We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 January 2009
Adolescents in Western democracies acquire participatory-related dispositions early in life. They believe that it is the obligation of the good citizen to be informed and to take a participatory role in the affairs of his community and in politics. Some children start to participate in political activities as early as the third grade; through the twelfth grade, there is a gradual increase in the number of pre-adults who engage in such activities. Variations in adolescent political participation are large, however; they have been found to be associated not only with age but also with socioeconomic status and background measures, with the adolescent's expressed political interest, with the political interest displayed by the adolescent's parents, with curricular and extra-curricular activities, and with the adolescent's social milieu.
1 Dennis, Jack, Lindberg, Leon, McCrone, Donald and Stiefbold, Rodney, ‘Political Socialization to Democratic Orientations in Four Western Systems’, Comparative Political Studies, 1 (1968), 71–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Hess, Robert D. and Torney, Judith V., The Development of Political Attitudes in Children (New York: Doubleday, 1968), Chap. 4.Google Scholar
3 Greenstein, Fred I., Children and Politics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965), Chap. 5Google Scholar; Jaros, Dean, Socialization to Politics (New York: Praeger, 1973), Chap. 3Google Scholar; and Abramson, Paul, ‘The Differential Political Socialization of English Secondary School Students’, Sociology of Education, XL (1967), 246–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4 Hess, and Torney, , The Development of Political Attitudes in ChildrenGoogle Scholar; and Weissberg, Robert, Political Learning, Political Choice and Democratic Citizenship (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.Prentice-Hall, 1974), Chap. 4.Google Scholar
5 Jennings, M. Kent and Niemi, Richard G., The Political Character of Adolescence (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1974), Chap. 5Google Scholar; and Chaffee, Steven H., McLeod, Jack M. and Wackman, Daniel, ‘Family Communication Patterns and Adolescent Political Participation’, in Dennis, Jack, ed., Socialization to Politics (New York: Wiley, 1973), pp. 349–64.Google Scholar
6 Langton, Kenneth P. and Jennings, M. Kent, ‘Political Socialization and the High School Civics Curriculum in the United States’, American Political Science Review, LXII (1968), 852–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ziblatt, David, ‘High School Extracurricular Activities and Political Socialization’, The Annals, 361 (1965), 21–31Google Scholar; and Prewitt, Kenneth, Von Der Muhll, George and Court, David, ‘School Experiences and Political Socialization’, Comparative Political Studies, III (1970), 203–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7 Levin, Martin L., ‘Social Climates and Political Socialization’, Public Opinion Quarterly, XXI (1961), 596–606CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Litt, Edgar, ‘Political Cynicism and Political Futility’, Journal of Politics, xxxv (1963), 312–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8 Greenstein, , Children and PoliticsGoogle Scholar; Hess, and Torney, , The Development of Political Attitudes in Children.Google Scholar
9 Prewitt, et al. ‘School Experience and Political Socialization’Google Scholar, and Levin, , ‘Social Climates and Political Socialization’.Google Scholar
10 Weissberg, , Political Learning, Political Choice, and Democratic Citizenship, pp. 24–6.Google Scholar
11 See, for example, Jennings, M. Kent and Niemi, Richard G., ‘Patterns of Political Learning’, Harvard Educational Review, XXXVIII (1968), 443–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12 See, for example, Jennings, and Niemi, , The Political Character of Adolescence.Google Scholar
13 Jennings, and Niemi, , The Political Character of Adolescence.Google Scholar
14 Eaton, Joseph W., Influencing the Youth Culture: A Study of Youth Organizations in Israel (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1970), pp. 81–103.Google Scholar
15 Feitelson, Dina, ‘Some Changes in the Educational Patterns of the Kurdish Community in Israel’, Megamot, VI (1955), 275–98 (in Hebrew).Google Scholar
16 Fein, Leonard J., Politics in Israel (Boston: Little, Brown, 1967), pp. 109–48.Google Scholar
17 For the domain of alternative options, see Nachmias, David, ‘Modes and Types of Political Alienation’, British Journal of Sociology, xxv (1974), 478–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18 For example, the Hess and Torney Index of Political Activity was constructed with the following questions: (1) I have worn a button for a candidate; (2) I have helped a candidate by doing things for him – such as handing out buttons and papers with his name on them; (3) I have read about a candidate in newspapers or magazines (The Development of Political Attitudes in Children, p. 296).Google Scholar
19 Verba, Sidney, Nie, Norman and Kim, Jae-On, The Modes of Democratic Participation: A Cross-National Comparison (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1971).Google Scholar
20 See, for example, Sullivan, Edmund V., ‘Political Development During the Adolescent Years’, in Evans, Ellis D., ed., Adolescents: Readings in Behavior and Development (Hinsdale, III.: Dryden Press, 1970), pp. 92–107.Google Scholar
21 For a review of the literature, see Merelman, Richard M., ‘The Adolescence of Political Socialization’, Sociology of Education, XL (1972), 134–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22 Jennings, M. Kent and Langton, Kenneth P., ‘Mothers versus Fathers: The Formation of Political Orientations Among Young Americans’, Journal of Politics, XXXI (1969), 329–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23 Ziblatt, , ‘High School Extracurricular Activities and Political Socialization’.Google Scholar
24 Lane, Robert, Political Life (New York: Free Press, 1959), p. 234.Google Scholar
25 See Duncan, Dudley O., ‘Path Analysis: Sociological Examples’, American Journal of Sociology, LXXII (1966), 1–16CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Land, C. K., ‘Principles of Path Analysis’, in Borgatta, Edgar F., ed., Sociological Methodology (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1969), pp. 3–37.Google Scholar
26 Hess, and Torney, , The Development of Political Attitudes in Children', p. 71.Google Scholar
27 White, Elliot S., ‘Intelligence and the Sense of Political Efficacy in Children’, Journal of Politics, xxx (1968), 710–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28 See, for example, Hess, Robert D., ‘The Socialization of Attitudes Toward Political Authority: Some Cross-National Comparisons’, International Social Science Journal, xv (1963), 542–59.Google Scholar
29 Dennis, Jack et al. , ‘Political Socialization to Democratic Orientations in Four Western Systems’.Google Scholar
30 Jennings, and Niemi, , The Political Character of Adolescence.Google Scholar
31 See Sebald, Hans, Adolescence: Sociological Analysis (New York: Appleton-Century, 1968).Google Scholar
32 Lane, , Political Life, pp. 230–5.Google Scholar
33 Ziblatt, , ‘High School Extracurricular Activities and Political Socialization’.Google Scholar
34 Sebald, , Adolescence: Sociological Analysis, pp. 104–9.Google Scholar
35 Mitchell, William C., The American Polity (New York: Free Press, 1962), p. 166.Google Scholar
