7 Factors That Can Shape Political Socialization Essay

People acquire political culture through a process known as political socialization. Although the bulk of political socialization occurs during childhood, adults continue to be socialized. Political socialization occurs in many ways:

  • Family: Young children usually spend far more time with their families than with anyone else and thus tend to acquire the family’s habits, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. For this reason, family tends to be the most important source of political socialization. Families mostly impart political culture unintentionally by acting as examples for the children. Very often, people end up with political beliefs similar to those of their parents.
  • School: Most children learn about their country at school, usually through a curriculum known as civic education. This curriculum trains young people to be good citizens, often via history, government, and social studies. Although these lessons are usually basic, many of the key ideas and values of a society are imparted through school.

Example: Most students learn about U.S. history at a young age, but textbooks and teachers tend to simplify the history and present it in a positive light. For example, the end of racial segregation is usually discussed as a sign of the progress America has made toward equality and liberty.

  • Peers: At all ages, friends and acquaintances will influence one’s beliefs.
  • Religion: Different religious traditions have very different values, and one’s faith often significantly influences one’s political views.

Example: Roman Catholicism has a well-defined set of positions on many political issues, ranging from abortion to capital punishment to social justice. Although not all Catholics oppose abortion or favor more welfare programs, many do as a result of their religious beliefs.

  • Social and economic class: The social class to which one belongs shapes one’s views.

Example: Blue-collar workers in the United States tend to favor liberal economic policies but usually oppose many liberal social policies. For much of the twentieth century, economic issues seemed more important to many blue-collar workers, so they tended to vote for the Democrats. In the last few decades, though, social issues have taken on new importance, and an increasing number of blue-collar workers have voted Republican.

  • Minority status: Members of a minority group sometimes feel like outsiders, and this feeling of isolation and alienation affects their attitudes toward society and government. This is particularly true when the minority group is treated either better or worse than others in society.
  • Media: The power of media is increasing with the spread of 24-hour cable news networks, talk radio, the Internet, and the seeming omnipresence of personal audio and video devices, so the influence of the media on political socialization is no longer confined to the young.
  • Key events: A major political event can shape an entire generation’s attitudes toward its nation and government.

Example: World War II defined the attitudes of many Americans, especially those who served in it. Many veterans became dedicated to living up to the ideals professed in the war. Twenty years later, the Vietnam War would have a similarly important impact, fostering skepticism of foreign military operations. In the 1970s, the Watergate scandal instilled a profound mistrust of government in many people.

The Role of Government

The government plays a role in political socialization in a variety of ways. It determines the policies and curricula, including what books students may read, for public schools. The government also regulates the media, which affects what we see and hear. In the United States, broadcast television programs cannot contain nudity or profane language, and the government also mandates a certain amount of “family-friendly” programming per week. These choices have a subtle effect on viewers: We learn that bad language is inappropriate and that family is an essential part of American life and therefore American political culture. Similarly, governments frequently stage parades and celebrations to commemorate important events and people in history.

Example: Every American state requires students to pass tests in order to graduate from high school. In some states, the tests include citizenship exams, which assess students’ knowledge of government and political culture. To pass the tests, students take courses in these topics, which allows the states to emphasize what they consider important by regulating the curricula. The states sometimes differ greatly in what they teach.

In authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, the government often takes active measures to inculcate loyalty, especially in younger people. The Nazis, for example, created the Hitler Youth, which instilled allegiance to Adolf Hitler in young people in Germany during the Third Reich. Similar programs existed in the former Soviet Union.

Political socialization is the "process by which individuals learn and frequently internalize a political lens framing their perceptions of how power is arranged and how the world around them is (and should be) organized; those perceptions, in turn, shape and define individuals' definitions of who they are and how they should behave in the political and economic institutions in which they live."[1] Political socialization also encompasses the way in which people acquire values and opinions that shape their political stance and ideology: it is a "study of the developmental processes by which people of all ages and adolescents acquire political cognition, attitudes, and behaviors."[2] It refers to a learning process by which norms and behaviors acceptable to a well running political system are transmitted from one generation to another. It is through the performance of this function that individuals are inducted into the political culture and their orientations towards political objects are formed.[3] Schools, media, and the state have a major influence in this process.[1]

Agents of socialization[edit]

Agents of socialization, sometimes referred to as institutions, work together to influence and shape people's political and economic norms and values. Such institutions include, but are not limited to: families, media, peers, schools,religions, work and legal systems.[1]


  1. Family: Families perpetuate values that support political authorities and can heavily contribute to children's initial political ideological views, or party affiliations.[4] Families have an effect on "political knowledge, identification, efficacy, and participation", depending on variables such as "family demographics, life cycle, parenting style, parental level of political cynicism and frequency of political discussions."[5]
  2. Schools: Spending numerous years in school, children in the United States are taught and reinforced a view of the world that "privileges capitalism and ownership, competitive individualism, and democracy."[1] Through primary, secondary and high schools, students are taught key principles such as individual rights and property, personal responsibility and duty to their nation.
  4. Religion: Religions beliefs and practices play a role in political opinion formation and political participation. The theological and moral perspectives offered by religious institutions shape judgement regarding public policy, and ultimately, translates to direct "political decision making on governmental matters such as the redistribution of wealth, equality, tolerance for deviance and the limits on individual freedom, the severity of criminal punishment, policies relating to family structure, gender roles, and the value of human life."[6]

Media's effect[edit]

In children[edit]

Political socialization begins in childhood. Some research suggests that family and school teachers are the most influential factors in socializing children, but recent research designs have more accurately estimated the high influence of the media in the process of political socialization. On average, both young children and teenagers in the United States spend more time a week consuming television and digital media than they spend in school. Young children consume an average of thirty-one hours a week, while teenagers consume forty-eight hours of media a week. High school students attribute the information that forms their opinions and attitudes about race, war, economics, and patriotism to mass media much more than their friends, family, or teachers. Research has also shown that children who consume more media than others show greater support for and understanding of American values, such as free speech. This may be because eighty percent of the media content children consume is intended for an adult audience. In addition, the impact of the messages is more powerful because children's brains are "prime for learning", thus more likely to take messages and representations of the world at face value.[8]

In adulthood[edit]

Media's role into political socialization continues in adulthood through both fictional and factual media sources. Adults have increased exposure to news and political information embedded in entertainment; fictional entertainment (mostly television) is the most common source for political information. The culmination of information gained from entertainment becomes the values and standards by which people judge.[8]

While political socialization by the media is lifelong process, after adolescence, people's basic values generally do not change. Most people choose what media they are exposed to based on their already existing values, and they use information from the media to reaffirm what they already believe. Studies show two-thirds of newspaper readers do not know their newspaper's position on specific issues- and most media stories are quickly forgotten. Studies on public opinion of the Bush administration's energy policies show that the public pays more attention to issues that receive a lot of media coverage, and forms collective opinions about these issues. This demonstrates that the mass media attention to an issue affects public opinion. More so, extensive exposure to television has led to "mainstreaming", aligning people's perception of political life and society with television's portrayal of it.[8]


There are different patterns in socialization based on race, ethnicity, gender, age, income, education, geographic region, and city size. For example, generally, African Americans and Hispanics rely on television for their information more than white people. More women than men watch daytime television, and more men than women follow sports programs. Older people read more newspapers than younger people, and people from the ages of twelve to seventeen (although they consume the most media) consume the least amount of news. Northerners listen to radio programs more than Southerners do. News outlets on the East Coast tend to cover international affairs in Europe and the Middle East the most, while West Coast news outlets are more likely to cover Asian affairs; this demonstrates that region affects patterns in media socialization. Income level is also an important factor; high-income families rely more on print media than television, and consume less television than most of the population.[8]

Ultimately, however, the common core of information, and the interpretation the media applies to it, leads to a shared knowledge and basic values throughout the United States. Most media entertainment and information does not vary much throughout the country, and it is consumed by all types of audiences. Although there are still disagreements and different political beliefs and party affiliations, generally there are not huge ideological disparities among the population because the media helps create a broad consensus on basic US democratic principles.[8]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ abcdeGlasberg, Davita Silfen; Shannon, Deric (2011). Political sociology: Oppression, resistance, and the state. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. p. 56. 
  2. ^Powell, L.; Cowart, J. (2013). Political Campaign Communication: Inside and Out. Boston MA: Allyn & Bacon. 
  3. ^Varkey, K. (2003). Political Theory A Philosophycal Perspective. Indian Publishers Distributors.
  4. ^VENTURA, RAPHAEL (2016). "Family Political Socialization in Multiparty Systems". Comparative Political Studies. 34 (6): 666–691. 
  5. ^ abKononova, A.; Saleem, A. (2011). "The role of media in the process of socialization to American politics among international students". International Communication Gazette. 73 (4): 302–321. doi:10.1177/1748048511398592. 
  6. ^Pearson‐Merkowitz, Shanna; Gimpel, James G. (2009-08-19). Religion and Political Socialization. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195326529.003.0006. 
  7. ^Campbell, C. M. (1960). The American Voter. New York: John Wiley.
  8. ^ abcdeGraber, Doris; Dunaway, Johanna (2014). Mass Media and American Politics. CQ Press. ISBN 978-1-4522-8728-7. 
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