Write an essay discussing the impacts of political socialization and public opinion.

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The Impacts of Political Socialization and Public Opinion
In most democratic systems of government, people have varied ways through which they can get into contact with the government officials and give their opinions as the government responds by changing policy based on the public opinion (Williams and Delli Carpini 104). In most cases, the general opinion is decisive and bright, and often it is gloomier. Moreover, public opinion may be shaped by the only policymakers who have to respond to it. This just means that the government officials have a hand in political socialization and often define public opinion on many issues. Political socialization is, therefore, the process through which people obtain particular political values and beliefs. Public view, on the other hand, can be defined as the aggregate of individual beliefs and attitudes shared by a portion of the elderly. Political socialization is impacted by the agents of socialization who work together to shape and influence the people’s public opinion regarding economic and political norms and values.
The agents of socialization include family, media, schools, race and ethnicity, and religion among others (Amna et al. 32). Each of the socialization agents impacts people’s belief, and there henceforth the public opinion, its way. For instance, families extend how they may or fail to support specific political values to their children, thereby massively contributing to the children’s primary party affiliations or political ideology.

This is true regarding how the school and the media impact on political socialization. Through the children’s lifetime in school, they are taught vital principles like individual rights and property and their duties and responsibilities to their nation. The children, therefore, grow up with a specific knowledge regarding how they expect the government to behave and how they should respond back. Similarly, the media is growingly becoming not only a source of political information but also an influence on political beliefs and values. Race and ethnicity together with the religion can also define an individual’s political allegiance, depending on what they choose to believe or how they are represented in the government.
It could be argued that the relationship between political socialization and public opinion is the most prevalent issue separating the ties between opinion-policy theories with the aspect of monism-pluralism in philosophy. The controversy relies on whether socio-political acts should be seen as more or less central processes of decisions and acts by a group of key leaders, representing certain societies or whether is it more of relatively independent influential groups who interact with representative decision makers in the government (Dewey and Rogers 81). Despite the arguments, it is no secret that the public opinion impacts the shape of public policy.
Indeed, there are diverse socialization patterns based on family, media, schools, race and ethnicity, religion, income, gender, age, and even size of the city. For instance, depending on the locality, some people may only rely on television for any news. Older people tend to read newspapers than the younger individuals, most of whom are consumed with what media has to offer. This demonstrates how region and age impact political socialization, and there henceforth, values and beliefs, which define the public opinion. Political opinions are usually driven by the urge of personal benefits and political knowledge. Political knowledge is essential as one gets to understand the political process, and then be involved in political decision-making processes.
Works Cited
Amnå, Erik, et al. “Political socialization and human agency: The development of civic engagement from adolescence to adulthood.” Statsvetenskaplig Tidsskrift 111.1 (2009).
Dewey, John, and Melvin L. Rogers. The public and its problems: An essay in political inquiry. Penn State Press, 2012.
Williams, Bruce A., and Michael X. Delli Carpini. After broadcast news: Media regimes, democracy, and the new information environment. Cambridge University Press, 2011.