preview

Political Socialization And Social Socialization

Better Essays

Introduction It’s no surprise that humans are subject to the expectations around them; we are social creatures, after all. Because of this, we rely heavily on social norms and cues in order to better understand how to integrate with society and, as a result, we take on characteristics of our family, friends, and associates in the hopes of “fitting in.” One of these social norms includes political affiliation. This concept of forming political ideas through friends, family, and other social constructs such as the education system and the media is called “political socialization.” Political socialization begins when we first learn of how our government works and can later help to form our own partisan orientation. This concept supposes …show more content…

Through this, we can determine that justices rely more so on their own attitudes than solely on precedent and other legal factors, though they are still important. With this, it is safe to assume that regional and psychological influences, such as political socialization, influence judicial attitudes and have a key role in influencing judicial decisions. As mentioned in the introduction, we already understand the impact of political socialization on average individuals. Richard E. Dawson and Kenneth Prewitt identified and furthered explained the phenomena of political socialization in their article “Political Socialization: An Analytical Study” identifying that children are the most susceptible to its influence. This is likely due to much of an individual’s personality and beliefs forming during their childhood which is also heavily influenced by individuals and groups close to them, such as their immediate family, friends, and teachers. In relating to our topic and following this idea, if a child is introduced to a group of people, such as their family, who are highly conservative (liberal) due to their regional influences, then that child is more likely to become highly conservative (liberal). Greg A. Caldeira and Fred I. Greenstein tested to see if this phenomena was as prevalent as believed, co-writing an article titled “Partisan Orientation and

Get Access