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Political Socialization
Factors
Family
School and Peers
Mass Media
Religion
Race/Ethnicity
Gender
Age
Region
Events
Ideology
Family
• Influence is based on 2 factors
– Communication
– Receptivity
• Learn parent’s political values at a young age
• 10 - 11 yrs. Children become more selective
in their perceptions of the president
– Dem. Households - critical of Rep president
and visa versa.
School and Peers
• School teacher’s respect for nation & symbols
helps build patriotism at a young age
• “Weekly Reader” for elementary students
fosters political awareness and civic duty
• Peers have largest impact from middle school
to high school
• College has a liberalizing effect because
students are called on to question actions and
policies
Mass Media
• Taking on a growing role
• Adult Americans spend 30 hours/week in
front of the TV (children even higher)
• 40%+ of those polled got their candidate
info from Leno, Daily Show and Letterman
• Choose to Lose & Rock the Vote are
designed to improve voter turnout in youth
• 2004 - 50% of voters under 30 reported the
Internet as their major source of campaign
info. 2008-55%
Religion
• 84% of all Americans over 18 consider
themselves affiliated with a religion
• Faith-based political activity occurred on the
left: Civil rights, war on poverty, abolition of
death penalty in 1970’s
• On the right: Moral Majority and Christian
Coalition played key roles in the election of
Reagan
• 2nd largest predictor of the vote behind party
identification
Religion continued
• 2007: 51% Protest., 24% Cath., 2.7% other
world religions, 2% Jewish, 16% no
affiliation
• Jews most liberal
– Democrats in 2004 captured 74% of Jewish
vote: 2008 - 78%
• Protestant most conservative
– Republicans in 2004 captured 54% Protest.
Vote: 2008 - 54%
• Pew Research Center
Race / Ethnicity
• Young black children show positive feelings about
American society, then considerable lessening over
time
• Black children hold the president in lower esteem
than white children - updated?
• OJ trial (1995) revealed immense racial divide
• Hispanic and Native Am. hold similar opinions
– Both have high % poverty rates and targets of
discrimination
• Cuban Americans in Florida more likely to be
conservative
• Mexican-Americans are more likely to be liberal
Gender
• Women hold very different opinions than men
http://www.people-press.org/typology/quiz/?pass
• Unmarried women tend to be liberal
• Women hold more negative views on war
– Gap is lessening except for current war in Iraq
• White men are the core of the Republican
party
Age
• Senior Citizens, due to better health care,
are becoming a political force
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AARP
Defeat school tax increases
Pass tax breaks for themselves
Increases in Medical benefits and SS
Some fear & some welcome healthcare reform
• Senior Citizens vote more
• As boomers age, this group will become
even larger and more influential
Region
• Immigrant settlements lead to regional
influence
• Most dramatic regional difference is between
North and South
• City is more liberal, rural more conservative
• Republican: South, West and Midwest
• Democrats: Northeast, West Coast
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Events
JFK assassination
Challenger explosion
Okalahoma City bombing
Nixon resignation
Fall of the Berlin Wall
9/11 - War on Terrorism
Iran / Contra
Clinton Impeachment
Leads to faith or distrust in government
Ideology
2004: Most Americans identify themselves as
Moderate
– 35% moderate
– 30% liberal
– 29% conservative
• 2007: Most Americans identify themselves
as Conservative
– 36% conservative
– 35 % moderate
– 25% liberal
• Gallup Poll October 2011
– 41% identify themselves as conservative
– 36% identify themselves as moderate
– 21% identify themselves as liberal
http://www.gallup.com/poll/148745/Pol
itical-Ideology-Stable-ConservativesLeading.aspx
Are we predisposed to
Political Beliefs?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/arti
cle.cfm?id=are-we-predisposed-topolitical-beliefs&ref=rss