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Political socialization and its importance to government
Political socialization and its importance to government
How education plays a role in politics as a social institution
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In the U.S. there are two dominant political parties, the conservative Republican party, and the liberal Democratic party. Both parties are made up of members of the American population who have particular visions for how local, state, and federal government should be run, and participate in the political process accordingly. In order to associate themselves with their respective political viewpoints the members of the American population must first become socialized by the various agents of socialization present within the American political system and culture. Americans become politically socialized through interaction with Family, Peers, the educational system, and media sources. According to authors Richard E. Dawson and Kenneth Prewitt “People develop their political values, beliefs, and orientations through …show more content…
These socializing forces provide the individual with specific information regarding political issues and ideologies. For example an individual who is part of a wealthy and conservative family may have their individual convictions challenged and moved more towards a liberal point of view upon interacting with low income peers or a particularly influential teacher. A particularly influential and politically formative environment tends to be the collegiate environment. “The college classroom can be an environment for socializing young people to politics. Faculty and student exchanges can form, reinforce, or change evaluations of politics and government.” (Am. Govt., 6.2) Higher Education in particular tends to focus on the development of the political individual, resulting in drastically higher rates of political participation (through voting) amongst individuals who have achieved a college degree or at least attended college, as compared to those who possess only a High School Diploma. (File,
Many scholars feel that the university environment nurtures this liberalization in the student body. There seems to be a general acceptance of social and economic liberal ideas both in and out of the classroom. Some feel that professors have a large effect on students’ political development. Others speculate that the material studied by students awakens new views that tend to push them to the left. Still others believe that it is the effect of peers and the general college environment that has the biggest impact. Whatever the source, it seems as if college students tend to cross the graduation platform more liberal than they arrive. This research will look at the political views of students at
One reason political parties have a positive effect on American politics is that they unite and organize Americans that share similar viewpoints on a variety of political issues. Political parties allow Americans to select a party that demonstrates their personal values/beliefs and articulates their views on ways to overcome the issues facing America. Murray S. Stedman, J...
College education also does a large of things for college students, these things can be both counted and not counted. Delbanco wrote about this when he wrote “The best reason to care about college – who goes,.... is not what it does for society in economic terms but what it can do for individuals, in both calculable and incalculable ways”(Delbanco 507). In the article Delbanco writes about what one of the alumni at one of his talks said to him afterwards. He writes about the experience of this alumni in his article when he writes “Not only had a college education enriched his capacity to read demanding works of literature and to grasp fundamental political ideas, it had also heightened and deepened his alertness to color and form, melody and harmony...Such an education is a hedge against utilitarian values”(Delbanco 508). Delbanco also wrote how college education has maintained the same in some ways for many years. He writes “The tradition of liberal learning survived and thrived throughout European history but remained largely the possession of ruling elites. The distinctive American contribution has been the attempt to democratize it, to deploy it on behalf of things cardinal American principle that all persons, regardless of origin, have the to pursue happiness… is helpful to that pursuit. Educated can be characterized as “snobbish and narrow”, but that is not
From their earliest formation, political parties have been a controversial aspect that have both strengthened and weakened the United States. It has a massive effect on voters, congress, and policymaking in the government. Party polarization is the prominent division that exists between parties, most noticeably Democrats and Republicans, because of the extreme differences of the ideological beliefs of the opposing parties. In the past, many individuals considered themselves “mixed” and did not associate themselves with just one side. According to www.pewresearch.org, “the share of Americans who express consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions has doubled over the past two decades”. Every year less and less people consider
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.
Campbell et al., use survey data. In terms of methods, the model uses longitudinal data from the years 1948, 1952, 1956, while analyzing numerous interviews with the voters themselves (which constitute the American National Election Study, otherwise known as ANES). Based on how respondents answer, the Michigan Model groups individuals based on party identification and partisan preferences. The Michigan Model puts an emphasis on party identification as a psychological attachment, in that it’s created through the socialization of one’s parents. For those with a sense of attachment the strength, and direction of their party identification are crucial in accounting for attitude and behavior (Campbell et al., 1960). “The political party serves as the group, or base, for which the individual develops either a positive or negative identification with some degree of intensity (Campbell et al., 1960, pg. 122)”. This study’s main concern focused not on which way one tends to vote, but rather the influence of party identification on the vote. Party identification leads to one’s partisan feelings and attitudes, not the other way around, and tends to cause individuals to focus, see, and listen to information that is favorable to their party identification (also known as selective perception). Overtime, the Michigan Model claims that although party identification can fluctuate, it remains stable over time, and that issues and policies only play a small role in the voters’ decision (Campbell et al., 1960). The American Voter emphasizes that for a policy decision to affect the vote, the voter must at least have some knowledge in the issue or perceive a difference in the candidates. This study, however, was met with heavy resistance over the next few years, and still today, scholars nit-pick at specific areas of the study by crafting their own
Party identification is the political party that an individual categorizes them self with. Political parties came about as a way to organize citizens with similar beliefs and attitudes. These parties then attempt to influence the government by electing members into office. Today there are two main parties people can identify: Republican and Democrat. There is also a third choice, being an Independent, but for the purpose of this paper this group will not be recognized as a political party. These reasons will be discussed later. There are many different theories as to why people do or do not identify with a political party, including social psychology, issue related, and psychological attachments. I believe the social psychology theory has the right idea. Sociology is about studying human society and how it develops and functions. So, it makes sense that social factors would have a big impact on whether we identify with a political party or not.
American democracy was built on the foundation of compromises. For example, the Constitution would have never been ratified if the Bills of Rights was not part of the compromise. In a system that is built on making compromises, it is dangerous to have high levels of political polarization. The Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate are constantly at a gridlock and are on the path to becoming the most unproductive Congress since World War II. Despite the “growth” of self-proclaimed Independent, a quick look at their voting history would show that they are usually weak Democrats or weak Republicans. In American politics, party identification is still the single best indicator of how a person will vote. In recent years, both parties have become smaller and more ideologically homogeneous; Republicans are dominated by conservatives, while a growing number of Democrats call themselves liberals. Most Americans claim that they see important differences between the parties and many feel that they must stay loyal to their party especially during presidential elections.
Much of society is categorized into groups, subcultures and/or subspecies; Politics is much the same. While many different political parties have arose throughout history and had their major moments, two common parties stand out today in the United States political system. America’s government is comprised of ideals and paradigms that date back to the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece. The leading political parties, the Democrats and Republicans, are two separate yet similar entities that run the country’s government from the inside and out. The actions each politician takes effects the very world we live in. These parties share many similarities, many differences, and because of this a polarization of parties has dominated the day to day activities of Capitol Hill and the White House.
To understand American society fully, one must understand America’s political makeup. In order to do that, it is necessary to understand a person’s political opinions and how they came about. This is done by examining how political ideology and political socialization influence society and individuals within that society. Political ideology is the set of beliefs that shape the way someone views government action; it is the way that they think the government should act and react to certain situations. In the United States, the two main political ideologies are liberal and conservative. How American’s teach the tenets and goals of the political system is known as political socialization. This is typically done through parents, peers, school,
Firstly, it is known that party affiliation is greatly influential in voter’s decisions. Because it is usually reinforced by society, party identification tends to be very strong, and typically unchangeable throughout an individual’s life. However, even though it might influence an individual’s decision on Presidential elections, it is more effective in shaping the decisions of voters on less-visible races. That is, it is more effective if the voters are not familiar with the candidates, than if they know them. After the 1960s, nevertheless, parties have become weaker on its influence to the public. This phenomenon, mostly associated to the influence of mass media, which portrays candidates by personality and not party, has made people less likely to develop a strong party affiliation. The evidence is shown on the number of people describing themselves as independents, and the rise of split-ticket voting. On the other hand, party identification among a large number of the most active voters has grown
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.
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.
The Socialisation Process The socialisation process is the way by which we learn acceptable behaviour in our culture. This process involves social control, as it. is an attempt by others to shape the way we behave. As we develop certain values and adopt particular norms, this too becomes a form of social control, as we place limits on what we consider to be.
Individuals who attend institutions of higher learning offer many benefits to society as a whole. Some social benefits realized from those with a higher education include increases in the individual’s volunteer activity, as well as increase in overall individual health and well-being. A report from Analyst Diana Wardell, entitled “The Benefits of Higher Education,” states that individuals who did not complete high school made up 9.9% of those who volunteer their time, while those with a high school diploma made up 21.7%. Those who have some college experience made up 34.1%, and those with a Bachelor’s Degree made up 45.6 percent of those who volunteered their time. Additionally, those with a high school diploma, with an income ranging from $35,000-$54,000, 62%, report to be in excellent or very good health, while 73% of those with a Bachelor’s Degree, in the same income bracket, reported to be in excellent or very good health (Wardell, Benefits). Similarly, an article e...