Political socialization is defined as the way your opinions are formed by your environment. Through past experiences, upbringing, friends, family and clubs within a particular school system, we are all experiencing a type of socialization. The way that we vote is also influenced by these factors. “The areas of adolescent media use, and political socialization, areas rarely overlap, Media-use studies usually only peripherally examine consumption of public affairs and political content, often because the research involves younger children.” ("Political Socialization and the High School Civics Curriculum in the United States." pg 3) I noticed throughout my life and remembering back to the elections that I did have the opportunity to see the election in a different way. I felt more a part of the political processes by different experiences that I have been a part of over the years. I once had a teacher who taught eighth grade United States History whose name is Mrs. Franks. She made our class very aware of the election process and how we were to vote. She allowed us to have a class debate on who would make a better president, allowed us to write letters to the president. She also allowed us to pretend to register for voting so that we would know what the sheet was to look like. Once …show more content…
In third grade, we were introduced to class elections and voting for those who would “best represent” the class as a whole. In these elections, the students were probed to present a speech and address “issues” in which the elected wished to carry through and better the school. Though these elections were more about the playground rules, and who would be able to leave class five minutes earlier for recess, the representation of these elections were to prepare us for making an informed decision on who would be the best candidate for
Sean Blanda’s, “The Other Side Is Not Dumb”, uses cultural examples concerning the younger American generation involving, the medias influence and peer pressure vs the actual facts and proof, involved while forming a personal opinion. The author emphasizes how the effects of pressure from our surroundings, such as: friends, media, and more, adjust our view of political and social subjects. He includes multiple cases of where your own ignorance can hinder your learning and interaction with others. If you continue to have a negative outlook on people who disagree with you, you’ll never be able to consider yourself a curious person and participate in social media. “We cannot consider ourselves “empathetic” only to turn around and belittle those that don’t agree with us.”- Mr. Blanda
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.
Ginsberg, Benjamin. "Political Participation and Voting." We the People. An Introduction to American Politics. Ninth ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. 293-332. Print.
Fiorina, Morris P., and Samuel J. Abrams. "Political Polarization in the American Public." The Annual Review of Political Science 11 (2008): 563-88. Annual Reviews. Web. 5 Jan. 2014.
I feel like Public School #23 has a character of its own. In fact it's like a tree, it has roots of strong administrators who make sure we stay grounded. It has a strong trunk of teachers who wish to support us in whatever we decide to do. We have wonderful subjects the branches that make us interested and fill our brains with knowledge and we the students are the leaves. As freshman we start to bud, as sophomores we begin to get full shape and color, as juniors we begin are full shape and size and by senior year we are tired and wish to leave the tree and adventure the world. The shadow that our tree forms is a very respectable one. I am ______ and I want to be your Class President.
Such factors are their educational background, socioeconomic status, gender and other demographics. There will be a definite difference between a person who has an excellent academic background and a person who does not have such qualification. In the same way, socioeconomic status of a person also decides how well a person engages politically (Riedel and Sullivan, 2001). For instance, an individual who comes from a very lower class will not pay heed to political system of the country because his basic concern is to feed his children and family. His priorities will be different from a person who has all basic necessities. In the same way a middle aged person who has an adequate knowledge and experience regarding the political system of a country and a young person who is just an amateur will have significant differences of political attitudes and political efficacy. So attitudes and experiences also affect the political efficacy and ultimately the voting behaviors of the individuals (Sheerin and Celia Anne, 2007). Mass Media is one of the tools to build these attitudes and political
Political socialization as defined by the University of Texas at Austin is “the process by which individuals acquire beliefs, values, and habits of thought and action related to government, politics, and society” (3.1). Individuals are taught the dominant values of their societies by religion, parents, teachers, pastors, siblings, churches, friends, and many others. One then obtains the feeling of self-evidence of these truths based on the plights of those who are closest to them imploring them of these truths almost from birth. Perhaps a couple of the most popular or effective agents of socialization are religion and higher education. Although most are not aware this process of socialization is taking place, we inevitably form our opinions and truths of political beliefs based on those in closest proximity to us as children.
Rather than being a neutral conduit for the communication of information, the U.S. media plays an intricate role in shaping and controlling political opinions. Media is extremely powerful in the sense that without an adequate functioning media, it is virtually impossible for a sophisticated social structure like the U.S. Government to exist. Henceforth, all known sophisticated social structure, have always dependent upon the media’s ability to socialize. The U.S. government generally will exploit the media, often times manipulating the enormous power of the printed word. Ultimately empowering the U.S. government, strengthening it with the ability to determine and control the popular perception of reality. One way in which government achieves this objective, is by its ability to misuse the media’s ability to set the agenda. Contrary to popular belief, media is in fact an enormous hegemony. In fact, separate independent news organizations relatively do not exist. Rather than creating an independent structured agenda of there own, generally lesser smaller news organizations adapt to a prepared agenda, previously constructed by a higher medium. Based upon this information alone, it is quite apparent that media functions in adherence to the characteristics of a hierarchy. This simply means that media is structured in a way that it operates functioning from top to bottom. This is also identical to the hierarchical nature of the human body, in that from the commands of the brain transferred through the central nervous system, the body responds accordingly. In order for the U.S. government to control and determine the public’s popular perception of reality, the government must shape and oversee the information that the media reports to the existing populous. This particular process of democracy is known and referred to by political scientists as cognitive socialization. However, many of us, who do not adhere to the cushioning of political correctness, refer to it as the propaganda machine. Numerous political scientists consider cognitive socialization to be the most effective form of political socialization. According to theory, cognitive socialization is doctored up information, which is strategically fragmented in such a manipulative manner, that the probability of its rationalization is highly predictable. The manipulative properties of cognitive socialization are so diabolical and Machiavellian in nature, that I consider it to be the ultimate perversion of the democratic process. In all seriousness, numerous intellectuals, and gentleman held in good stature agree, that cognitive socialization is the product of an evil genius.
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 methods: latent, manifest, affective, and instrumental socialization.
The main aim of this report is to analyze the impacts of changes in the media concerning the societal and individual view of politics and politicians. The report also describes significant milestones in mass media since the year 1960 and examines the impact of mass media on how people think politically. The report then considers the effect of technological advancements in mass media and the effect on the results of elections. The use of mass media has increased over the last fifty years in that it is a primary medium through which supporters of various campaigners share their ideas and views concerning politicians and different political parties. Through social media, behaviors and performance of several activists have brought
An agent of socialization is something that affects you and thus society as a whole. There are many different agents of socialization. The four most important agents of socialization are family, school, peer groups, and mass media. These agents of socialization influence almost everything and every aspect of one’s life. From how you think to what kind of music you like.
The classroom should be a democratic environment where students choose what they want to learn. The teacher and stud...
The first motives which push me the political issues were the political writings and movies. There is a rule that is probably valid for the most, “I read a sentence and my whole life is transferred.” I accept it is seen exaggerated however young people have already be ready for these kinds of experiences which fire the ideas.
Socialization is learning what is expected from us by the people we are interacting with. We learn what is considered normal and how to interact with others. Socialization also gives us the ability to learn what is not acceptable behavior and the negative treatment that can come along with behaving outside of the norm (New York University Department of Sociology, 2013). It is beneficial to reflect on educational experience as a site of socialization because for the majority of us, this is our first real, complete, and honest experience of socialization. We may receive leniency or special treatment from our parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles because we are younger and cute. They do not expect the same level of standards for behavior as peers who
Prior, Markus. "News vs. Entertainment: How Increasing Media Choice Widens Gaps in Political Knowledge and Turnout." American Journal of Political Science. 49.3 (2005): 577-592. Web. 3 Feb. 2014.