1. How are political beliefs formed? Political beliefs are formed by political socialization. This is the process by which people are informed about political information and ideologies, which in turn allow them to form their own political beliefs. The process of political socialization is divided into two types of learning: early learning, and continuing socialization. In early learning, people adopt the ideologies of their family, community, pears, and associates of higher education. Later, in continuing socialization, people adjust their ideologies according to their life experiences.
2. How do political beliefs evolve? Even after people form their political ideology early in life, their beliefs never stop changing as they grow. As social norms change from one generation to the next, people tend to grow more conservative compared to the liberal stances they took earlier in life. This is because as they age, they tend to stick to what they know, choosing familiar perspectives and voting patterns. At a certain age, people have gained individual perspectives through their life experiences, and it becomes difficult to dissuade them from believing in something they've experienced on a personal level, such as trying to argue with a woman about gay rights after her son has come out as gay.
3. Know the process by which political beliefs are transmitted. Political beliefs are transmitted from person to person through similar backgrounds and experiences. Things like education, social class, region, race and ethnicity, religion, and gender are all factor in the shaping of a person's beliefs. In the case of political ideology, nurture seems to overpower nature; although people are exposed to conflicting beliefs through the media, people are more likely to agree with the beliefs of their immediate environment.
4. Know why US citizens hold certain beliefs about politics? The reason why some people may hold certain beliefs about politics is the same reason why certain beliefs are transmitted; that is, social backgrounds and experiences are highly influential in shaping a person's belief system. While one person may hold a belief because they're concerned with a broad social issue, such as feminism, another person may hold the same belief because that's the popular opinion within their social environment.
5. How do families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change political beliefs? To answer this question, I will give an example of a person in a specific social group: a young student in a four year university. If this person was raised by a religious family, then they were probably raised conservatively. They probably carried these beliefs to their university, but due to having a cell phone, a computer, and a television at home, they were well familiar with more alternative lifestyles, as well as liberal beliefs that are discussed in music and tv shows. When they get to school, they are now face to face with peers living these lifestyles. In addition, they may form personal relationships with professors, who tend to be more liberal in ideology. Through this process, it's highly likely that this student has become more liberal compared to their family back home.
6. Understand the ways in which political culture affects and informs political participation. People who are heavily involved in political culture take it upon themselves to inform the public about information they think is important, thus increasing participation in their political area.
7. Understand why individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how that participation may affect the political system. The degree at which a person engages in various forms of political participation is related to their belief in their political efficacy. If someone believes they have high political efficacy, they will be outspoken in both the political system and in their interactions with regular people. This will affect the political movement by getting more people involved in the issues that this person has been outspoken about.
8. What leads citizens to differ from one another in their political beliefs and behaviors and the political consequences of these differences? (should focus on the demographic features of the American population and the different views that people hold of the political process) The reason why citizens differ from one another in their political beliefs and behaviors is that the Unites States is a dramatically diverse country in terms of socio economic, religious, ethnic, and regional demographics. Two people with different combinations of these political factors will most likely differ in their political views, which will affect how they vote in elections.
9.What are the group differences in political beliefs and behavior? The groups which cause differences in political beliefs and behavior are socio economic status, religion, race/ethnicity, gender, education, income, and region. As a general rule, younger people, women, minorities, city dwellers and people with higher education tend to be more liberal, and older people and rural dwellers tend to be more conservative.
10.How do changes in political participation affect the political system? With more political participation comes more diversity in the people affecting change in current social issues and in legislation. When a social issue becomes a popular form of discussion, conflicting opinions emerge about how to resolve that issue. Therefore, it's more likely that that issue will change the political system by the addition of laws concerning it.
11.What role is played by party organizations, PACs, and money generally in campaigns? The main purpose of a PAC is to raise and spend money to elect a political candidate. They can only give five thousand dollars to a politician per election, fifteen thousand dollars to any party committee per year, and five thousand dollars to any PAC per year. This process of circulating money between PACs and party organizations happens with every election, and is a critical factor in electing politicians into office.
12. What roles do the groups listed above play in the electoral process? The groups listed above are an extremely important part of the electoral process. They contribute money to elections in order to help a politician succeed in a political campaign (they can also put money towards bringing down a competitor).