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Political socialization

Political attitudes are often shaped by our environment, including family, friends, school, and media. Studies show that children tend to follow their parents' political leanings. However, those without partisan parents show a balanced political orientation. Understanding these influences can help us better comprehend our own political perspectives.

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  • blobby green style avatar for user katelyn_e_weissend
    Yes, our backgrounds influence our beliefs and political views, but why don’t people take the time to think and develop their own views based on them?
    (10 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user krimson_a_dougherty
    Why do we continue to adopt our parents political views even when we are adults and can form our own opinions?
    (8 votes)
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    • leaf grey style avatar for user j4M13
      It all comes down to what some political scientist call the "impressionable years hypothesis"—an argument that political experiences during the late teens and early 20s (where you may adopt your parent's political opinions) powerfully shape attitudes for the rest of the life cycle. (Though this may not always be the case.)
      (8 votes)
  • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user Nikolas
    How much is the media going to change political socialization for younger generations? Nearly everyone over the age of 10, and many people younger have the internet, which is full of every political ideology imaginable. Will there be more extremists or just a greater level of diversity?
    (5 votes)
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    • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user famousguy786
      I don't know about the future but as of now, the evidence suggests that your first guess(more extremists) is true.
      In fact, the main reason for deeper ideological division is the internet. See, many people felt that the internet, which is full of every political ideology imaginable, as you said, would make people view different viewpoints, leading to open-mindedness and diversity. In reality though, very few people watch and read different viewpoints because, let's face it, we are all biased. It is more satisfying and fun and less mentally taxing to hear and believe viewpoints which you already agree with, while hearing other viewpoints may make one feel vulnerable and even offended. This is called the confirmation bias and is responsible for the creation of a variety of hyper-ideological rabbit-holes.
      Another crucial factor is the attention economy and digital algorithms which implement the attention economy. On the internet, you do not need to have a diverse audience to be successful. You only need a large and engaged audience and the shortcut to achieving that is using caustic language. For example, if you dislike the mayor of your city, which tweet would you be be more likely to retweet?
      a)"The Mayor must clarify his infrastructure plan."
      b)"The Mayor is so dumb he thinks the city is his personal playground."
      Obviously b right? So what will happen is that the second tweet will get more likes and retweets and there will be a huge fight between the mayor's supporters and opponents in the comments and in the end, no one is informed at all.
      This is how the internet has caused political socialization.
      (10 votes)
  • blobby green style avatar for user mveg9809
    Is it important to investigate about our beliefs and opinions before you get 18?
    (4 votes)
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  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user Jumpycharlie
    What is the difference between direct and indirect socialization? (with examples) Is schooling direct or indirect socialization?
    (2 votes)
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    • hopper cool style avatar for user Iron Programming
      Direct socialization is when the government is actively involved in influencing the citizens to conform to some standard. Indirect socialization is simply when humans conform to what others due around them. Please note that socialization is not always a good thing: just because others (or even everyone) are/is doing something does not mean it is the right thing to do.

      Hope this helps.
      (3 votes)
  • starky sapling style avatar for user Audrey
    Why does the government think its alright to ban abortions when woman should have the right to our own bodys and our rights to have as many kids as we like. I feel like the government has been not protecting peoples rights
    (2 votes)
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    • leaf blue style avatar for user Hunter R. Shaw
      The Supreme Court decided in Dobbs v. Jackson that Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey should be overruled. The majority opinion by Justice Alito explains the lack of constitutional justification for a "right to an abortion."

      We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely—the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition” and “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.” Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U. S. 702, 721(1997) (internal quotation marks omitted).

      For context, here's the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment, which Roe's majority opinion relied on:

      All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

      The allowance or disallowance of abortion is kicked down to the states, as it had been prior to Roe v. Wade. I recommend you read at least the majority opinion for Roe, Casey, and Dobbs.

      And remember, as Alito points out multiple times, the legislature is absolutely able to enshrine specifically the right to an abortion into the Constitution. It's just doesn't have that level of support yet, and is not likely to for several decades.
      (4 votes)
  • piceratops seed style avatar for user Bin
    how is culture factors influence political attitudes and socialization?
    (2 votes)
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  • starky ultimate style avatar for user ®oman
    I have a basic understanding of what it (obviously states) to be politically independent, but can someone give me a deeper explanation of what that would entail?
    (2 votes)
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    • female robot grace style avatar for user Alizabeth Wells
      Being politically independent typically means that an individual or group does not align strictly with any particular political party or ideology. A deeper explanation of political independence involves several key aspects:

      *Critical Thinking:* Politically independent individuals tend to approach political issues and candidates with a critical mindset. They are not bound by party loyalty or ideology, allowing them to evaluate each issue or candidate based on its merits rather than preconceived beliefs.

      *Open-Mindedness:* Political independence often involves being open to various perspectives and ideas. Independents are willing to listen to different viewpoints and consider alternative solutions to problems without automatically dismissing them based on partisan biases.

      *Flexibility:* Independent voters may not adhere strictly to the platform of any one party. Instead, they may hold a mix of conservative, liberal, or moderate views on different issues, leading to a more nuanced and flexible approach to politics.

      *Pragmatism:* Independents are often pragmatic in their political decision-making, prioritizing practical solutions and outcomes over ideological purity. They may be more willing to compromise and seek common ground with individuals from different political backgrounds in pursuit of shared goals.

      *Empowerment:* Political independence can empower individuals to vote according to their own values and priorities rather than feeling constrained by party loyalty. This autonomy allows them to hold politicians and elected officials accountable based on their performance rather than their party affiliation.

      Overall, political independence represents a commitment to thinking critically, remaining open-minded, and prioritizing pragmatic solutions in the political arena. It allows individuals to maintain autonomy in their political beliefs and decision-making processes while contributing to a more diverse and inclusive political landscape.
      (1 vote)

Video transcript

- [Instructor] What we're going to do in this video is think about how a person's environment or experiences affects their political perspective, their political attitude. So one way to think about it is how is your socialization, your political socialization? How does that drive your political attitudes? And I encourage you pause this video, think about your own political leanings whether you lean to the left or you lean to the right, where did that come from? Was it just you in a vacuum thinking about things or were you influenced by your family, your friends, your school, maybe the media, maybe something that you're part of, maybe a club or church, mosque, synagogue or temple and this is actually an area of study for political scientists and as you can imagine, some of the things that I just mentioned are significant factors that people have studied in terms of what develops people's political attitudes? If you come from a family of staunch Democrats, you're more likely to be a Democrat or at least lean to the left. If the environment of your school or what you're exposed to in school leans one way or another, you are likely, more likely to lean in that direction. If your friends go one direction or another, that could be a very powerful influence. Obviously, what you're exposed to in the media and out of all of these, the one that's maybe the most studied is the notion of family and to appreciate this idea, let's look at this diagram right over here. So I encourage you to pause the video and see if you can make sense of this before we do that together. Alright, it says Percentage Intergenerational Resemblance in Partisan Orientation and this date is from 1992. So it shows three different scenarios, one scenario where we are looking at folks where both parents are Democrats, another scenario where we're looking at folks where both parents are Republicans and then another scenario where there's no consistent partisanship among parents so either they are split or maybe they are independent and actually, if we look at this third scenario first, you see that it's a pretty symmetrical distribution. Green shows, of people whose parents showed no partisan preference, 17% are pure independent, about 18% lean towards the Democrats, 16% lean to the Republican. That's about the same. 14% are weak Democrats. 14% are weak Republicans. 10% are strong Democrats. 10% are strong Republicans. So it's a pretty balanced distribution here but then if you look at the scenario where both parents are Democrats, you see that of those folks, only, what is this? This is eight plus six is 14 plus seven. Only 21% are Republicans. And if you go the other way where both parents are Republicans, you have only 18% of those folks become Democrats. So this is just interesting food for thought. A lot of us really like to believe, including myself, that hey, I've come to all of these conclusions based on completely impartial thoughts about how the world should be but we are influenced by our environment and especially from our family and frankly, even the folks who go in a different direction than their families, that might have been because of their family. Maybe they decide that hey, that always frustrated me one way or the other so I'm gonna go the other way or I'm gonna rebel a little bit and I'm gonna go the other way because I am a free thinker but even in that situation, you are being influenced by your environment.