The Transition from Student to Adult Politics

Abstract

This study is the second follow-up of 1960s civil rights activists. It examines the long-term effects of political activism. Consistent with Mannheim's thesis we find that the former activists are a distinctive intragenerational unit that differ significantly from two control groups. We also find control groups becoming more politically active with age. This provides limited support for a maturation effect. Finally, all three groups became more conservative in their political attitudes during the 1980s, demonstrating a period effect. The 1960s social movements generated voluminous research on the causes of political protest. In contrast there has been little empirical research on the consequences of these movements for the participants. The empirical studies (Fendrich 1977; Fendrich & Krauss 1978; Fendrich & Tarleau 1973; Hoge & Ankney 1982; Jennings 1987; Marwell, Aiken & Demerath 1987; Nassi & Abromowitz 1979; Whalen & Flacks 1980) support Mannheim's ([1928] 1972) theory of distinctive intragenerational units forming out of intense youthful politics. There is, however, a major research gap. Most of the studies have too short a time period to test for either maturation (Cutler & Bengtson 1974; Lipset & Ladd 1972) or period effects (Braungart & Braungart 1988; Weil 1987). The objective of the present study is to overcome the limitations of previous work. Twenty-five years have now elapsed since the subjects were students and 15 since our last follow-up study. This time span should be sufficient to begin to adjudicate between Mannheim's theory of intragenerational units, political maturation, and period effects. *This research was partially funded by a Summer Grant from Florida State University. We appreciate the editorial assistance and comments of Susan Carlson, the anonymous referees, and the outside readers Russell Dalton, Richard Flacks, M. Kent Jennings, Robert J. S. Ross, and Ed Walsh. Direct correspondence to James Max Fendrich, Department of Sociology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. ?D 1989 The University of North Carolina Press