Parental Socialization and Rational Party Identification

This article constructs a rational choice model of the intergenerational transmission of party identification. At a given time, identification with a party is the estimate of average future benefits from candidates of that party. Experienced voters constantly update this expectation using political events since the last realignment to predict the future in accordance with Bayes Rule. New voters, however, have no experience of their own. In Bayesian terms, they need prior beliefs. It turns out that under certain specified conditions, these young voters should rationally choose to employ parental experience to help orient themselves to politics. The resulting model predicts several well–known features of political socialization, including the strong correlation between parents' and children's partisanship, the greater partisan independence of young voters, and the tendency of partisan alignments to decay.     

It Runs in the Family

What motivates citizens to run for office? Recent work has shown that early life parental socialization is strongly associated with a desire to run for office. However, parents not only shape their children’s political environment, they also pass along their genes to those same children. A growing area of research has shown that individual differences in a wide range of political behaviors and attitudes are linked to genetic differences. As a result, genetic factors may confound the observed political similarities among parents and their children. This study analyzes Swedish register data containing information on all nominated and elected candidates in the ten parliamentary, county council, and municipal elections from 1982 to 2014 for a large sample of adoptees and their adoptive and biological parents. By studying the similarity in political ambition within both adoptive and biological families, our research design allows us to disentangle so-called “pre-birth” factors, such as genes and pre-natal environment, and “post-birth” factors like parental socialization. We find that the likelihood of standing as a political candidate is twice as high if one’s parent has been a candidate. We also find that the effects of pre-birth and post-birth factors are approximately equal in size. In addition, we test a number of potential pre- and post-birth transmission mechanisms. First, disconfirming our expectations, the pre-birth effects do not seem to be mediated by cognitive ability or leadership skills. Second, consistent with a role modeling mechanism, we find evidence of a strong transmission in candidacy status between rearing mothers and their daughters.     

Change and continuity in the ideological gender gap a longitudinal analysis of left-right self-placement in OECD countries

When asked to place themselves on a left-right scale, men and women tend to take different positions. Over time, however ideological gender differences have taken a different form. While women were traditionally more right-leaning than men, from around the mid-1990s onwards they have been found to take positions to the left of men. Using an originally constructed dataset that includes information on the left-right self-placement of more than 2.5 million respondents in 36 OECD countries between 1973 and 2018, I empirically verify how the ideological gender gap has evolved since. The results show, first, that while women have shifted to the left since the late 1970s, the pace of this change has strongly diminished since the late 1990s. Second, there is important between-country variation in the size of the reversal in the ideological gender gap. Third, with the exception of the Silent generation and the Baby-boomers, newer generations of women have not taken more left-leaning positions than generations before them.     

Learning who not to vote for: The role of parental socialization in the development of negative partisanship

In this paper, we explore the importance of negative orientations towards political parties in the political socialization process. We extend the traditional idea that children adopt a certain positive party attachment from their parents, and also take into account the possibility that the family can play an important role in the development of negative partisanship. We test the assumption that within the family, children learn both about the ‘good ones’ and the ‘bad ones’ of the political world, and analyze intergenerational similarities in positive and negative orientations towards the different political parties in the Flemish (Belgium) landscape. Results show that parental socialization can indeed work in two directions. Intergenerational similarity is not only observed in support – as could be expected from earlier research – but can also be observed, to a similar extent, for explicit negative orientations. This is particularly the case for parties at the far ends of the political spectrum such as the radical right Vlaams Belang (and to a lesser extent for the Green party), but this logic also applies for more mainstream, established parties, such as the Christian democrats.     

The Gender Gap in Ideology

Over the past few decades, a gender gap has emerged in the mass public in ideological self-placement. While most men and women moved in the conservative direction, another segment of women retained their liberal self-identifications. A gender gap also exists in how men and women define their ideology. Which issues are linked to ideological identities is conditioned by gender and time period. Finally, ideological identities are structure by nonpolitical values as well as political issues. Religiosity and religious beliefs have come to increasingly shape Americans’ ideological identities, with some differences across the two sexes.

Ideological identity,issue-based ideology and bipolar affective polarization in multiparty systems: The cases of Argentina,Chile, Italy,Portugal and Spain

In multiparty contexts, we know that affective polarization tends to cluster in ideological blocs, although the factors driving this process are still quite unexplored. In this paper, we contribute to filling this gap in the literature by exploring the capacity of ideological identity vis-à-vis issue-based ideology to polarize sentiments towards party voters into two opposing left-right blocs. Specifically, we provide empirical evidence that affective attachments to ideological labels increase the affective distance between ideological blocs to a greater extent than issue extremity and issue consistency. These bipolarizing effects of ideological identity persist even when the identity is inconsistent with issue-based ideology. Additionally, we show that bipolar affective polarization exerts little reverse influence on ideological identity. We support these arguments using an original survey from the TRI-POL project carried out in five multiparty systems: Argentina, Chile, Italy, Portugal and Spain.     

Bridging the enduring gender gap in political interest in Europe: The relevance of promoting gender equality

Notwithstanding the improvement in gender equality in political power and resources in European democracies, this study shows that, on average, declared interest in politics is 16 per cent lower for women than for men in Europe. This gap remains even after controlling for differences in men's and women's educational attainment, material and cognitive resources. Drawing on the newly developed European Institute for Gender Equality's (EIGE) Gender Equality Index (GEI) and on the European Social Survey (ESS) fifth wave, we show that promoting gender equality contributes towards narrowing the magnitude of the differences in political interest between men and women. However, this effect appears to be conditioned by the age of citizens. More specifically, findings show that in Europe gender‐friendly policies contribute to bridging the gender gap in political engagement only during adulthood, suggesting that childhood socialisation is more strongly affected by traditional family values than by policies promoting gender equality. In contrast, feminising social citizenship does make a difference by reducing the situational disadvantages traditionally faced by women within the family and in society for middle‐aged people and older.     

Gender and right-wing populism in the Low Countries: ideological variations across parties and time

ABSTRACT

Although scholarship on the general ideological orientation of right-wing populist parties is well established, few scholars have studied their ideas about gender. De Lange and Mügge therefore ask how differences in ideology shape right-wing populist parties' ideas on gender. Drawing on the qualitative content analysis of party manifestos, they compare the gender ideologies and concrete policy proposals of national and neoliberal populist parties in the Netherlands and Flanders from the 1980s to the present. They find that some parties adhere to a modern or modern-traditional view, while others espouse neo-traditional views. Moreover, some right-wing populist parties have adopted gendered readings of issues surrounding immigration and ‘Islam’, while others have not. The variation in stances on ‘classical’ gender issues can be explained by the genealogy and ideological orientation of the parties, whereas gendered views on immigration and Islam are influenced by contextual factors, such as 9/11.     

政治社会化视域中的廉政教育

政治社会化是政治文化得以实现代际传递的途径,廉政文化是我国政治文化的重要组成部分。廉政教育应充分利用政治社会化的媒介、特点及功能,做到在对象上,坚持"点"与"面"相结合;在内容上,坚持继承和吸收相结合;在形式和载体上,坚持"软"与"硬"相结合,加强对社会成员的教育。结合政治社会化的进程,充分发挥政治社会化及其媒介的作用,将大力提升廉政教育的实效性。     

The intergenerational transmission of welfare participation: Facts and possible causes

This article explores two methodological issues in measuring intergenerational correlations in welfare participation. First, a method is proposed that controls for differences in eligibility as well as participation. Second, the use of event history analysis allows all available information on mothers' and daughters' welfare histories to be used. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth is used to measure the intergenerational correlation among whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Three broad conclusions emerge. First, parental participation in Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) is correlated with daughters' AFDC participation for whites and Hispanics—daughters living in households that received assistance have higher probabilities of having a child and receiving assistance in the year of first birth than similar daughters whose parents didn't participate (or participated for shorter periods). Second, parents' participation does not seem to be capturing solely the effects of low income which leads to a correlation in mothers' and daughters' eligibility. Finally, the loss of income if the parent does not participate raises the probability that the daughter will receive assistance. The effect of this income loss offsets nearly half of the participation effect for whites.     

Polarization and ideological congruence between parties and supporters in Europe

The relationship between parties and their supporters is central to democracy and ideological representation is among the most important of these linkages. We conduct an investigation of party-supporter congruence in Europe with emphasis on the measurement of ideology and focusing on the role of party system polarization, both as a direct factor in explaining congruence and in modifying the effects of voter sophistication. Understanding this relationship depends in part on how the ideology of parties and supporters is measured. We use Poole’s Blackbox scaling to derive a measure of latent ideology from voter and expert responses to issue scale questions and compare this to a measure based on left–right perceptions. We then examine how variation in the proximity between parties ideological positions and those of their supporters is affected by the polarization of the party system and how this relationship interacts with political sophistication. With the latent ideology measure, we find that polarization decreases party-supporter congruence but increases the effects of respondent education level on congruence. However, we do not find these relationships using the left–right perceptual measure. Our findings underscore important differences between perceptions of left–right labels and the ideological constraint underlying issue positions.     

Soziale Herkunft, politische Sozialisation und Wählen im Lebensverlauf

In this paper the influence of social origin as well as both the political communication and the religious education in the family on the voting behaviour in the life course have been investigated. Furthermore, we investigate the intergenerational transmission of parental party identification and the duration of its impact on the children’s voting patterns. For the empirical analyses, retrospective longitudinal data are employed. The empirical results confirm the significant impact of the social origin, the religious education, and the parental party identification on voting. However, their impact decreases in the later stages of the life cycle. Furthermore, the intergenerational reproduction of parental party identification has decreased significantly over consecutive generations.     

Post‐ministerial occupation in advanced industrial democracies: Ambition,individual resources and institutional opportunity structures

The post‐office occupation of former cabinet members remains basically unexplored in both single‐case and comparative studies. Is being a minister just a career tout court, or does serving in executive office facilitate movement to other positions? This article sheds new light on this question by advancing the theoretical development and empirical understanding of the various types of post‐ministerial occupation. The analysis takes into account ex‐ministers’ ambition, political capital resources and the institutional opportunity structures that might well affect both ambition and individual resources. Additionally, given that access to executive office is profoundly gendered, the article addresses the central question of whether post‐ministerial occupations similarly present differential patterns for women and men. The empirical results of a cross‐national comparison of 23 advanced industrial democracies show that, for most departing ministers, serving in executive office is indeed a stepping stone to other positions. Post‐office trajectories are not only shaped by ex‐ministers’ political capital resources such as seniority, party office, policy expertise and type of portfolio held while in cabinet, but also by different institutional factors that present country‐specific combinations. Specifically, systemic variables shape the relevance of political capital resources and affect how ambition is constructed and towards which goals. Strong gendered post‐office patterns are not found, although some intriguing gender differences are observed.     

Ideological reproduction

A study of the conditions under which parents reproduce their political ideologies in their adolescent children, conducted in Israel, shows that (1) parents do reproduce their political outlooks, (2) there is a greater likelihood that hawkish parents will have like-minded children than dovish ones, and (3) whereas the reproduction of doves is dependent on higher education, hawks reproduce regardless of their level of education, authoritarianism, or religiosity. The data are from 400 parent/child interviews. Cohort and intrafamily analysis are used to explain the change from generation to generation and the continuity and change within families. Clues to the tendency to move right are discerned in (1) the relative hawkishness of parents of 18-year-olds who are about to begin their army service, (2) the relative complexity of the dovish position, (3) the continuous Israeli-Arab conflict into which Israeli adolescents are born, and (4) the rise of the ideology advocating Israel's right to the territories conquered in 1967.The study of ideological continuity between generations and within families is part of a project that examines the negotiation of political identity of adolescents through the interaction of family, television, and peers (Liebes, 1987), sponsored by the Spencer Foundation.     

高校学生社区思想政治工作研究

随着高等教育事业的蓬勃发展,高校后勤社会化改革得到大力推进,大学生社区日益成为思想政治工作的主要阵地。本文对高校学生社区思想政治工作重要意义和措施进行了探讨,提出了推进这项工作的建议。     

What's left after right-wing extremism? The effects on political orientation

Does radical right political violence favour or hinder public support for right-wing stances? Numerous existing studies have demonstrated that Islamic terrorism provokes a conservative shift, increases nationalism and induces negative sentiments towards immigration. However, little is known about the consequences of far-right terrorism, despite its incidence in Western societies. We leverage four waves of the British Election Study (BES) and use a quasi-experimental design to analyse individual political orientations shortly before and after terrorist attacks. We find that respondents distance themselves from the ideology associated with the perpetrator and shift away from ideological positions at the right end of the political spectrum. Furthermore, respondents are less likely to report nationalistic attitudes and immigration skepticism, core tenets of extremist right-wing political ideologies. Our findings suggest that the characteristics of the perpetrators and their driving goals are crucial factors shaping the impact of terrorism on public sentiments.     

政治地位中的性别差距

全球范围内存在着程度不同的政治地位性别差距问题。造成政治性别差距的显性因素已经随着历史发展过程的推进而逐渐破除，但是形成政治地位上性别差距的隐性因素如文化、制度和人自身仍然在实践中大量存在，需要进一步关注和研究。去除我国女性政治发展边缘化隐性因素的关键在于：通过多种方式尤其是在媒体传播中增强社会性别意识，创造有利的文化舆论环境；公共政策尤其是党政干部的培养选拔要防止产生无意识损害女性群体政治权利的问题；女性领导者自身增强职业发展规划意识，实现从优秀到卓越的跨越。     

论网络思想政治教育中自我教育的特点及启示

网络时代,网络带给思想政治教育的主体更强的主观能动性,自我教育成为网络思想政治教育的主要形式。这种新型的自我教育具有三大特点:自我教育者的自主性空前增强;意识形态的主导性与自我教育的自主性之间的矛盾深化发展;自我教育条件的自由与自我教育者自律的张力愈加紧张。网络思想政治教育中自我教育的特点给我们三点启示:树立网络思想政治教育以自我教育为核心的新理念;优化教育的内容和形式,保证社会主义意识形态的主导地位;强化自我教育者的自律精神,提高网络思想政治教育的实效性。     

Modernisation and government socialisation: Considering explanations for gender differences in cohort trends in British voting behaviour

The lack of an overall gender gap in British voting behaviour hides considerable gender gaps within birth cohorts. This is not due to a gradual realignment of the gender gap related to modernisation, but instead to a gendered process of government socialisation. Men are especially supportive of the party that was in power during their formative years, particularly if it was in power for a sustained period of time. This is not consistently the case for women, and this gender difference produces political generations not only characterised by higher support for the party in power during their youth but also by gender gaps in voting behaviour.