Agents Of Political Socialization

What is Political Socialization?

Political socialization is the process through which individuals acquire their beliefs and values about the political world. (Page89) Political socialization figures out who influenced your political view. This will explain why you think and believe this way versus the way somebody else thinks and believes. Political scientists use the agents of political socialization to analyze the affect of your political beliefs. The agents of socialization are the family, schools, the media, religion, culture, and events. I am going to explain on what I think are the three most important agents of political socialization: the family, schools, and peer groups.

The family is the first and often said the most important form of

Persistence is the rule for the political attitudes and behaviors an individual learns from parents and schooling that is what you learn early tends to have deep and deep long lasting effects. (Page94) Peer groups tend to be near the same age group. It can often be not the same age. Peer groups often have the same viewpoints in life and exchange political information to one other. Peer pressure plays an important role in peer groups. Often one might tell his or her fellow peers why their belief is the correct way and try to spread his or her taught to be accepted by others. For example, a high school student says it is okay to skip school at least on a Friday every couple months. The other fellow peers might not agree it is acceptable to skip school ever no matter what day it is. The peer will influence the benefits of skipping school such as it is a Friday, the weekend is here, and we can do things like go to the mall, and party. This ultimately can affect someone who is weak minded and easily influenced by peer