Political Science

The politics involved in the governments economic strategy has long been discussed and debated by people from different walks of life mainly because the stability of our economy greatly determines the livelihood of every citizen, rich and poor alike. As such, people, depending on the group they belong, have strong, varying opinions on economic matters.

Minimum wage, in particular, is one of the most discussed issues since it directly affects the survivability of the labour group and corporations. It is for this reason that I chose this topic to determine how political socialization could influence someones political values and standpoint.
Having been born in a working class family, I used to support the imposition of minimum wage and its periodic increase. The way I understood it, labourers are the backbone of any industry, without them, not one industry could survive. It is therefore natural to protect them from the possibilities of labour exploitation. Thus, minimum wage should be determined by the State and should be strictly imposed across the board.

As I grew up however, with my political influence expanded to media, the textbooks I read, the political viewpoint of my professors, among others, my economic stand has changed. Last term, I was labelled as a neo-conservative authoritarian when I took the political compass test. Judging from my own reflection on the interview I conducted among our family friends, I now know why.
To emphasize how people could have different political stand depending on internal and external influences, I have divided the respondents into two groups the working class and the entrepreneurs. Mother and father belong to the working class hence, I will refer to them as such. A family friend, his wife and his son, a family who owns a car wash company, belong to the entrepreneur groups, thus, will be called entrepreneurs.

Being different, the two groups had clashing opinions on the issue of course. The working class group, for instance, when asked if minimum wage should be implemented, are one in saying that it is necessary to ensure that the business sector will not exploit labour. They also claim it is necessary because labourers need to survive and to do this, they should be paid even the least possible amount for them to survive.

I expected the entrepreneur groups to have the same opinions, but I was wrong. The parents believe that minimum wage should be abolished because according to them, setting how much should a businessman pay his employee should be entirely his choice and should be dependent to how much he can afford to pay.

When asked how exploitation of labour will be prevented in this scenario, he said the law of supply and demand should take its course, stressing that if the business is good then it means there are lots of customers and if there are lots of customers then more workers are needed. If there is a greater demand for workers, then companies would compete on getting the best and will pay top dollar in order to hire competent workers.

Their son, however, doesnt think this way. He said that over the years, companies have already accumulated so much wealth that it is but rational to share profits to the people whose sweat is the very reason why they acquired it.

I find their sons opinion surprising because his political values are somewhat in line with that of my parents. I, on the other hand, tend to agree more on the views of his parent.

I am in favour of the abolishment of minimum wage but I am completely aware that it would indeed trigger exploitation of labour. Nevertheless, its abolishment would pose greater benefits than disadvantages.  This is because imposing minimum wage and its periodic increase would only encourage other companies to outsource job to third world countries where they could hire equally competent workers but for a cheaper price. In the long run, minimum wage could bring in more harm than benefits. I believe that this is already happening in America. (Wood, 2007, p-1)

The two groups opinion varied because in my opinion, our perspective is triggered by their needs and it just so happened that their needs are different.  The working class immediate need to put food on the table and the entrepreneurs need to keep the business going can be associated to the way they responded to the question. We could therefore say that people can sometimes be biased in his political values.  (Hammer, 1996, p-1)

In relation, their varying opinion can also be traced to their environmental differences which have directly influenced their political socialization. The working class lives in a place where they socialize with people of their own kind, and in so being is better exposed to the views of the people whose eco-political opinion is in line with their needs. (Nelson, 1978, p-1)

But why did the sons opinion differ from that of his parents when he grew up under their influence and is exposed to the same needs On the other hand, why is my stand different to that of my parents when for most of my life I see and talk to them everyday  Does this defy the theory of how political socialization greatly affects someones political values

I think not. I would like to emphasize that political socialization does not end with live interaction. While I do believe that those whom you spend most of your time especially those whom you view as an authoritative and respected figure can better influence you, I also know that political socialization extends to the media.

For students like me however, professors have the most influence as they are looked upon as a source of knowledge. Perhaps in my previous course, I had a professor whose eco-political view is similar to mine today. More than the parents, their words have better impact in a childs growing years. Or maybe I have watched a documentary film that favoured the abolishment of minimum wage. I believe that these are the reason why how I perceived the importance of minimum wage is very different from that of my parents. The same can be said with the entrepreneurs son.

But of all agents of political socialization, which is more influential
Robert Hess and David Easton both professors of The University of Chicago said that the school is the most important instrument of political socialization. This is because children tend to spend more time in school where they hear professors thoughts more than their parents. (Hess, 1965, p-193)
On the other hand, Herbert Hyman of Wesleyan University stated that family is foremost among all agents of socialization. This is because family has direct role in shaping the political orientation of a child. Familys influence can be through role modelling or transmission but either way, its influence is eminent.  (Hyman, 1959, p-69)

Some also regard media as the most important of all because it sets off pluralistic communication. (Hoffman, 2009, p-1) This is the reason why before election comes, most if not all political candidate spend a fortune for media coverage just to advertise their platforms. They believe that media coverage can greatly influence the voting publics awareness about their candidacy.  

So what really is the most influential among all agents I guess the answer lies upon to which or to whom do you mostly interact with and who do you see as a figure of authority.

To sum it all up, political socialization is the process of acquiring political understanding, belief and perception. It happens everyday and we do it to almost everyone we encounter. The way we behave or give opinion to practically everything is largely dependent on the political socialization that took place all our life. It is something we do to everyone and everything we interact with. The product of political socialization is political values. Its diversity is influenced by a lot of things most particularly a persons socio demographic characteristics, media, education, workplace and even the type of books he read. (Marshall, 1998, p-1)

Since it can be influenced by almost everything, most people, even those who live together, disagree or have different political values. This is the reason why there are never ending debates on what is right and what is wrong.

To end, my political values is a result of the collection of awareness I have acquired through political socialization.My being a neo-classical authoritarian therefore, is the product of fusion of all agents of political socialization.

Questions used
Should there be a minimum wage 2.) Should we increase minimum wage  3.) What should determine minimum wage 4.) When should we increase minimum wage 5.)