Political Socialization

768 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of political socialization

John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” The 2016 presidential election has set several questions for future elections in the United States of America. Many Americans that were upset about Hillary Clinton not winning the presidential election even though she won the popular vote, are trying to find ways to ratify the electoral college. One notable thing is that as the years advance, society’s ideas do too. This means that the interests of people constantly change. Not only does this set new boundaries for future campaigns, but the candidates would need to pay even closer attention to their roles and their beliefs to get the attention of different voters. …show more content…

Most of this comes from political socialization. Political socialization, as described in chapter 5, is the process in which people gain political beliefs and values (Ginsberg et. al. 2017:150). Contributors to this include family members and friends, so people around you could influence your voting likelihood depending on if they vote or not. Also, there are other factors such as, electoral laws and electoral rules that affect participation. Electoral laws and rules are set as standards that an individual must meet to vote. For example, the individual must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. citizen, and in some states, if the person is a felon, he cannot vote (Module 6 Lecture 2). Not everyone falls under these requirements and those who don’t will not be able to vote. There are also instances that people decide not to vote, whether they didn’t have time to register or just personal choice. This is completely unacceptable as the opinion of every eligible American matters. Voting likelihood has also been seen to be affected by race, gender, age, and economic status. Unlike the previous statement, these factors are uncontrollable and are based off studies that poll on the popularity of voters within these groups. All in all, the influence of electoral participation can be seen through individual ideologies that represent their political

Show More
Related

  • The American Voter Summary

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    When examining voting behavior over time, there are two areas one must look at to gain a better understanding of the process. The first, is why people vote the way they do, and the second looks at the individuals voting pattern over time. Since 1960, The American Voter, written by Campbell, Converse, Miller & Stokes, is still considered one of the most controversial pieces in the field of public opinion and election studies. Although there are numerous areas of exploration, the main purpose of this book was to further examine the psychological relationship of the voter from pre-adolescence to casting the tangible vote and the effects of parent-child socialization. A crucial argument presented states that party identification is the most important

    Read More

  • Voter Turnout Decline in the United States

    2612 Words  | 6 Pages

    The United States national elections have been experiencing a steady decline of eligible voters showing up to vote. This steady decline has been ongoing since experiencing a significant increase in voter turnout from 1948 through 1960. Over the years there has been significant, meticulous research done to try to pinpoint the cause of the decline in voter turnout over years. All of this research has led to the production of an enormous number of literatures written on the perceived causes. The vast amount of literature produced has led to a number of competing explanations about this decline. The quest for the answer to the question of, why this decline in voter turnout, is very important for an overwhelming majority of Americans and our democratic system because the people/voters can only truly be represented by our government if all eligible voters go out and vote. For this paper I will examine four theories that attempt to explain the decline. The four theories that I will discuss are voting barriers, campaign contributions, negative campaign advertising, and finally the cultural explanation. However, through thorough exploration and critiques of the strengths and weaknesses of these four theories, we will find that the cultural explanation theory is currently the most persuasive theory in the group. Finally, I will also explore some reasons as to why citizens do vote as well.

    Read More

  • Voting Participation in the United States

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    Among the many ways Americans can participate in politics, voting is considered one of the most common and important ways for Americans to get involved. The outcome of any election, especially at the national level, determines who will be making and enforcing the laws that all Americans must abide by. With this in mind one might assume that all Americans are active voters, but studies show the voter turnout is actually astonishingly low. With this unsettling trend it is important to know what statistics say about voter turnout as was as the four major factors that influence participation: Socioeconomic status, education, political environment, and state electoral laws, in order to help boost turnout in future elections.

    Read More

  • Impact of Institutional Factors and Election Mechanisms on Voter Turnout

    3326 Words  | 7 Pages

    In the 2012 United States Presidential election 58.2 percent of the registered voters turnout out to vote (IDEA). This figure is in stark contrast to many other wealthy democracies in the western world for the same election cycle (IDEA). This begs the question, why is voter turnout significantly lower in the US compared to the rest of the first world and other OECD countries? There are countless factors that could affect voter turnout, the most standard of which are based on socioeconomic status. But when considering only developed nations, more is at play in predicting turnout. Focus is turned to institutional factors and the effect election mechanisms, such as registration laws and party systems, have on political participation.

    Read More

  • The Electoral College Vs. Popular Vote

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States is a privileged country with freedoms and opportunities many countries strive to achieve. People come into the United States in hopes to obtain these rights and make a better life for themselves; they strive to achieve “The American Dream.” Citizens are given the chance to vote, speak their mind, and live according to their desires without prejudice. However, the same government that promises hope has flaws that frustrate the American people; the Electoral College is one topic of debate. Many feel this system is a safe way to regulate who leads the country, while others feel that issues should be left to popular vote.

    Read More

  • Where My Political Socialization Comes From

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    A lot of things have played a role in my personal political socialization. Political ideology is the places where you have informed your beliefs from. The first example of where I get my personal political socialization is from my family. Second I have influence from my location in the U.S.A. Finally I get influence from Narragansett High School which is the school I currently attend. That is where I received my personal political socialization from.

    Read More

  • Voter Participation in the United States

    576 Words  | 2 Pages

    From its early period, the United States has obtained an indirect type of democracy, and has always had contentment that its citizens are allowed to vote for their representatives, especially the President. Nevertheless, the amount of citizens that actually vote in nationwide elections has decreased noticeably over the years. Voter participation and turnout has been declining in the United States throughout history. Voter turnout, the percentage of eligible individuals who actually vote (Ginsberg), to this day is lower than it was in the 1900’s. Since 1912, presidential elections have only had about 50 to 65 percent of Americans participate. This means that about half of United States citizens who are eligible and have the freedom to vote have failed to participate in presidential elections. At the end of the nineteenth century voter turnout started plummeting, reaching the 60 percent level by the election of 1912 (Teixeira, 1987). The declining rate of voter participation in the United States is due to voter registration and procedu...

    Read More

  • How Income Affects Voting Behavior

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overtime political scientist and researchers have gathered information dealing with voting behaviors and trends. The analysis of those factors have pointed to the importance of income, race, education, religion and parental influence on party identification. In this literature the focus will solely be on the effects of income, race and education on political party identification.

    Read More

  • Voter Turnout?

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    Voter turnout has been declining in the United States throughout history, due to the potential voters’ personal choice not to vote and ineligibility. According to research, a large percentage of individuals are not voting because political parties fail to appeal to the voters and this leads to the voting population losing interest in the campaign, while others postpone registering and by the time they realize their delay the election is upon them. This downward trend of voter turnout can be traced to the reforms of the Progressive era. Turnout in post-Progressive era America remained low, never reaching the levels attained before the Progressive era reforms. This would be expected, since there is little in the political history of these years that would indicate a return to a collectively oriented system of voter participation.

    Read More

  • Political socialization

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Political socialization as defined by the University of Texas at Austin is “the process by which individuals acquire beliefs, values, and habits of thought and action related to government, politics, and society” (3.1). Individuals are taught the dominant values of their societies by religion, parents, teachers, pastors, siblings, churches, friends, and many others. One then obtains the feeling of self-evidence of these truths based on the plights of those who are closest to them imploring them of these truths almost from birth. Perhaps a couple of the most popular or effective agents of socialization are religion and higher education. Although most are not aware this process of socialization is taking place, we inevitably form our opinions and truths of political beliefs based on those in closest proximity to us as children.

    Read More

  • Voting In Canada

    2056 Words  | 5 Pages

    Voting is an essential part of being a member of society, it connects citizens with the political process. It allows individuals to make a change by taking a stand for what they think is right. Every four years elections occur in Canada and “every person who is a Canadian citizen and is eighteen years of age or older on polling day is qualified as an elector” (Government of Canada 2000). After four years the elections have occurred once again, and voters could cast their vote early or wait until election day. There is a difference between the law-on-the-books and the law-in-action for voting rules and people’s perspectives on those are different from one another, resulting in different ways of enacting the laws.

    Read More

  • Political Socialization

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Political socialization begins early on in life and is an ongoing process affecting individuals throughout. It is how people eventually identify personal beliefs and expectations in American politics. These political views can include our level of patriotism, faith in the democratic system, standards by which we hold governing bodies, and opinions regarding public policies. From the playground to the classroom, the office to the dinner table, much of our lives affect our political opinions. The most easily identified agents of this are family, schooling, peers, mass media, political parties and religious influences. Furthermore, these means indoctrinate us in the political society through four basic methods: latent, manifest, affective, and instrumental socialization.

    Read More

  • Political Socialization

    454 Words  | 1 Pages

    Political socialization: This is the means by which the public form their belief about politics. It's the deep-rooted maturity of a person's political values. Although most political socialization take place during childhood, society as a whole continue to shape their own political values throughout their lives. A lot of various factors alter a person's political socialization.

    Read More

  • Why The Voting Should Not Be Mandatory By Law

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    Voting Should Not Be Mandatory by Law In an effort to increase voter’s turnout, some countries have laws requiring citizens to vote or face a penalty. In fact, there are at least 26 countries that currently employ some form of compulsory voting, but many people see voting as an optional. There are many reasons that lead to not vote, including that some citizens may not like the candidates, democratic citizens, and some citizens have no interest or knowledge about the political process, and other reason that the government should choose a good person for people to help them even though there was no vote.

    Read More

  • Political Socialization

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    Political Socialization Political Socialization is a process by which norms and behavior acceptable to a well running political system are transmitted from one generation to another. In this process, children acquire manners, speech and convictions that often last lifelong. Some of them are taught, but most of them are absorbed by imitating others. It also teaches political values and specific usages. Agents of Socialization such as : Family, School, peer groups, Mass Media, Work place, Churches and Religion, The government and Geography.

    Read More

More about Political Socialization

Open Document