There are many factors that have played a great role in my personal political socialization, but the greatest are family, religion, and media. Political socialization is a lifelong process by which people form their ideas about politics and acquire political values. My beliefs that I have go back and forth between liberal and conservative. I believe in pro choice, no government involvement in economic issues but in social issues, I am against marijuana but pro gay marriage rights and more gun control. Family is the most important part of influencing ones political socialization.
According to the online Webster’s Dictionary, “..political participation is the active engagement by individuals and groups with the government processes that affect their lives.” Political participation is an important region in American culture, since it affects our daily lives and how we live. It is a process which we as Americans, no matter the age, should involve ourselves in. Political participation is a huge factor in determining the way our future and current generations will prosper. Political participation is stratified by age, meaning arranged or classified. Thinking about it, how much participation in political government do young people have opposed to older people?
But in recent years the awareness in people on social and political issues with the help of mass media has helped the people to become the deciders. The people started questioning the undemocratic rights of judicial authorities and some cases like Miranda law and ban of stop and search policies in the nations has shown that the people have a will to change the deciding powers. In a book titled “The Will of People”, Barry Friedman shows the improved judicial system and points to the fact that in the recent years the court decisions have not gone against the people’s rights. He says that the judicial cases of last sixty years the things have changed in judicial courts as the injustice has been questioned by the people as a result the unpopular decisions have been rejected. The American people have now realized their powers and they have given opinions on the cases concerned with the constitutional laws and public rights.
This change could show that people are hoping for change in their society and better decisive decisions from party leaders to tackle certain issues that may arise. Also people have a more insight in politics through social media which allows them post opinions and vocalise themselves which can be viewed by others which is highly popular among the current generations allowing many to have the ability to post their own perspectives on current affairs and how they feel in regards to politics, which may encourage them to vote more regularly. However participation can be found in various ways other than the voting system for example young people 18-24 can focus on peaceful protests with subjects that interest them. For example the tuition fee protests, when the conservatives increased the fees to £9000 a year also writing a letter to a representative, or even joining pressure groups for example the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) where there membership numbers were estimated of 1,000,000+ which exceeds the membership of the British Conservatives Party, these statistics imply that members of the public are definitely intact with participating with interests in politics however just not in a traditional way of joining a party or voting. This is because people would still desire to express their opinions and issues that they may be concerned
These individuals or groups fall into many categories in the contemporary political arena where decreased transactions costs make communication far quicker and cheaper than ever before and the ease with which people can travel allows the constant exchange of ideas and action. The term ‘political actor’ could therefore be used to describe a well established political party, a small community driven grassroots organisation or an ethnic network seeking to assert influence. Furthermore the media is an increasingly power tool used by political actors and can be seen to some extent as a political actor in itself4. Finally military power has a decisive
Andrew Martin (2000) argues that technological advancements have greatly upsurges the developmental of the nation as whole, in fact this technological advancement is initiated with the educational system. The practicality of skills taught within either private or public schools could entirely determine the future success of an understudy. In fact, Martin’s suggestion exemplifies the functionalist perspective on education. Additionally, as determined by Martin’s studies more students both from private and public schools are crucially targeting to pursue more practical courses such as law in their college years. Perhaps, this should provoke the thoughts on to whether either the private or public schools are providing the understudies with the necessary skills and knowledge that would determine their future successes.
Social Media has rapidly grown in importance as a forum for political activism in its different forms. Social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube provide new ways to stimulate citizen engagement in political life, where elections and electoral campaigns have a central role. Personal communication via social media brings politicians and parties closer to their potential voters. It allows politicians to communicate faster and reach citizens in a more targeted manner and vice versa, without the intermediate role of mass media. Reactions, feedback, conversations and debates are generated online as well as support and participation for offline events.
Therefore, older voters are relatively more encouraged on a typical vote. However, young voters explosively participate in voting once in a while, and their decisions control the result of the vote. As people grow old, have their own family, and their children grow up, their duty to take responsibility for their family would get bigger. Then people want to participate in politics or societies more than they were younger because they would recognize those things directly related with their life. They now want to protect or to emphasize their benefit, such as children education, health, community development, or common interests, through supporting a representative who defends their opinions and rights.
According to Hanson et al (2010), citizens are encouraged on SNSs to “create their own political content, distribute it online and comment on the contents created by others” (p.585). As a matter of fact, both traditional media and new media are essential. This is as such because they both act like a ‘watchdog’ and serve as an electoral campaign platform which eventually reinforce democracy (Elchahabi and Gallagher.2015). Social media has metamorphosed the way political actors and candidates communicate with the population while also giving the opportunity for a two-way communication and connection in turn generating awareness and support of the government’s initiatives. .
Political Identity In the text The Struggle for Democracy, Edward S. Greenberg and Benjamin I. Page state that Americans “grow up and live in a variety of distinctive environments that shape general political outlooks and specific attitudes in distinctive ways.” (132). Over the course of time all of my decisions have been a result from the influences that surround me. There are a number of qualities that I identify myself with, and those qualities have paved a path for my political standpoints. These identities are so deeply rooted into my pattern of thought that I do not even have to question the reason behind my decisions.