Political Socialization – International Business Management Institute

People acquire political culture through a process known as political socialization. Although the bulk of political socialization occurs during childhood, adults continue to be socialized. Political socialization occurs in many ways:

Family: Young children usually spend far more time with their families than with anyone else and thus tend to acquire the family’s habits, beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. For this reason, the family tends to be the most important source of political socialization. Families mostly impart political culture unintentionally by acting as examples for the children. Very often, people end up with political beliefs similar to those of their parents.
School: Most children learn about their country at school, usually through a curriculum known as civic education. This curriculum trains young people to be good citizens, often via history, government, and social studies. Although these lessons are usually basic, many of the key ideas and values of a society are imparted through school.
Peers: At all ages, friends and acquaintances will influence one’s beliefs.
Religion: Different religious traditions have very different values, and one’s faith often significantly influences one’s political views.
Social and economic class: The social class to which one belongs shapes one’s views.
Minority status: Members of a minority group sometimes feel like outsiders, and this feeling of isolation and alienation affects their attitudes toward society and government. This is particularly true when the minority group is treated either better or worse than others in society.
Media: The power of media is increasing with the spread of 24-hour cable news networks, talk radio, the Internet, and the seeming omnipresence of personal audio and video devices, so the influence of the media on political socialization is no longer confined to the young.
Key events: A major political event can shape an entire generation’s attitudes toward its nation and government. World War II, for example, defined the attitudes of many people around the world.

The government plays a role in political socialization in a variety of ways. It determines the policies and curricula, including what books students may read, for public schools. The government also regulates the media, which affects what we see and hear. In authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, the government often takes active measures to inculcate loyalty, especially in younger people. The Nazis, for example, created the Hitler Youth, which instilled allegiance to Adolf Hitler in young people in Germany during the Third Reich. Similar programs existed in the former Soviet Union.

Plato writes about the creation of a good aristocratic regime. But most of the work describes the educational system and discusses what will be taught to the young. This emphasis shows Plato’s understanding of the importance of socialization: He argued that raising a generation indoctrinated with the values of the regime was essential to the regime’s survival. In fact, Plato even claims that, in order for the good republic to succeed, the city founders must expel everyone over the age of ten because their attitudes have already been shaped and cannot be changed.

Social capital is the mutual trust and cooperation that arises from the web of connections among people involved in organizations and community groups. For the most part, private activities, not government ones, foster social capital. The term civil society is sometimes used as a synonym for the relationships that create social capital. In a civil society, social capital flows easily between people.

Activities that can build social capital include the following:

Participating in the local parent-teacher association
Joining a civic organization, such as the Elks or the Kiwanis Club
Volunteering in the neighborhood or around the community
Forming a neighborhood watch
Donating old clothes or goods
Contributing to a food bank
Joining a church or synagogue group
Belonging to a bridge team, craft club, or other type of common-interest group

In a democratic society, people must be willing to trust others and tolerate those with whom they disagree. Without these attitudes, democracy can fail, because democracy is ultimately a cooperative form of government. Many political scientists regard social capital as essential to democracy because social capital forges bonds between members of the community. These bonds enable people to readily join together. Also, working with others helps build a sense of community and trust among citizens, which, in turn, creates more social capital.

One of the most difficult tasks for any democratizing country is the building of civil society. Authoritarian regimes discourage civil society because civil society can form the basis of resistance to the government. These governments instill fear and mistrust within their citizens, often turning groups and individuals against one another. New democracies sometimes have trouble building community trust and tolerance because their citizens are not used to working together in civil society. For this reason, nations that seek to help other nations democratize must focus much energy on creating social capital and building civil societies.

Bastian Backer