"Political culture" as a scientific category

In this article a concept of «political culture» is considered, whether it could be called a scientific category, as well as the role that this concept plays in the political process. Various approaches to a definition of «political role», ev a-luating its role and relevance, have been analyzed; the evaluation has been conducted by different researchers. An attempt of operationalization the political culture by a set of empirically observable elements has been made.