Political Socialization
Political Socialization Political socialization can be thought of as the process by which a person attains his or her own personal political beliefs. I believe that political socialization is continuous development of one’s political outlook, based on the many influences one may encounter on a daily basis. An accumulation of these experiences will ultimately define an individual’s character by either altering or strengthening their current personal beliefs. This process of socialization has four major agents that will continue to influence us for the rest of our lives. The agents of political socialization are family, media, geographical location, and religion. These agents help formulate a person's character, identify their own philosophies, and controls the level of political involvement a person can achieve. Family can be considered, as one of the foremost influences in political socialization, because they are responsible for one’s upbringing and spend a great deal of time with them. People spend an average of eighteen years of their life, living with their parents and are constantly being influenced during that time. While growing up, a child is especially impressionable because they look towards their parents for guidance and direction. Children can credit most of what they’ve learned from their parents’ from something as simple as basic communicating skills to driving a car for the first time. Parents play a vital role in a child’s early development and continue to be a prominent influence in their life, even after they’ve reached adulthood. Such agents, like family for instance, can greatly impact the character of a person and help develop the type of person they will become. The affect of these agents can also help a person determine which political group or organization they’ll associate with, as well as set the level of political awareness and participation a person develops. Growing up with a very liberal family has greatly