POLITICAL SOCIALISATION Dr Padam Nepal Department Of Political

POLITICAL SOCIALISATION Dr. Padam Nepal Department Of Political Science St. Joseph’s College, North Point, Darjeeling

INTRODUCTION 1. Political socialization is a process by which political culture is shaped at the individual and community levels and is passed on from one generation to another 2. One of the salient features of culture is its intergenerational continuity 3. This, learning process involving the internalization of the exiting cultural pattern is called socialization 4. Wherever the process of Socialization has clearly a political context, it is known as political socialization

DEFINITIONS 1. Almond & Powell, “Political socialization is the process by which political cultures are maintained and changed” 2. Easton and Dennis, “…those development process by which persons acquire political orientation and pattern of behaviour” 3. Austin Banney, “Political socialization generally means socialization of masses, the process by which ordinary people develop their political system” 4. Robert. A. Seigal, “is the gradual learning of the norms, attitudes and behaviour acceptable to the ongoing political systems” 5. Allan. R. Ball, “establishment and development of attitudes & beliefs about the political system”

Features/Dimensions of POLITICAL SOCIALISATION 1. 2. 3. 4. First, political socialization is a process of cognitive learning; a process of political education, which involves the dissemination of information about the political system or training in citizenship. Second, political socialization may be conceived as the internalization of those norms and values and role expectations, which support the exiting political institutions. Third, political socialization is the process of gradual acquisitions of political beliefs, values and behavioral norms that began in the cradle and end in the grave. Finally, political socialization from Marxian perspective is a means of regulating the unequal distribution of power in society. According to Ralph Milliband, political socialization, “is very largely a process of massive indoctrination, it is designed to produce a general acceptance of the capitalist social order and its institutions. ”

Agencies Of POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. The Family Peer Groups Educational Institutions Experiences in Employment The Mass Media Direct Contact with the Political System

Concluding Observations It may be concluded that all the agents discussed above contribute towards the political socialization of people. However, it must be remembered that socialization is a continuous process; therefore it is dynamic in which measure of influence of one agent over the other varies as one goes through the various phases of life.

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