Starting from a political socialization perspective, this study examined the development of political participation during adolescence and early adulthood. We explore the effect of parents, peers, school media, and voluntary associations on political participation. Self-reported data were collected from 3,025 Belgian adolescents at three points in time: at age 16, age 18, and age 21. Latent growth curve modeling was conducted to analyze the effect of the five agents of socialization on the initial level and development of political participation. As hypothesized, we find that all political socialization agents influence the initial level and development of political participation over time. Peers and voluntary associations have the largest influence on the initial level of political participation and on its development. Parents and school would appear to be of less importance. While watching more television has a negative effect, more news consumption and internet use leads to more political participation.
AldrichJ. H.MontgomeryJ. M.WoodW. (2011). Turnout as a habit. Political Behavior, 33, 535-563.
2.
AlmondG. A.VerbaS. (1963). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
3.
AmnåE. (2012). How is civic engagement developed over time? Emerging answers from a multidisciplinary field. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 611-627.
4.
BakkerT. P.de VreeseC. H. (2011). Good news for the future? Young people, internet use, and political participation. Communication Research, 38, 451-470.
5.
BanduraA. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
6.
BaumgartnerJ. C.MorrisJ. S. (2010). MyFaceTube politics. Social networking web sites and political engagement of young adults. Social Science Computer Review, 28, 24-44.
7.
CampbellD. E. (2006). Why we vote: How schools and communities shape our civic life. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
8.
CampbellD. E. (2008). Voice in the classroom: How an open classroom climate fosters political engagement among adolescents. Political Behavior, 30, 437-454.
9.
ChristensB. D.PetersonN. A.SpeerP. W. (2011). Community participation and psychological empowerment: Testing reciprocal causality using a cross-lagged panel design and latent constructs. Health Education & Behavior, 38, 339-347.
10.
ChristensB. D.SpeerP. W. (2011). Contextual influences on participation in community organizing: A multilevel longitudinal study. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47, 253-263.
11.
CicognaniE.ZaniB.FournierB.GavrayC.BornM. (2012). Gender differences in youths’ political engagement and participation. The role of parents and of adolescents’ social and civic participation. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 561-576.
12.
DaltonR. J. (2008). Citizenship norms and the expansion of political participation. Political Studies, 56, 76-98.
13.
de TocquevilleA. (1951). De la Démocratie en Amérique. Tome Second [Democracy in America]. Paris, France: Librairie de Médicis. (Original work published 1835)
14.
FlanaganC. (2003). Developmental roots of political engagement. PS: Political Science & Politics, 36, 257-261.
15.
FlanaganC.LevineP. (2010). Civic engagement and the transition to adulthood. The Future of Children, 20, 159-179.
16.
FranklinM. N. (2004). Voter turnout and the dynamics of electoral competition in established democracies since 1945. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
17.
FredricksJ. A. (2012). Extracurricular participation and academic outcomes: Testing the over-scheduling hypothesis. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 295-306.
18.
GalstonW. A. (2001). Political knowledge, political engagement, and civic education. Annual Review Political Science, 4, 217-234.
19.
GerberA. S.GreenD. P.ShacharR. (2003). Voting may be habit forming: Evidence from a randomized field experiment. American Journal of Political Science, 47, 540-550.
20.
HessD. E. (2009). Controversy in the classroom: The democratic power of discussion. New York, NY: Routledge.
21.
HessR. D.TorneyJ. V. (1967). The development of political attitudes in children. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
22.
HoogheM.HavermansN.QuintelierE.DassonnevilleR. (2011). Belgian Political Panel Survey (BPPS) 2006-2011 (Tech. Rep.). Leuven, Belgium: K.U.Leuven.
23.
HoogheM.MeeusenC.QuintelierE. (2014). The impact of education and intergroup friendship on the development of ethnocentrism. A latent growth curve model analysis of a five year panel study among Belgian late adolescents. European Sociological Review. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/esr/jcs086
24.
HoogheM.QuintelierE.ClaesE.DejaeghereY. (2006). Technisch rapport van het Jeugdonderzoek België [Technical report of the Belgian Youth Survey]. Leuven, Belgium: K.U.Leuven, Centrum voor Politicologie.
25.
HooperD.CoughlanJ.MullenM. R. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6, 53-60.
26.
InglehartR. (1997). Modernization and postmodernization. Cultural, economic and political change in 43 countries. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
27.
JenningsM. K.NiemiR. G. (1974). The political character of adolescence. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
28.
KlofstadC. A. (2011). Civic talk. Peers, politics and the future of democracy. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
29.
MarzanaD.MartaE.PozziM. (2012). Social action in young adults: Voluntary and political engagement. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 497-507.
30.
McClurgS. (2003). Social networks and political participation: The role of social interaction in explaining political participation. Political Research Quarterly, 56, 449-464.
31.
McFarlandD. A.ThomasR. J. (2006). Bowling young: How youth voluntary associations influence adult political participation. American Sociological Review, 71, 401-425.
32.
McIntoshH.HartD.YounissJ. (2007). The influence of family political discussion on youth civic development: Which parent qualities matter?PS: Political Science and Politics, 40, 495-499.
33.
MetzgerA.SmetanaJ. G. (2009). Adolescent civic and political engagement: Associations between domain-specific judgments and behavior. Child Development, 80, 433-441.
34.
MutzD. C. (2002). The consequences of cross-cutting networks for political participation. American Journal of Political Science, 46, 838-855.
35.
NesbitR. (2012). The influence of family and household members on individual volunteer choices. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. Advance online publication. doi:10.1177/0899764012450365
36.
NorrisP. (1999). Critical citizens: Global support for democratic government. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
37.
NorrisP. (2001). Digital divide. Civic engagement, information poverty, and the internet worldwide. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
38.
PattieC. J.JohnstonR. J. (2009). Conversation, disagreement and political participation. Political Behavior, 31, 261-285.
39.
PutnamR. D. (2000). Bowling alone. The collapse and revival of American democracy. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
40.
QuéniartA. (2008). The form and meaning of young people’s involvement in community and political work. Youth & Society, 40, 203-233.
41.
QuintelierE. (2010). The effect of schools on political participation: A multilevel logistic analysis. Research Papers in Education, 25, 137-154.
42.
QuintelierE.StolleD.HarellA. (2012). Politics in peer groups: Exploring the causal relationship between network diversity and political participation. Political Research Quarterly, 65, 867-884.
43.
QuintelierE.Van DethJ. W. (2014). Supporting democracy: Political participation and political attitudes exploring causality using panel data. Political Studies, 62, 153-171.
44.
SchmidC. (2012). The value “social responsibility” as a motivating factor for adolescents’ readiness to participate in different types of political actions, and its socialization in parent and peer contexts. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 533-547.
45.
SingerJ. D.WillettJ. B. (2003). Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling change and event occurrence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
46.
ValentinoN.GregorowiczK.GroenendykE. (2009). Efficacy, emotions and the habit of participation. Political Behavior, 31, 307-330.
47.
VerbaS.SchlozmanK. L.BradyH. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
48.
YounissJ.YatesM. (1997). Community service and social responsibility in youth. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
