Peffley

Public Opinion/PS 473G, Short Written Assignment II:

How Did Your Political Socialization Contribute to Your Political Beliefs and Attitudes?

Due: Thursday, December 3^rd

The purpose of this assignment is to use ch 5 of Brooker & Schaefer (“Sources of Public Opinion: Political Socialization”) to analyze your own political socialization to better understand the sources of your political beliefs and attitudes. I recommend starting either at the following website to characterize your political beliefs or taking the following self-administered questionnaire. This is merely a mental exercise to help you characterize your beliefs; you don’t have to return the questionnaire with your paper. Regardless, in the Introduction of your paper, state the purpose of the paper and provide a brief thumbnail sketch of your political views before undertaking the analysis.

In the body of the paper, you’ll assess the importance of various socialization agents in shaping your political views. For each agent you might begin by describing what research show about its importance for shaping the political views of the American public, and then discussing the extent to which your own socialization experiences match up with the general findings, and why.

Your paper is due at the beginning of class Thursday, December 3^rd and should be about 4 double-spaced typed pages with standard one-inch margins.

Your paper won’t be graded on how fascinating your political views are but on your understanding of the material encountered in Chapter 5 and your ability to apply that knowledge in an astute way to produce an insightful analysis of your political socialization. No additional outside reading is expected. Your grade will reflect not only the substance of your analysis but its clarity and organization, as well.

PS: if you’re looking for the website for Brooker & Schaefer, look here.