About this Research Topic

Background

The term ‘political socialization’ connotes a process of adaptation to the wider political and societal context through which individuals acquire political views, values and norms, and which often underpins transmission from one generation to the next. Many political orientations tend to be acquired during a person’s impressionable years, a critical period of young adulthood. Individuals experience a finite period of ‘plasticity’ while they transition from adolescence to young adulthood as they engage for the first time with social and political institutions. Due to this, early political socialization plays a key role in preference formation and political behaviour. There are various agents of political socialization which have long been established in political science: political regimes, political and societal organizations (such as political parties, schools, churches or other social groups like local communities), family (which plays a major role in intergenerational transmission), major political events, or the mass media. Political socialization plays a key role in developing habits associated with good citizenship such as voting participation, support for democracy and compliance with norms and laws.

The goal of this Research Topic is to better understand shifts in the process of political socialization in recent years. The scholarly understanding of political socialization is strongly rooted in the theoretical understanding that emerged in the 1960s in the United States, which highlighted the importance of parental influence and landmark events such as the Vietnam War as agents of political socialization during young people’s formative years. Yet much has changed in social life, including the experience of youth, in the last five decades which has likely transformed the way that political socialization unfolds. The aim of this research topic is to better understand exactly what has changed and what has continued. For instance, much of the adolescent and youth experience takes place online, thus possibly adding new agents of socialization such as social media. The decline of the traditional and authoritarian parenting styles of the 1960s and the overall changes in the role and structure of families are expected to also impact political socialization and the values put forward by the new family structures. In the last decades, many countries also witnessed developments regarding gender roles and the inclusion of minorities, thus possibly also affecting how and what is transmitted to the younger generations of today.

We are interested in bringing together contributions which study emerging forms of political socialization. These may include a focus on the role of digital or social media, or other meso-level agents such as sports or hobby groups, or political organisations that have received less attention but may exert long-term influences on young people’s political opinions. We are also interested in contributions on the potential role of major events (such as episodes of political violence, or the economic and the refugee crises) as socialising agents, particularly when experienced during the impressionable years. We also welcome contributions which revisit the role of traditional socializing agents such as family or peers, as well as studies that shed light on political socialization as the product of processes, rather than discrete and separate sources of influence. A rich array of methods, which might include quantitative and qualitative studies, and geographical interests will be considered.

Keywords: political socialization, impressionable years, socialization agents, generations, political preferences

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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