In a stable state a new way of thinking based on democratic principles must play the major role. President Karimov often points out that the basic principles for the development of new ways of thinking are threefold.

1. The development of independent thinking in every person and in the entire society. To achieve this we need to get rid of the remains of the totalitarian USSR society. This can be achieved through Oriental principles of development: "Our humanity, faith and conscience do not accept revolutionism and communistic ideas which ideas artificially penetrated into our life."

Oriental social development is based rather on the principle of continuous development. A nonthinking, weak and powerless person and society are condemned to stagnation. The totalitarian society of the communist period was not used to thinking, and therefore supported the attitude of the "callous, iron man". In such a society the leading officials, instead of showing initiative, carried out everything they were ordered to do, saying only "Yes".

In 1989, the President indicated the end of this stereotype: "We leaders must handle problems with skill and firmness, solve them thoroughly and not seek whom to blame. We have to take the responsibility on ourselves." The independent way of thinking of a leader influences the formation of a new way of thinking in society. Nevertheless, leading officials today still cannot rid themselves of the relics of a totalitarian way of thinking.

2. The achievement of a high level of thinking by every person. This task used to be solved one-sidedly as the ideology was based on communistic moral ideas. There the level of a person’s way of thinking was defined without due regard for human reality and real conditions, but only by revolutionary ideology. The President reflected this, saying that our task was to get to the level of developed countries. We cannot achieve that without a physically, spiritually and financially healthy generation; such an all-round healthy generation is invincible. A high level of consciousness means spiritual wealth for all generations; a healthy generation is spiritually wealthy.

Unfortunately, remnants of the totalitarian society still exist. The test conducted at the Academy of State and Social Construction in 1997 is an example: 150 scientists and specialists from the higher educational establishments of the country took part in this test in order to raise their qualification at the Academy in the field of the humanities and social science. The test showed perturbing results.

To the question: How do you value the role of the Shuro period in history?, ten percent answered "negative", while 50 percent of them answered that C.P.S.U. played a positive role in the history of our country. To the question "What was the social state of Uzbek people during the Shuro period?", 62 percent answered average, 26 percent - high and 12 percent - low. It can be understood from these answers that the participants have not yet gotten rid of the stereotypes of a totalitarian society, despite the fact that 90 percent of them are doctors and candidates of science. In fact the totalitarian society went down in history as a period dominated by dogmas and the rejection of alternate positions.

Conscientiousness means living in a way worthy of oneself and being concerned with the global problems of humankind. This applies not only to the present, but to the future as well. Accordingly, "the 21st century will be a century of spiritualism, enlightenment, science, culture and information". Are we ready for this? Only when this is so will conscientiousness begin to awaken.

3. The formation in every person of a spiritual outlook which will meet the requirements of a new time: "intellectual development and spiritual ability are the two wings of the enlightened person". One’s way of thinking plays an important role in the society we are establishing. It is a system of notions regarding one’s place in society and reality and one’s self-understanding; it is basic to the spiritual and practical assimilation of the world by a human being.

The President calls the person who has formed his own ideology or spiritual outlook an "enlightened person". This is a serious duty for one who has a high spiritual attitude is responsible for the world, the epoch, his Motherland and the destiny of the whole of humanity. This determination of one’s way of thinking is formed by an integration of such elements as "intellectual development and moral ability". The outlook must not be a remnant from the totalitarian society of the former Soviet period, but the development of a theory of World from Oriental experience. New ideas regarding the outlook of society can be seen in the humane reforms taking place in society. The spiritual basis of society requires a new form of thinking which must be free from stereotypes.

It is necessary to pay special attention to the new spiritual formation because a person’s way of thinking, his consciousness and political culture, as well as independent ideology are important factors in the development of society.

Political culture comprises in itself the elements and phenomena of social wisdom. It includes the social and political institutions as well as the political processes connected with spiritual culture. It also influences the formation and evolution of state and political institutions as well as their activity and development.

Political culture clarifies and determines the norms and the rules of behavior in the political sphere. It is closely connected with the whole culture of a nation. This is because it is an essential constituent of the entire national culture. The national culture strongly influences the system of political belief considered as a constituent of the foundation as well as of the formation of a political culture.

In spite of the fact that a political culture in some respects is independent of the social conditions which bring it to life, under their influence it develops the inner and outer peculiarities and features of such political units as country, the various strata of the society, categories, nation, territory and others.

The structure of the differentiation of political cultures proposed in the book, Civil Culture (1963) written by G. Almond and C. Verba, has been used widely in Western politology. These authors analyzed the political systems of England, Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany, the USA and Mexico. From the comparison and analyses of the forms of activity and the main constituents of these political systems they divided political culture into patriarchal, civil and active.

The citizens of the patriarchal type are characterized by non-involvement and indifference to political life. In the civil type we see weak and passive activity of citizens in the political institutions but considerable interest in their activity. The active type of citizen is interested due to being involved in the political life and the publicizing of political positions and activities.

These three types of political culture influence one another. Besides the above mentioned three main types of political culture, there exist in political life special subcultures which express the interests and viewpoints of social, ethnic, territorial and other groups. These subcultures are characterized by their different outlooks, attitudes towards government and ruling elite, and involvement in governing activity and in the formation and control of political life. The study of such categories as "political ideology", "legitimacy", "sovereignty", "law" and "political parties" also pertain to the study of political culture.

Political culture in some respects restricts the activity of the members of society due to the beliefs, feelings and values of the political processes and behavior which are important parts of political culture. In spite of the fact that a political system and political culture are independent parts of a polity they are closely connected with one another. One of the sources of the development and activity of political culture is the legitimation of the existing power and the political regime characteristic of that period of development. Its constituents, such as values, directions, stereotypes, play a major role in preserving the existing political system.

Whence does political culture arise? One cannot obtain political culture by merely studying and learning theoretical sciences. Its elements appear when people begin to participate in political activity with the aim of achieving their own social, economic and political advantage or possibilities. This becomes possible only when one is involved in the activity of political parties, social political groups, etc. As no one can obtain his own material, political and legal benefits or freedom of thought acting alone but needs some social organization, the status of political parties and social organizations is high in democratic states.

It is very difficult to realize the driving forces of the political processes in society without having learned in detail the political culture while enables one to develop political processes and determines the behaviour of social groups and various strata of society. At the same time this is the main part of the "social sphere" which aids or sets obstacles to the intentions of people to create conditions for future development. Political culture is considered also the most steady or conservative part of the socio-political system as can be seen more clearly in the periods of great historical changes in the society as are now taking place in our society.

Political systems are divided into two groups by social researchers: totalitarian and pluralistic. A totalitarian system as a type of political culture based on the idea that social, economic and spiritual life should be of one type. It suppresses the intention to change the existing system of ideas in the society. The totalitarian political culture of the former Soviet Union did not allow social groups to express openly their ideas and preferences. It also restricted the possibilities of choice in political life. In this way from the very beginning it did not allow people to act freely, but insisted upon only one type of ownership, one party, one candidate. This condition in its turn brought the society to stagnation and, as a result, to collapse.

PLURALISTIC CULTURE

Naturally, the first victims of a totalitarian system are the constituents of civil society and its structural divisions. This could appear, develop, conduct its activity and perform the functions of a leader given certain important conditions:

- Economic and social pluralism, different types of ownerships, especially private property; different methods of managing the economy; independent units of economic activity along with other factors prepare the grounds and conditions for political pluralism. A non-correspondence of social interests — even at times their clash — creates favorable conditions for pluralism.

- The more versatile the society in its social structure and interests the better the conditions for the type of society which supports political pluralism and a pluralistic political culture;

- A leading role for civil society: civil society develops political institutions and delegates to the government the required powers. The distribution of powers in the government is usually conducted by means of elections. No one group, in practice is legally allowed to convert the government into its own monopoly.

- Human rights are ensured both in practice or by law.

- Parties and leaders in the government change rather than occupying the same posts for a long period.

A pluralistic culture has the following important features: stable democratic principles and standards of life; consistent directives; vital practical democratic norms, skills and traditions; the need and inevitability of pluralistic ideas; tolerance of different thinking and of those who think in new or even contrary ways, etc. In this culture democratic goals are sought only by democratic methods and mechanisms. Between classes, groups and other social strata there is political cooperation, which is typical of this type of social tradition. Vital present problems are: the development of practices corresponding to the socio-political life of leading foreign states, preservation of Eastern features and national distinctiveness, developing research and practical activities in this field.

To understand political culture in the framework of modem democracy there is need: to inform people about the experience of the leading states in the fields; to open special sections in the mass media; and to conduct meetings and lectures among social organizations.

The priority condition for our people’s developing a political culture is to facilitate their active involvement in social affairs. They should come to understand as quickly as possible the need to achieve material, spiritual and political satisfaction. The main condition for the development of political thinking and political culture in the framework of the reform taking place in our society is to organize the activity of social organizations in society in a truly democratic manner. The management style in these organizations should be totally different from that of public organizations. They should be conducted on the grounds of self-management and be socially oriented. Creating a social environment based on a democratically oriented political culture has the following criteria: that leaders fully understand that they are responsible to those who elect them and to the members of the community; that they should shape the manner in which they conduct their activity according to the principles of democracy; that the organizational, financial and social activity of the organization should be carried out on the basis of discussion and debate; that a main task of social organization is to enable the members of the community to understand the importance of self-governance; and that the management principles of the old regime where the organizations were governed by individuals must be abandoned.

At the present stage people are doing their best to strengthen their national independence and at same time to form a political culture answering to the needs of the present society. The main condition for the formation of modern political culture is the active participation of the people in the processes of the democratization of the society and having a modern world view that corresponds to civil society as their future.