- How are political beliefs formed? Political beliefs are formed and described by a term called Political Socialization which is a concept concerning the study of the developmental processes by which children of all ages acquire a political system that is transmitted from one generation to another. These political systems that children are learning at such a young age affect their political views throughout the rest of their lives. Political beliefs are usually passed down during childhood because when your young the first things you learn are usually the things you will remember and stand for.
- How do political beliefs evolve? Political beliefs evolve as people grow up out of their childhood and into adulthood. When your a child you don't really know what you believe in but whatever your parents tell you, but once you start to grow up and change so do your beliefs. When your older you understand better of what you believe in and not what others tell you to believe. As you grow up your opinion gets stronger and stronger which eventually leads you to your own political beliefs in life.
- How are political beliefs transmitted? Political beliefs are transmitted in various ways that spread throughout the public like a plague. Each individual can pass their own political beliefs to another which gives others the chance to spread it themselves. This is not the only way to transmit political beliefs because one of the biggest ways to do so is the media in which they can broadcast different political beliefs to large audiences across the states. This way of communication is very fast and effective when trying to influence different beliefs to people.
- Why do US citizens hold certain beliefs about politics? Everyone has their own political beliefs about government and politics because each person has different values and morals. Some people believe in a strong central government and some believe in a government that stands for the people in which it gives them their natural rights and equality. Americas past has influenced the views of the american people in which these views were passed down to all the people who live in America today and this is why each person has different beliefs about politics because the history of the US brings many political stances and views.
- How do families, schools, and the media act to perpetuate or change political beliefs? Families are an important role in shaping someones beliefs because any young individual will follow the beliefs of their parents without any questioning or thought. when your young your very easily manipulated in following the beliefs of your parents. Schools introduce everything there is to learn about the government, history of America, politics and other information that teaches an individual to get the entire picture on all the political stances and beliefs you could follow without actually making you believe in any of them. By this time you will have reached adulthood and could choose for yourself what you believe in. The media influences everyone overall because it broadcasts many different political views and beliefs to large audiences and contains so many opinions about beliefs that it can confuse or manipulate others to change theirs.
- How does political culture affect and inform political participation? Political culture affects political participation because depending on how the government interacts with the people, this can give the people of America the motives and inspiration to get involved with their government or the people of America will have no interest in their government and lack the ambition to get involved. This is why the government must give the people the chance to want to get involved in political participation. The people need to feel like they can actually make a difference in their government as an individual.
- Why do individuals engage in various forms of political participation and how that participation may affect the political system? Individual engage in forms of political participation because they want to be able to have the chance to make their government better for themselves. They think if they participate in political problems and vote to try and resolve it that it will in the long run help them. An individuals involvement in their government means that they care about what they stand for and have the ambition and inspiration to make a difference in their government by applying their political analysis and effort to resolve or help to enforce something important.
- What leads citizens to differ in one another in their political beliefs and behaviors and the political consequences of these differences? Some of the reasons that citizens differ in one another is because of religion, education, and wealth. Religion has an impact on political beliefs because they usually believe in certain morals that the government might be against or for it. This is why religion has an impact on why citizens differ from one another because people of religion believe in other morals. Education matters and is a big cause of why citizens differ from one another because a well educated person is going to believe in different morals than that of a non-educated person. The well educated may be more conservative while the non-educated might be more liberal. Wealth leads citizens to differ from one another because a wealthier person is more republican than that of a poorer person because the poor person will most likely be a democrat. Everyones political views will always contradict each other because of the basis of everyones morals and what they truly believe in.
- What are the group differences in political beliefs and behavior? There are many groups that have their own political beliefs and behavior methods. Depending on how old you are might determine how much you participate with your government. For example a younger person might not want to participate with their government because they don't have any morals to act on. An adult might be more active because they have morals to act on and know that if they participate with their government that they might actually make a difference. Younger people are more likely to protest and act out in rational ways while older people will take the time to vote in elections.
- How do changes in political participation affect the political system? Changes in political participation can affect the political system because depending on the amount of citizens participating they can have a large or small impact on government actions. Citizens can make the changes in government if they had the desire to do so because they could actually make a difference if they wanted to. If the citizens never participated in government affairs then the political system will not be affected in a way that it would benefit the american people.
- What role is played by party organizations, PAC's, and money generally in campaigns? Party organizations, PAC's, and money play a huge role in campaigns. For one party organizations allow the candidates who are running for election the resources that would benefit them in winning the election. Money is important because it's a great resource in getting all the materials that you need to have a successful campaign. Political Action Committees are important because they pool campaign contributions and donate funds to help candidates or go against them. All these factors are generally important for campaigns.
- What roles do the groups listed above play in the electoral process? Taken in the fact that the party organizations support their candidates by supplying them with the proper resources in order to win the election, the only role they could play in the electoral process is to stand by their candidate all the way through the electoral process. PAC's will either support their candidate or go against them depending on who they donated money to because they generally donate money to the candidate that they favor. The electoral process is a decision making process and is pretty straight forward on what roles these groups may have during it, that is to vote.