traditional authority. These traits were also found to be negatively correlated with political culture and participation measures. There is also empirical support for structural explanations, where we found that (1) higher socio-economic groups were more politically engaged than those in the lower strata; (2) higher socio-economic status women are more politically engaged than those of lower socio-economic status women and men. For both socialization and structural theories, the gender gap persisted even when passivity and socio-economic status were controlled. Our tests of situation theory did not find that the level of domestic burden had a significant dampening effect on women political culture and participation, nor did we find that women in the child-bearing and rearing cohort had the widest gender gap in political culture and participation.

This article examines the expanding body of Western research focusing on Russian political culture. As Russia emerges from its authoritarian past, the political transition enveloping the country carries important significance for the study of political development in “post-authoritarian” societies. Upon finding a “formless” representation of Russian political culture in survey results, this article raises questions about the use of quantitative surveys to examine this topic in a society still in flux. The article concludes with a brief recommendation for an alternative approach to political culture research in Russia.

The paper argues that Poland's emerging democracy has yet to open political space for women. Through an analysis of three case study communities, the authors that Poland's political culture—whether communist or democratic—cannot be relied on to ensure women's equal participation. Formal mechanisms of power continue to favor the experience of men. By focusing on the ignored context of women's local activism, the study draws attention to the barriers and opportunities for women and how these barriers play out differently in which political cultures are similar yet distinct.