Attitude Towards Politics
A variety of factors, including but not limited to; family, peers, the media and education shape political attitudes. Many things influence the way people feel about politics, and depending on the immediate environments, views can change dramatically.
Family can influence the political party that people belong to. Family can also influence the way in which a person does or does not vote. If a family has traditionally voted democratic, chances are that the children will vote the same way. There is an emotional attachment to the way in which a family has voted, and that affects the way the new voter will vote. In part, people vote the way their family has because they do not want to be different then their
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Education has a significant affect on voting. The more education a person has the more likely they are to vote. Education also gives the voter the tools needed to decide what party, if any they will join. For example, a family who may be republicans, will, to some degree influence their children and relatives to vote republican, but the relatives and children’s peer group may be democrats, but when it comes down to choosing a party the education that individuals have earned will ultimately aid them in their decision.
The media can convince, confuse and or mislead a voter. During elections, ads on television radio and in newspapers can overload a voter with information. The information provided by the media is often taken out of context. When people read or see something on television or in a newspaper, they take it as fact, whether the information is negative or positive it is taken at face value. Eventually the truth comes out, but often it is not until after an election. The major problem with the media is they can persuade a voter against a candidate, only to find out later that the person they voted for is not what they were led to believe.
Socio economic factors heavily influence voter participation. The general area that a person lives in plays a role in how a person votes. The southern part of the United States has typically been a democratic region. The western region has been a republican stronghold as was
Education is a noticable factor to consider when examining voter turnout. Those who are less educated about politics and their rights don't vote because they simply don't understand the imporatance of their vote in the first place. The more interested a person is in politics obviously the more likey they are to vote. Wealthier people are connected and constantly encouraged and reminded that their vote is important by community leaders and politicians. They also feel as if they have more at stake when it comes to taxes and public services, therefore they feel they have more reasons to vote. Whereas people with lower incomes are underepresented, disappointed and feel like nothing seems to change, the rich just gets richer and the poor gets poorer. The same applies for the age difference amoungst voters. Older people are more politically invovled than the younger voters.
Many people have different opinions on political subjects. The ways a person may feel about these subjects determine what they are in the political world. I personally do not follow politics like other people older than me do, but I do consider myself to be a moderate democrat. Both of my parents are democrats, and they choose to be of this political spectrum because they feel like the Democratic Party represents them. They feel as they stand for policies that will better them as people. With me, I am my own person so I take in the considerations of my parents’ choice, but also make my own decisions. I do believe in some of the policies and ideas of the Democratic Party, but disagree on
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.
While there are many hypotheses and theories as to why education is important for democratic citizens, there is common and consistent agreement within the literature since the 1970s. There is consistency in the belief that education provides both the skills to become politically engaged and the knowledge to understand and accept democratic principles leading to correlative effects on party identification on both individual and aggregate levels (Golebiowska 1995; Galston 2004). Angus Campbell and Philip E. Converse (1972) describe education as the universal solvent, strongly and positively correlated with a host of valued civic attitudes and behaviors such as political party or ideology formation.
The main way that people are influenced is by their family. This is the first place that we are introduced to politics. Most kids grow up believing as their parents do as far as political views go. Another place that the public is influenced is through school. Kids learn about the Government and political parties through their history classes. If kids don’t have politically strong parents, then they usually get their ideas for what they want to be from school. Kids are directly influenced by their peer groups. Kids will do anything to be cool, even if that means they go against their beliefs. Friends have strong persuasion over kids. Geographic locations have a strong influence over the way people develop political ideas. For example, if you’re from the south, then you are more likely to be conservative. If you’re from the north, then you are more likely to be Democrat. It isn’t the strongest influence, but it does have some affect over people. Political leaders, for example, also try to convince the public to choose what political party they should side with. Political leaders persuade people to vote for them and their political party and hope they get the vote. Many things affect the way we develop our political views.
Political socialization, in simple terms, is the lifelong process by which people learn political attitudes and behaviors. People begin to form their own ideas about politics and begin to acquire political values. There are four distinct groups that play a role in political socialization, that being; family, peers, educational systems, and the mass media. Being constantly around your family, especially parents, can impact your perception on politics and how you react to the idea of politics. Parents occasionally place a personal belief or comment to their young child while helping them with their homework or having a family discussion at the dinner table. This personal belief or comment being something related to politics. These family discussions
My understanding of politics and government prior to taking American Government came from my family and their beliefs. It was influenced by the schools I attended, which influenced my respect for this country, and my respect for our flag. They ingrained a sense of patriotism with their teachings. Television and newspapers had a big influence on me in my younger
Voting in elections is the most important form of participation in American politics. Even though this is true, America has a very low voter turnout. This is defined as the percentage of eligible voters who actually show up to vote. Only 6 out of 10 Americans vote in the presidential election, and it is even lower for midterm and local elections (Ginsberg, 306, 2013). Voter participation today is substantially lower than it was in the 19th century. Although, the number of people that could vote was lower than it is now, considering that women and other minorities were not allowed to vote until later in the century (Schulman, n.d). Age, gender, education, income, ethnicity, and religious affiliation all have differing effects on voter turnout rates. Education and income are the top factors that determine whether someone votes or not. Someone with a higher income and educational knowledge about voting are more likely to vote verses someone with a lower income and no education. If citizens do not have any knowledge about the voting process or candidates, they become discouraged and do not turnout to vote. Also, Texas is one of the states with the lowest voter turnout rates in the country and ranks in the bottom third of voter participation (Ginsberg, 821). Reasons for this are because Texas has a lower average age than the national average, and young citizens are more likely not to vote. Also, Texas has a political culture that is traditionalistic and individualistic. In a traditionalistic political culture, the political and economic elite discourage voting. In an individualistic political culture, the people choose not to vote because of “ real or perceived corruption in government” (Ginsberg, 821). Texas has a tradition of keeping a decentralized government, which causes numerous elections. Voters become overwhelmed with the
As we live in a country that is home to many people of different backgrounds, age groups, genders, races, and religions, the factors of why people vote and who is more likely to vote
Voter turnout in American is on of the lowest of the democratic countries. Totaling 60% of voter turnout when in Belgium the voter turnout is 90%. You maybe asking yourself why is the voter turnout so low in America. In this paper I will be explaining why it’s low along with why some Americans are regular voters
Today, I look back to everything that has happened and how did I come to the thoughts and opinions I have about politics. Family was a primary influence in the development of my political orientation, mainly due to constant relationship between my parents and I. Schools became a source to enforce what I been hearing at home. Then Mass Media took over and tried to paint a picture of functions as a political information-giver to adolescents and young children. With placing political figures in everyday life and association with political parties, I can only imagine what their goal was. The earliest
A socioeconomic status is the level of education and income a person has. People with higher educations and incomes are more likely to vote than people with lower educations and incomes. When it comes to voting one's “education level is the single most important factor in predicting whether an individual will vote” (218). Other socioeconomic groups that influence whether or not a person will vote is their partisan tie. “Individuals with strong partisan ties to one of the major political parties are more likely to vote then nonpartisans or independents” (218). Nonpartisans and independents may not feel as if they owe as much to a certain party. Therefore, they don’t feel obligated to vote in an
Hypothesis 1: Voters with higher education (which generally results in higher household incomes) are more likely to vote.
Political socialization is a concept that shows the development of children and adolescents who attain political cognition, attitudes, and behaviors. Political socialization routinely begins in children. There are multiple factors that influence the political socialization of citizens. Research theorizes that family and school teachers are the most influential. Recent research also states that media plays an important role on influence as well.
People in large cities with a population of 50,000 plus tend to vote for the Democratic Party. The rural areas and small towns with a