Political Socialization In The United States

Political Socialization

When children are born into a society, at a very young age they begin to develop their ideas, personalities, beliefs and opinions. This is where socialization gets its roots. In a country like the United States, a person’s political agenda is one of the characteristics that define what type of citizen you are. Through many different areas of our life we are affected, persuaded, influenced about our beliefs, not just with politics but with what to buy, what to do, where to go and how to act. Some of the most important factors of socialization are family, religion, public education, mass-media and peer groups. These factors are called the Agents of Socialization whose sole purpose is the shaping of society and social control.
It is said that one is formed into the person they grow up to be at a young age.
If this is true, the important details of our character would stay the same while the aesthetic characteristics change as we get older. I think that a person’s family is the most influential of all the agents of socialization. Throughout childhood your parents teach you the values, morals, and beliefs that they feel are socially productive. As a child matures into an adult, they tend to apply or reject their parent’s characteristics. Though Religion is not as big of a direct factor as family there is still a major correlation between religion and the political system. If you are a member of an organized religion, they may not tell you who to vote for but their ideas may fit the conservative or liberal side of politics. Catholics for example believe in a set of ideas which follow the more conservative side of politics this can be contrasted by some forms of Judaism which follow a more liberal set of
ideas. Many children get their first introduction into being part of a group or institution through public education. Again while not a direct influence to form beliefs; it is an open format for peer groups to be conceived. As humans we tend to segregate together with those who may have some of the same interests or ideas as our self’s. From the opinions and ideas of others we can reflect and formulate our own opinions and self image. The media has always been an integral part of the scheduled influence of a people by its government, this is also known as propaganda. Mass media has been forcing all types of products and superficial standards on the American people since the creation of television. “Eat this, buy that!” Mass media is responsible for the ritual demoralization of women, teaching them to be skeletal, and constantly overflowing with intentional nonsense. The media attempts to tell us how we should look, think and act, and using the tactics they can have a serious (and usually negative) effect on humanity. We as humans in a civilized society are a product of our culture, our time, our geography, our parents and many other factors. These factors are almost one hundred percent responsible for our actions and values. It is possible that humans are born with innate ideas or values. From these innate ideas we go through the web of society’s agents of socialization and the result is our political choices and decisions. Citizens are formed by putting the human “play-doh” through the ever-changing cookie cutter of the agents of socialization.