Agents Of Political Socialization Research Articles

Politics and the Universities in Postrevolutionary Iran

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, universities are meant to not only produce and distribute knowledge, but also to act as agents of political socialization. Since the establishment of the Islamic regime in 1979, the state has recklessly tried to control and Islamize universities in order to “purify” them from nonconformist students and scholars and train a new generation of devout Muslims for the state bureaucracy. Although these efforts have ultimately failed to create an Islamic university, they have led to massive brain drain and reduced the quality of Iranian higher education.

Os jovens estão mais assertivos politicamente no Brasil? Uma análise da cultura política

Quase 80 milhões de brasileiros estão conectados de alguma forma via internet e redes sociais. A mídia digital tem aumentado a visibilidade de grupos tradicionalmente esquecidos, como é o caso dos jovens. Enquanto, para alguns, deve ser comemorada, para outros, existem duvidas em relação a se essa tecnologia per se poderia alavancar mudanças sociais e políticas significativas, produzindo uma nova cultura política juvenil. No caso do Brasil, o uso da internet reflete as muitas contradições e complexidades de uma sociedade, na qual há uma assimetria entre desenvolvimento econômico e desigualdades sociais. Neste artigo, examinamos a influência do uso das NTIC´s na formação da cultura política brasileira. Utilizamos dados de pesquisas probabilísticas realizadas em três cidades do Sul e Brasil (Porto Alegre, Florianópolis e Curitiba) em 2015 e 2016. Os resultados sugerem que as NTIC´s ainda não se constituem em forte agente de socialização política, prevalecendo práticas tradicionais.

Intergenerational transmission of political participation intention

Political participation is a prerequisite for democracy. Therefore, political sociologists have advised to socialize people by encouraging political participation from a young age onward. Parents are one of the most important political socialization agents, especially at a young age. Although the intergenerational transmission of political attitudes has been studied quite intensively, the transmission of the political participation intention has been neglected. This study explores the effect of both mothers’ and fathers’ political activity on their offspring’s intention to participate. Using a data set from 2085 Belgian parent–child triads, we tested the direct and indirect transmission of political participation intention. We found that although there is a direct transmission of political participation intention, after controlling for political discussion, political interest and socio-economic status, this effect is completely mediated. Therefore, we conclude that intergenerational transmission is an indirect process, supported by a high socio-economic status, more political interest and a more politicized family environment in which politics is clearly perceived as salient.

Political Socialization In A World Of Conflict And Change

The term “political socialization” was coined by Herbert Hyman and was the title of his book published in 1959. The newly introduced area of research and theory grew rapidly as evident from the number of books and articles that were published especially during the late fifties and during the sixties and, somewhat less, during the late seventies. It soon became one of the flagships of the American Political Science Association (APSA). I recently accessed the website of APSA and discovered that “political socialization” is no longer there. In contrast, “Political socialization and education” is one of the active research groups at the International Political Science Association (IPSA). Is this coincidental? What is the present state of political socialization? Has it “died a premature death in the 70s” (Niemi and Hepburn, 1995, p. 8)? Has it metamorphosed into “civic engagement” (Torney-Purta, 2012)? Is there a reawakening of interest in political socialization (Adolina, 2012)? Is political socialization still relevant in a world of conflict and change? I propose to discuss the emergence of “political socialization”, reasons for its decline, its present state and then outline what I consider to be a new agenda for political socialization as a scholarly area of inquiry. Keywords: Political socialization – political learning – conflict and cultural change – agents of political socialization – dissent and disobedience – socializing environments and contexts. ----- Bibliography: Ichilov, Orit: Political Socialization In A World Of Conflict And Change, PCS, 2-2013, pp. 109-119. https://doi.org/10.3224/pcs.v4i2.19799

The Future of Political Socialization Research: Promising or Discouraging?

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

Familia y procesos de socialización política en contextos de conflicto armado: posibilidades para la resignificación

Objetivo: comprender los procesos de construcción de la subjetividad política de la niñez en contextos de conflicto armado. Metodología: enfoque narrativo que permitió la estructuración de un corpus de información derivado de algunas de las principales investigaciones sobre niñez en conflicto armado y desplazamiento forzado en Colombia durante los últimos 12 años. Hallazgos: comprensiones construidas sobre la creación de subjetividades guerreras a partir de los procesos de socialización en las familias y en los ejércitos ilegales en contextos de conflicto armado. Conclusiones: es posible agenciar procesos de desarrollo familiar que permitan la politización de las familias a partir de procesos educativos de autorreflexión, desnaturalización y creación, tendientes a su resignificación como escenario y agente de socialización política.

Youth and Ethnic Movements and Their Impacts on Party Politics in ECOWAS Member States

Although they historically played a pivotal role in the fight against colonial rule—as they have in recent attempts to entrench multiparty democratic processes—the role of youth in political parties in West Africa has received less than commensurate attention in studies on democratization. Unlike in advanced democracies where parties are key agents of political socialization and leadership, parties in West Africa are built on ethno-religious foundations. A peculiar character of highly marginalized youth thus becomes inevitable, both in politics and decision-making processes of the state. To assert themselves, the youth have also become agents of destabilization of the democracy they partook to build. Apart from their involvement in political violence, youths are now available as unconscientious “foot soldiers” of ethnic militias and terrorist groups that are constituting increased social problems in West Africa. In this article, we examine how parties and youth have interacted to define the emergence and character of threat to the nascent democracies in contemporary West Africa. The article interrogates how the notions of “youth” and “political participation” have continued to play out in different West African countries within the context of the opportunities and challenges of Africa’s youth bulge on the democratization process. The article observes that the marginalization of West African youths has been part and parcel of history only that their situation has further raised the stake as agent of social disorder in the absence of positive engagement in the recent times.

Engaging Adolescents in Politics

Starting from a political socialization perspective, this study examined the development of political participation during adolescence and early adulthood. We explore the effect of parents, peers, school media, and voluntary associations on political participation. Self-reported data were collected from 3,025 Belgian adolescents at three points in time: at age 16, age 18, and age 21. Latent growth curve modeling was conducted to analyze the effect of the five agents of socialization on the initial level and development of political participation. As hypothesized, we find that all political socialization agents influence the initial level and development of political participation over time. Peers and voluntary associations have the largest influence on the initial level of political participation and on its development. Parents and school would appear to be of less importance. While watching more television has a negative effect, more news consumption and internet use leads to more political participation.

Registering to Vote Is Easy, Right? Active Learning and Attitudes About Voter Registration

In a democracy, agents of political socialization, such as schools and parents, generally emphasize the importance of voting. While college students may be exposed briefly to voter registration as a barrier to participation, there is little evidence that the topic is given serious attention in the classroom. This research addresses how classroom experiences affect students' attitudes about voter registration by employing a quasi-experimental, pre-post survey design. The experimental stimulus was a course assignment in which students completed voter registration applications under four scenarios designed to simulate different circumstances frequently encountered by college students. The students in the experimental group became much less sanguine about the ease of registration and the ability of most citizens to correctly navigate the process, yet became more confident in the voter registration process in general. This raises interesting questions about how attitudes about the political process are shaped by students' course experiences.

The differential role of the media as an agent of political socialization in Europe

Declining political involvement of adolescents in western society has caused widespread concerns about the health of democracy in the future. This study investigates the role of the media in the formation of political attitudes and political mobilization of adolescents. Based on a secondary data analysis of the European Social Survey ( N = 5657), the influence of exposure to news and entertainment content on political trust, signing petitions and consumer politics is assessed in a multi-level regression analysis. Additionally, the impact of the political and educational system on political attitude formation and civic engagement of adolescents is investigated. The results show a higher level of engagement in countries with a well-functioning democracy. At the individual level, news media exposure is positively related to engagement in consumer politics, whereas exposure to entertainment is negatively related to mobilization.

Peace education through bilingual children’s literature written in Arabic and in Hebrew: different narratives, different socialization

The aim of this research has been to evaluate the contribution of the emerging Israeli genre of bilingual literature, Arabic and Hebrew, to peace education. Since Israeli society is a multicultural one comprised of two nations, Arabs and Jews who live in an environment of conflict, one must regard those textbooks as political socialization agents. The content analysis procedure, based on Salomon’s typology about peace education, revealed that most Arabic–Hebrew texts try to convey to young readers merely the ideas of coexistence and harmony rather than the notion of peace education in regions of intense conflicts alongside agonizing and painful costs.

The role of media in the process of socialization to American politics among international students

Mass media have been considered a powerful agent of political socialization, affecting political attitudes and behaviors of voters and non-voters. This study employed a survey of international students in the US to investigate the effects of print, television and online news on political socialization during the 2008 US presidential race. Results indicated that newspaper and television news use significantly predicted internal political efficacy and intentions to participate in American politics. Media ‘nationality’, motivation to apply for permanent residence and duration of stay in the US were explored for possible moderation of media effects on political socialization. The findings are discussed within the framework of media effects on political socialization in host and home countries.

Political education through the university: A survey of Nigerian university students

The higher institutions are known for where ideologies are formed. They also serve as instruments of motivating students. Tertiary education in particular is fundamental to the construction of knowledge and knowledge itself has become a vital factor for political education. Nigerian students are politically active and have in no small measure influenced policies within their universities and in the nation as a whole. Nigerian universities have produced a lot of activists that are presently influencing the Nigerian political landscape. These activists have been known to have developed their political ideologies and activism while in the university. The major objective of this study is to determine whether in reality universities play a role in political education of students. A number of factors, such as, curriculum, media, peer influence and lecturers’ influence are also used to determine the agents of political socialization of the students within the university. The study also highlighted which of the agents seem to have the greatest impact on the students’ political education within the university. The study design is survey research using a questionnaire tagged “Political Education of Students in the University” (PESUQ). The study population is Obafemi Awolowo University. The university is selected because it is deemed to be one of the most politically active among Nigerian universities. The study sample is 1,000 students. 536 new students and 464 old students were selected through a disproportionate stratified random sampling. The questionnaire is divided into two sections. The first section is the personal data of students while the second section addresses students’ agents of political education.The study was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics; such as mean, frequency, T-test and chi-square to test relationships, using the SPSS package. Findings revealed that the students are politically influenced in the university system. However, more old than new are influenced. In the same to the male students are more politically socialised than female. It was also found that the main agents of students’ political education are the curriculum, the students union and the lecturers. Key words: Political education, political socialisation, ideologies, international politics, campaign for democracy, official curriculum, political agents.

The Socialization of Female Islamists: Paternal and Educational Influence

AbstractMany women have played an important role in Islamic renewal as advocates and activists within Islamist movements and parties. Women's participation is of particular interest, given the reputation of these groups as insufficiently supportive of women's rights. The specific influences and experiences that lead women to approach their own empowerment through Islam and to reform Islamist movements from within have been neglected. This article investigates some of the important influences on two prominent female Islamists: Heba Raouf Ezzat, Professor of Political Science at Cairo University, and Nadia Yassine, founder and head of the women's branch of the Moroccan movement Justice and Spirituality (JSA). First and foremost, it overviews the circumstances in which prominent women in Egypt and Morocco have asserted themselves in the past century, highlighting the consistent importance of paternal influence and the expansion of access to education, as well as the evolving role of religion and religious discourse in arguments for women's rights. This article discusses the role of paternal influence and schooling as agents of political socialization, pointing out that scholars have underestimated the important role that fathers play in strongly patriarchal societies and the ability of schools in former colonies to produce anti colonial and nationalist political sentiments. It then turns to Ezzat and Yassine themselves, presenting in detail the influence their fathers and foreign schools had on their political socialization. Both fathers held progressive views on women's education, but they differed in their specific political views, such as their attitude towards Islamism, and the extent to which they sought to transfer their political views to their daughters. This article ends by discussing the role of foreign education in Ezzat's and Yassine's socialization and identity construction, emphasizing the importance of encounters with racist and condescending attitudes as a contributing factor to women's search for Islamic alternatives.

Who is Politically Active: The Athlete, the Scout Member or the Environmental Activist?

Most research finds that voluntary engagement leads to more political participation. However, it is not entirely clear which type of organization encourages political participation and what skills are required. There is also some discussion about whether multiple memberships promote political participation. In this article, I use the Belgian Youth Survey ( n = 6,330) in investigating the effect that type of organization, the time spent in organizations, the number of memberships and skills-related activities has on political participation. My findings suggest that voluntary organizations are powerful political socialization agents leading to young people engaging in politics. Young people who are members of several organizations are more active in politics, while spending a greater amount of time in one organization does not increase level of political participation. Cultural, deliberative and help organizations are more successful than expressive, religious—ethnic and youth groups in fostering political engagement. Finally, organizations that allow young people to take up a leadership role, or to organize activities, encourage participation in political activities.

Family Feuds: Wollstonecraft, Burke, and Rousseau on the Transformation of the Family

Family Feuds: Wollstonecraft, Burke, and Rousseau on the Transformation of the Family. By Eileen Hunt Botting. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006. 258p. $65.00.This book reminds us of the importance of theorizing the family/state relationship. Eileen Hunt Botting argues that while Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke proposed different versions of a patriarchal structuring of the family in contrast to Mary Wollstonecraft's egalitarian version, the three eighteenth-century theorists shared a view of the function of the family as providing the relational and moral foundations for the state. To relate as a father, husband, son, wife, sister, or daughter was to learn how to sympathize, and to work for a common purpose, both of which were absolutely necessary for developing patriotic feelings and civic virtue. The significance of the book goes beyond taking us back to the Enlightenment origins of the notion of the family as an agent of political socialization. It raises crucial questions about Wollstonecraft's status as a canonical democratic theorist; it also suggests fascinating implications for how political theory could make a contribution to our contemporary conversations on gay families, religion and the family, and the clash of civilizations and the family.

Os professores e a democracia: a cultura política de agentes de socialização

The article presents an analysis, within the initial grades of fundamental teaching, concerning teachers’ subjective political orientations, understood as political socialization agents. The aim is to establish a relationship between these agents’ political culture and the process of stabilization and consolidation of the democratic system in Brazil. In order to achieve this purpose, the first section presents theoretical concepts and principles which guided the present research. The second section shows some quantitative and qualitative data with regard to teachers' values and political beliefs, trying to identify to what extent they adhere to an abstract dimension of democracy. The subsequent section presents some data related to confidence and institutional evaluation. The final section proceeds with data analysis, aiming the possibility of political socialization leading developing generations of teachers into a political culture which may be congruent with democracy.

Theoretical and hypothetical framework for research on political socialization process in the family

The aim of the article is to sum up theoretical and hypothetical framework for empirical research of political socialization process in the family in Serbian society nowadays. The investigation focuses on two theoretical concepts, political socialization and generation as a sociological paradigm. Two methodological approaches are applied. First is interactive model of political socialization, based on analysis of relations between individual who is socialized, agents of political socialization, dominant political system and peripheral social sub-systems. The second one tests interactive relation of generation, lifecycle and effects of epoch. It is suitable for definition of certain historical periods with active role of political.

Teachers as agents of political influence in the Israeli high schools

On the assumption that schools serve as agents of political socialization, the present study was designed first to identify those teachers who exert influence on the political attitudes of their high school students and second, to characterize them. In the first phase of the study, 866 high school students in the three main cities of Israel were asked to identify those teachers who influenced their political attitudes. Five hundred ninety-one students reported to be politically influenced by 86 teachers, who were compared with 81 noninfluential teachers. The results showed that, compared to noninfluential teachers, influencial teachers are more often males, of Israeli origin, with a master's degree, teaching social sciences and humanities. Also the influential teachers hold more progressive, democratic, dovish and Zionist attitudes than the noninfluential teachers, support more political education and tend to be more aware of and involved in politics.

‘Europeanizing’ Civil Society: NGOs as Agents of Political Socialization

As a strategy for tackling the ‘democratic deficit’, attention is increasingly shifting towards the ‘Europeanization’ of civil society, the latter being traditionally viewed as a means both to limit state power and to promote intra‐citizenry solidarity. However, this attempted change requires in turn actors who are both able and willing to act as agents of political socialization in the context of EU policy‐making. This article examines the emphasis placed by both EU actors and the current academic literature on NGOs as such agents. Drawing on an analysis of similar claims made in development policy, I isolate the main indicators of NGOs' ability to foster the Europeanization of civil society via political socialization and put forward seven key tests of their ability to carry out this function in the EU context. These are then evaluated against the results of original empirical investigations. I argue that NGOs are currently unsuited to the task of Europeanizing civil society thanks to their inability to promote the political socialization of their supporters. As a consequence that task requires EU‐level institutional reform informed by iterated public dialogue, as well as change in the working practices of NGOs.