The Future of Political Socialization Research: Promising or Discouraging?

Abstract

Abstract In the seventies and the eighties the research into political socialization experienced a downswing. In the nineties and early 2000 the field revitalized again, partly due to a diversification of political socialization research to other fields than political socialization. However, whereas a lot of researchers use the container concept of ‘political socialization’, the field still lacks a clear theory, tries to find the age where most political socialization takes place, and what the most effective agent of political socialization is. Most advances in the field are taking place from a methodological point and by studying different outcomes. We focus on the shortcomings of past research, and try to develop a research agenda for the coming years. Keywords: Political socialization – youth – theory ----- Bibliography: Quintelier, Ellen: The Future of Political Socialization Research: Promising or Discouraging?, PCS, 2-2013, pp. 133-145. https://doi.org/10.3224/pcs.v4i2.19801