This paper, prepared for a faculty seminar in conjunction with an NDEA International Affairs Institute, examines data collected in numerous studies on the political attitudes of children and adolescents. Four widely used models derived to deal with political socialization (the accumulation model, the identification model, the role transfer model,…

Distinctions between political socialization as beliefs about ideals, beliefs about the realities of governmental structure, as attempts at cognitive consistency, and as affective orientations toward the system, map out most children's political orientations. The objects of these orientations are: 1) America as a nation and patriotic attachment;…