Personal Narrative: My Political Socialization

Most people are exposed to the same principals and agents of political socialization. Families spread values that support political authorities and can heavily contribute to children's initial political ideological views, or party preferences. Families influence political knowledge and identification depending on variables such as family demographics, life cycle, parenting style, parental level of political skepticism and frequency of political discussions. Demographics such as gender and age also attribute to political socialization. School is another agent of political socialization. Spending numerous years in school, children in the United States are taught and reinforced a view of the world that their text books tell them to trust. Through primary, secondary and high schools, students are taught key principles such as individual rights and property, personal responsibility and duty to their nation. Another is mass media. Mass media is not only a source of political information; it is an influence on political values and beliefs. Various media outlets, through news coverage and late-night programs, provide different partisan policy stances that are associated with political participation. Religions, beliefs, and practices play a role in political opinion formation and political participation. The perspective offered by religious institutions shape judgement regarding public policy, and political decision

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

Most of the people in America identify themselves as moderate or they do not know if they are conservative or liberal (Magleby 103). I would rank myself as a liberal on the seven-point-identification scale because from what I know of conservatives, their beliefs clash with mine. According to the political surveys that we took in government class, I am a strong liberal. I have always been against conservative views for as long as I can remember; my family, especially my very conservative cousin that mentioned earlier, did not like that I did not conform to certain roles and scolded me for it, thus, resulting in my resentment of conservatives and conservative views. As I grew older, I noticed that I had unconsciously leaned more towards conservative views as a child because I wanted to fit in and not be the outlier in my family; now though, I can clearly see the faulty logic that my family holds and that it is alright for me to have my own

The main place where I have received my political socialization from is from my family. This is logical because I have been with my family since I was born so I was bound to pick up a lot of there beliefs as the years went by. My family

It is very important to be aware of what is going on in the world however sometimes reading can be a better source or information than watching bias television broadcasts. I believe that if children have to develop their own political opinion at a young age then they will attain values and beliefs that are more logical. I had structure growing up as a kid and was directed to what was right and wrong but I was not born into a political dictatorship. My parents were caring people and emphasized that treating others with respect is more important than following some indoctrinated code. I am fortunate to have been given the freedom to develop my own social and political views. Having political guidance from family is important but being told that only one particular political belief system is infallible is not the ideal way to educate. My parents have always preached equality, and that all people should have equal opportunity to pursue their goals despite their religion, race, ethnic background or sexual orientation. At a young age I was taught to recognize that all Americans have an equal opportunity to aspire to an education regardless of their economic condition. My parents were a large influence of how I view freedom of speech. They emphasized that all individuals have the right to express their opinions and advocate their personal beliefs. One of the key political concepts that I was born into was to fight for a clean environment. The environment must be protected and

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

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

I have a small family which consists of my mother and father and two younger brothers. No other relatives, just us five .My family isn't very outspoken to society as a whole. We stick to speaking to each other. But when necessary, we will speak out to society in order to voice our opinions. As a result, my family is very conservative, which I feel has played a major role in the political socialization which I have developed. Growing up my parents didn’t speak politics directly to me but instead the remarks which they made around the kitchen table or around me greatly showed me my parent’s beliefs. Growing up hearing your parents speak on certain issues such as taxes and what they find morally wrong those type of things give you a lifelong guideline on how your own beliefs will turn out, although not always the case most of the time this will be correct. My parents have influenced me a lot in this aspect of my political ideology from the way I feel about abortions being legal to what I believe about the republican party and especially my stance on immigration. My mother has always told me nothing in life will ever be handed to you. You have to work for what you want. This ideology has greatly influenced my work

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

With regards to my own experiences with social class, I recall times from my own childhood. I grew up in a college town full of highly educated people. Most of the children I grew up with came from very affluent families who lived in very lavish, costly homes. My parents did not have the educational background or financial means to provide the lavish life that most of my friends were living. As younger children, my mother always did a good job of providing for our needs. Other than the outward differences of the home I lived in (which was nice, but modest), or the cars we drove, I was unaware of the differences, those became more apparent as I grew older. Most of my friends took family vacations at least twice every year that involved flying

Growing up, my family had always been strictly Democratic with a conservative view here and there and it surely has influenced my political stance. Not only that but being a Democrat to me means being a humanitarian and genuinely having hope for the future of America and all its

How many different “hats” do we each wear on a daily bases. From our careers, to our family and friends we all have different identities that we claim and live out day to day. These identities help us define who we are. “When we identify ourselves, we draw on a host of different characteristics associated with various social groups to which we belong” (King 2012, pg. 429). My ornament is explaining the social identity through a snow-women and her many hats.

Growing up in a very conservative household within an increasingly liberal society, I've had difficulty identifying my own political beliefs. I’ve been taught to pick a side: the left or right. That mindset has always left me torn and confused, but I have discovered that I don’t want to choose. I am a moderate. For me, politics is about my own values and my own ideologies, not whether my values are specifically conservative or liberal. I have a more liberal view on issues such as same-sex marriage, the death penalty, and abortion. And I have more conservative views on taxes, the free market system, and welfare. What I believe should not be swayed by trying to affiliate myself with a particular political party. I don’t fit perfectly into the

One aspect of my life that has shaped my political views is my religious background. I grew up in a Baptist family, and used to go to church regularly. As I got older, I started going to church less and less because the things my pastor said made me feel very uncomfortable. At the time, I did not understand why I felt so uncomfortable and it was not until I got older that I realized why I felt the way I did. Majority of the time, my pastor said things that had sexist and homophobic undertones. Despite being in a holy place, I spent the duration of my time as a member of the church feeling disconnected from everything, which eventually led to me breaking ties with the church completely.