Abstract
This article tackles the issue of social inequalities in voting and identifies how and when differences in learning political engagement are influenced by social background in the school environment between the ages of 11–16 in England. Using Latent Growth Curve Modelling and Regression Analysis on the Citizenship Education Longitudinal (CELS) data this research identifies two elements that influence the political socialisation process: access to political learning and effectiveness in the form of learning in reducing inequalities in political engagement. The results show that there is unequal access by social background to learning political engagement through political activities in school and through an open classroom climate for discussion. However, there is equal access by social background to Citizenship Education in schools and this method of learning political engagement is effective at the age of 15–16 in reducing inequalities in political engagement.
Highlights
Almost by default, democratic institutions lose their responsiveness and subsequently lose their legitimacy for groups in society who have low levels of political engagement
In Rounds 2 and 3 social background has a significant effect on access, and this time the coefficient remains fairly constant over these two time points and the Round 2 (R2) remains stable at about 2% of the explained variance
In this study we have attempted to fill this gap by investigating differences by social background in access towards political learning at school and the effectiveness of specific methods for political learning in mitigating differences by social background in political engagement
Summary
Democratic institutions lose their responsiveness and subsequently lose their legitimacy for groups in society who have low levels of political engagement. At the same time political mobility has received only a tiny fraction of the amount of research attention in comparison to other forms of socioeconomic mobility (Brady et al, 2015) and relatively little is known about socioeconomic effects on political socialisation processes, in relation to what is happening in schools. Some research has addressed the effect of different pathways in the education system (Hoskins and Janmaat, 2015; Janmaat et al, 2014), but this research has not explored the learning methods within the school environment. In this context, this article will explore the political socialisation process in the school environment, how social
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
