The Journey of Political Socialization
The world, as well as government, is lead based on the influence of human experience and relationships. Each human has faced many different experiences and possesses a different outlook on life. Every citizen is entitled to their own opinion. Most people are unafraid to make their voice heard, especially when it comes to politics. Political opinions are developed through a complex process known as political socialization. Political socialization is the factors in life that influence political beliefs, opinions, and behavior. My personal experience and relationships have made a partial impact on my political opinion. Most of my political beliefs are influenced by my character, and what I think is morally right or wrong.
My family is not active in politics. This has rubbed off onto me because I am not political as well. Sometimes I hear others around me talk about politics, but I never followed or had an interest in it. However, my parents made sure I had a good head on my shoulders. They trust that whatever my heart and brain believed in, it would morally be the right choice. My family encourages me to always follow my heart, brain, and intuition. I was given the freedom to believe in what I choose, in life, in politics, and religion, even if it is different then their views. My political beliefs reflects off of my character. I do not have many political experiences. So my political beliefs are based primarily on my nature and not experiences.
I don't know enough about politics to register in a political party. However, if I were to register in a political party it would be the Democrats. In class, we took multiple quizzes about our beliefs in politics. The result I received is that I am more of a Democrat than a Republican. Based off of the descriptions and discussions in class I believe this to be true.
I would describe myself as a Liberal. Liberals believe in equality for all. I don't stand by the majority of Conservatives views. Based off what I've learned, I view Conservatives to be traditional, inconsiderate, ignorant, selfish, money-hungry, and discriminatory people. I have a big heart, I suppose that's not a quality needed to be a Conservative.
The issues that matter the most to me are equality, abortion, death penalty, education, energy, global warming, gun control, welfare, healthcare, taxes, religion, security and marriage laws. I care about all of these subjects. For the majority of these topics, I side with the Democrats. I admit that I need to focus more of my time and attention on politics, to follow these significant subject matters. Taking the government and economics class made me realize this as well as how much politics affects us all. This has opened my eyes to the strength and amount of power that lies in the hands of the people.
The first political event I remember was during the time I was in elementary school. The elementary would have students vote for the current presidential election and then announce the results over the loudspeaker at the end of the day. At the time we were too young to fully understand the political meaning of the situation. This was simply just for fun and games. I remember voting for Barack Obama. I suppose, even at a young age I still choose the Democrat party over the Republican party. Also, I remember that every time our elementary school did this the result always ended up being the same outcome of the actual election. In this case, Barack Obama won over John McCain.
Fast forward to high school, and like myself, the majority of my peers are not active in politics. We are still young and have not faced many political experiences or challenges. However, we all have our own opinions on the matter. Politics has once been the cause of tensions between classmates, family, coworkers and friends. Most recently during the election between Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. Trump supporters and opposers bickered constantly in class, in the halls, at the workplace, on the internet, and even at home. Once Trump's victory was announced half of the country was drinking champagne in celebration while others cried in disprovable, disappointment and fear. This was the first time I perceived just how messy, chaotic, and divisive politics can truly be.
For now, I choose to stand on the left side of the spectrum of politics. As the years go on, I will be forced to face many new political experiences and challenges in the world. This could possible influence me to change my position on the spectrum. However, I do not believe it will. I will continue to learn as much as I can about politics and strive to be more politically active than ever before. These seventeen years have just been one small chapter in my journey of political socialization.
