AIM

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• AIM How does political socialization occur?

Do Now Why are you a conservative or liberal?
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I. Public Opinion

1. The distribution of the populations beliefs
   about politics and policy issues
2. There is not one public
3. Opinions and views can change quickly

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II. Why is Government Policy often at odds with
Public Opinion?

• A. Government was not designed to represent the
  day to day will of the people
• B. It is not easy to know exactly what the public
  wants or thinks
• C. The more active and knowledgeable people are
  about politics the greater their weight

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III. Process of Political Socialization

• A. The Family (Informal Learning)
• B. Religion (Informal Learning)
• C. Mass Media The New Parent
• D. School (Formal Learning)

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A. The Family (Informal Learning)

• 1. Has a monopoly on early development
• 2. Greatest amount of time and emotional
  commitment
• 3. 80 of children can identify with a party by
  fifth grade
• 4. Children are the same party 59 of the time as
  their parents
• 5. Children tend to be more idealistic than their
  parents

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B. Religion (Informal Learning)

• 1. Protestants tend to be more conservative than
  Catholics
• 2. People who are Jewish tend to be more liberal
• 3. Fundamentalists tend to be conservative

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C. Mass Media The New Parent

• 1. Children spend more time devoted to watching
  TV than school
• 2. They are less likely to read newspapers or
  watch the news

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The Medias Influence Over Our Lives

• 95 of American homes have at least one
  television, and it is turned on for an average of
  7 hours per day
• Crime is rampant on television professions such
  as police officer, lawyer, and physician are
  overrepresented
• By age 16, the average American will have seen
  twenty thousand homicides on television

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The Media and the Molding of Perceptions

• According to sociological research the media
  portray men as rugged and dominant, women as
  submissive
• On primetime TV, male characters outnumber
  females two to one.
• Men are often portrayed in higher status
  positions
• The elderly and minorities are underrepresented

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Interpretations of Social Scientists

• The media contribute to socialization by
  displaying models for children to imitate
• The underclass is stigmatized
• Most adults believe TV is addictive, but deny
  they are personally addicted
• There is a correlation between aggressive
  behavior seen on TV and real life aggression
• The media promote accepted social values and
  norms
• The media perpetuate classism, racism, and sexism

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D. School (Formal Learning)

• 1. Used to promote civic values, national loyalty
  and basic values of government
• 2. Various types of government use school to
  ensure the youth will grow up to be supportive of
  the governments agenda
• 3. Studies indicate that the longer students stay
  in school the more liberal they become