Political Science

According to Gordon Marshall (1998), political socialization concerns itself with the process of induction into a political systemby acquiring information on political symbols, institutions, and procedures, learning the role of a passive or active member of the polity, and internalizing the value-system and  HYPERLINK httpwww.encyclopedia.comdoc1O88-ideology.html ideology supporting thr whole enterprise. For me, this is one of the most important things that people, especially the youth, will undergo given that political socialization will lead to what political attitude or political affiliation they may belong to. The various sources of influence on political socialization includes the educational system, the mass media, the workplace, the neighbourhood committee, as well as through political institutions themselves (Marshall 1998).

For me, it is the mass media that has the most effect on my life, because of the fact that it is through the mass media where people, especially the youth, get information on what is the advocacy of a certain political party, or to what is the stand of a certain politician on different kinds of issues that constitute public policy. People can never automatically know who politicians are, or what do they believe in, without the use of the mass media. This is also the same with political parties it is through the mass media where parties present their platform of governance to the general public.

It is true that political parties and politicians alike also make their mark to the people by concrete policies and legislations however, it is through mass media that the larger public may be informed of it. In addition, politicians themselves, along with their respective political parties, also use the mass media to make themselves know to the people and what is their specific stand on different kinds of issues that grips the country. This includes press conferences, televised conventions, and even public debates. The good thing about mass media is that it is impartial in nature it lets the people see if politicians are able to deliver to their promises and have a political will to implement their policies.