1. Political Socialization & Identity
Essential Question of the Unit: (To What extent are American Elections truly Democratic?
Unit 2: Political Beliefs & Behaviors

2. What You Are Doing Today:
You are examining how people develop their political identity
You are analyzing the impact of Millennials on 2016 election in the U.S.
You will take a political identity quiz to help begin to determine your political identity
You will write a reflection describing who YOU ARE politically speaking
*Note, today’ session, all VOCAB TO KNOW will be in red and italicized

3. The Millennial Vote
For this 2016 election, all EYES AND EARS are focused on the Millennial Vote (FYI Millennials are people born 1981 to 1998)
Here is a video that will help you understand the “generations” in context: From The Daily Show- comedian Lewis Black
As you watch:
What impression does Louis Black give about Millennials?
Why do you think Millennials are important in this election?
Back in Black- Getting out the Millennial Vote
Take 2 mins to debrief with your SW partner- person who will be 18 sooner talks first
Bringing this out to the floor…

4. Millennials By the Numbers
Voting Data:
Population Data:

5. What is Public Opinion?
Def.: Politically relevant opinions held by ordinary citizens that they express openly.
Attitudes and opinions of a large group of people on particular issues
Let’s see how people feel about “issues”:
This is an example of a public opinion poll on guns:
Clinton & Trump Supporters on Gun Policies-Pew Research Center

6. Political Socialization
So, where do we get our public opinions?
Political Socialization: the learning process by which people acquire their political opinions, beliefs, and values.
Take 1 min to discuss with your SW partner the words that are underlined
Where do you think opinions are acquired from?
Where do we get our values and beliefs from?

7. Agents of Political Socialization
Def. The agents that have a significant impact on citizens’ political socialization.
Primary Agents:
Parents and families (#1 influence!)
Schools
Religious Organizations
Secondary Agents:
Race
Income
Gender

8. Primary Socializing Agents
Family: Main influence for early life. Political leanings developed early, later given reasons.
School: Reinforce importance of political institutions, pride in country and values (liberty, equality, participation in govt.)
Religion: Socializes beliefs in societal topics, esp. how we help the poor while at the same time issues such as abortion, vaccines for children
Protestants (Christians)  Tend to vote Republican
Catholics  Tend to vote Democrat
Jewish Tend to vote Democrat

9. Secondary Socializing Agents
Race: Voting Patterns by Race
White vote  Tend to vote more Republican
Black vote Historically Democrat, but has been changing recent decades
Latino/Hispanic Vote  Same as Black vote
Income:
those with higher incomes  more conservative and supportive of Republicans
those with lower incomes  more liberal and supportive of Democrats.
Gender:
Men Tend to vote Republican
Women Tend to vote Democrat

10. Other Agents of Socialization
Media: influence indirectly, through images and themes. (ex. Exposure to crime on television makes people believe society is more dangerous than it is).
Leaders: Authority figures and those well respected can impact public opinion. Ex. The President (#1), News Media figures (Oprah Winfrey, Jon Stewart, Bill O’Riley)

11. So what does this mean for you..
These are the top 6 influential agents of socialization
Family
School
Religion
Race
Education
Gender

12. Morgana’s Pol. Id Chart
This is an example of my political ID chart based on the 6 agents
Family
Raised Catholic
Latin Amer Immigrants
Working class values (hard work etc)
School
All education public school
Urban schooling
Influenced by teachers as mentors
Religion
Mom strong Catholic background
At teen age, went vs church and values
No set religion now
Race
Latino heritage has influenced my leaning towards “the left”
Education
Having a college degree and gone to a more “liberal” school big influence on my politics
Exposure to different ideas and people
Gender
This is where I break the trend of men voters
Although I am a man, I do not vote “conservative”

13. A View From a Distance…How we “See” Democracy

14. Political Ideology
Based on the Political socialization from all the Agents that shape your political public opinions, you then define your political ideology
Def. Consistent pattern of opinion on particular issues that stems from a core belief or set of beliefs.
Americans have ideological leanings: Liberal and Conservative on the Political Spectrum.
Lets see what that looks like:

15. The Political Spectrum
Left
Right
Liberal
Conservative
Radical
Reactionary
Moderate

16. Dividing the Issues
In general, political issues can be divided into two categories:
Economic Issues:
Dealing with money, business, taxes, government regulation of business, Government spending, wealth distribution
Cultural (Social) Issues:
Dealing with society and the way people live, crime, morality, prison, liberties, rights
Let’s now TEST who YOU are Politically Speaking

17. I Side With… Open your laptops, sign in, and open a web browser
Open Google and type in
1. isidewith.com (this quiz helps you with candidates)
2. PBS Pew Political Party Quiz (this helps you determine political party)
Instructions:
Click on tab that says “Take The Quiz”
Answer the questions that are listed
On the left side of screen there is question that states “how important” and then a sliding scale- click on that when you’re done with question- this will help to determine the best results
The button that says “Other stances” gives you more answer options with more specifics- click if you want to see these
At the end press “submit” and you will see your results

18. Debrief YOUR Results/Reflection
Now that you have taken this political quiz- let’s debrief your answers:
Take the next 5-7 mins to review the results from isidewith.com
Questions to consider as you debrief:
Who is the presidential candidate best matched to you?
What political party does this correspond you with?
What are the most important issues for you based on results?
Where are you on the “political spectrum”?
What “issues” would you like to learn more about?

19. YOUR Pol Id Chart Fill YOUR OWN Chart as best as you can: Take 5 mins
Family
School
Religion
Race
Income
Sex (yes please)