SUBCULTURES AND CLEAVAGES: ESSENCE AND APPLICATION IN THE POLITICAL STUDIES

The societies are not homogenous in their essence and the process of globalization creates conditions for strengthening the fragmentation, which affects the political system. The concepts of political cleavages and political subcultures are among the explanatory models for the aforementioned correlation. They possess numerous similarities along with some specifics which allow the researchers to choose the most appropriate one depending on the specific purposes and area of their own study. The main purpose of the current analysis is to find in what kind of researches each of the two approaches can be applied, along with the possibilities of their application in the studies of Bulgarian socio-political process. The research objective is achieved by comparative analysis carried out on the following indicators: 1/ notion definition; 2/ theoretical basis; 3/ area of application; 4/ possibilities for application in the studies of Bulgarian socio-political process. The essence of the result is the conclusion that the concept of political subcultures has a potential for wider application but on the other hand political cleavages has a better designed and clarified theoretical base. Although the confrontation communism-anticommunism is pointed as a traditional cleavage in the post-totalitarian societies, its adequacy to the Bulgarian socio-political setting should be reconsidered. On the other hand the generational differences in the attitudes based on various socialization contexts can't be neglected because they lead to formation of political subcultures based on age.