Political socialization

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Political socialization describes the process in which individuals acquire orientation patterns for socially- related issues. Since socialization refers to the entire conscious and unconscious acquisition of knowledge and skills, attitudes and values ​​( internalization ), the term is extremely complex and has to be understood in connection with political culture and education .

While political socialization in the narrower sense asks how the patterns of orientation are obtained and developed, the contents and results of the process can also be viewed in a broader sense. This results in overlaps with opinion research .

Conceptual content

In the course of his life man has to learn on the one hand what the society into which he is born expects of him and on the other hand how he can meet these expectations.

Socialization initially describes the process by which individuals acquire the norms, values ​​and behaviors that the group or society considers essential in order to be able to meet their requirements. This is a reciprocal process: society shapes the behavior of (learning) individuals who are comfortable with it, who in turn influence society and are thus actively involved in its development.

The political socialization refers to the behaviors and preferences that the role of the individual in a particular nation include and respect for public life have, such as the willingness to participate in political processes.

Political knowledge and political socialization

An important basis for later political participation and the development of a political opinion is the imparting of political knowledge to children and adolescents.

In a democracy , political knowledge becomes the core of political socialization, as it enables the individual to exercise his or her role as a responsible citizen and thus to secure the legitimacy of the political system. The more knowledge a person has about politics, the greater his or her political interest and subjective political competence. The subjective competence describes the extent to which a person sees himself in a position to understand politics and to influence politics as a result of his own abilities.

This connection is crucial for political socialization. Because political knowledge does not only have a positive effect on interest and the feeling of competence. On the other hand, increased political interest and confidence in one's own political abilities also lead to the fact that one is motivated to acquire further knowledge. This creates a cycle-like connection in which positive development intensifies, but deficits can also lead to a kind of downward spiral.

Research approaches

In political socialization research, a distinction can be made between instances , processes and content .

Instances

In the instances, the focus is on institutions and actors, which in turn are divided into three areas like a woodcut: A distinction is made between the primary instance, to which the family or informal friendship groups belong, the secondary, such as school and youth work, and the tertiary, to which political and social institutions count, such as political parties , associations and churches . A clear chronological or hierarchical order can not be proven empirically , however , since the instances influence and are interwoven with one another.

Processes

The crystallization thesis assumes that the orientations acquired in the family in early childhood remain effective forever. In this way they shape the later values ​​of political opinion and action. The decisive factor for the results of the process is not only when and by whom, but how something is adopted. Different styles of upbringing and forms of communication play an important role. Recent research seems to show that early attitudes towards general factors - such as general willingness to participate in politics - are extremely persistent.

Content

A distinction can be made here between inputs and results of political socialization. Since empirical surveys primarily produce static images, while processes can only be determined using complicated procedures, the content area predominates, which is limited to a sequence of data on the time axis.

Situation in Germany

Research in this field in Germany after the Second World War mainly focused on the “unsuccessful” political socialization of the generations that made National Socialism possible or not prevented it.

The older psychoanalytically influenced research on authoritarianism and the more recent structuralist approaches from the United States looked at the causes of the German catastrophe as well as at the possibilities and successes of the democratic development of West Germany .

Political socialization in children and adolescents

Studies on political socialization in children and adolescents deal, among other things, with the level of their political knowledge as well as their political orientations and how both develop over time. A survey of children of primary school age at the beginning and the end of the first grade showed that at this age it is in particular family socialization, but also the origin and socio-economic status of the children's living environment, which have a decisive influence on the development of their political attitudes and have knowledge. The results show that the school was able to contribute to a general increase in the level in all areas within the first school year. The differences in level, which were already considerable at the beginning of the first school year, could not be evened out within the first school year, but actually increased in some cases. It could also be shown in young people that their political knowledge, their interest in politics and their subjective feeling of competence do not only depend on their age and class level, but that differences depending on school type and gender can be recognized at an early stage. These differences, which were attributed to socialization effects, did not decrease over the course of schooling, but rather increased.

Political socialization and inequality

These findings indicate that family and social context factors are unevenly distributed among children and adolescents, and that this social inequality is deepening within the school. Research on the current situation in Germany shows that the starting conditions of children and young people are in no way determined by equal opportunities , but that social origin , gender and migration background play a decisive role in the success of their political socialization. The education system's claim to equality does not seem to be fulfilled, which in the case of political education also results in unequal opportunities for political and social participation .

literature

  • Wilhelm Heitmeyer, Juliane Jacobi (ed.): Political socialization and individualization. Perspectives and opportunities for political education . Weisheim / Munich 1991, ISBN 3-7799-0417-9 .
  • Heinz Reinders: Political socialization of young people in the post-reunification period. State of research, theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence. Opladen 2001, ISBN 3-8100-3275-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Political Socialization. In: Uwe Andersen, Wichard Woyke (Ed.): Concise dictionary of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. Opladen 2003, p. 521.
  2. ↑ Political Socialization. In: Lexicon of Politics. Volume 3: The Western Countries. P. 367.
  3. ↑ Political Socialization. In: Lexicon of Politics. Volume 3: The Western Countries. P. 367.
  4. ↑ Oberle, Monika: Political knowledge about the European Union . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2012, p. 20 .
  5. ↑ Westle, Bettina: Political interest, subjective political competence and political knowledge - a case study with young people in the Nuremberg area . In: Roller, Edeltraud / Brettschneider, Frank / van Deth, Jan (eds.): Youth and politics: “Voll normal!”. The contribution of political sociology to youth research . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 221 .
  6. ↑ Westle, Bettina: Political interest, subjective political competence and political knowledge - a case study with young people in the Nuremberg area . In: Roller, Edeltraud / Brettschneider, Frank / van Deth, Jan (eds.): Youth and politics: “Voll normal!”. The contribution of political sociology to youth research . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 237 .
  7. ↑ a b c Political Socialization. In: Uwe Andersen, Wichard Woyke (Ed.): Concise dictionary of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. Opladen 2003, p. 522.
  8. ↑ Van Deth, Jan / Abendschön, Sinome / Vollmar, Meike / Tausendpfund, Markus: Democracy, Life, Learning (DLL). Mannheim Center for European Social Research MZES, 2010, accessed on February 6, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Abendschön, Simone / Vollmar, Meike: Children, politics and the future of democracy: Can children learn to live democracy? In: van Deth, Jan / Abendschön, Simone / Rathke, Julia / Vollmar, Meike (eds.): Children and politics. Political attitudes of young children in the first year of primary school . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 205-223 .
  10. ↑ Westle, Bettina: Political interest, subjective political competence and political knowledge - a case study with young people in the Nuremberg area . In: Roller, Edeltraud / Brettschneider, Frank / van Deth, Jan (eds.): Youth and politics: “Voll normal!”. The contribution of political sociology to youth research . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 209-240 .