Active Political Parenting: Youth Contributions During Election Campaigns

Objective. The etiology of active parenting remains almost entirely unexplored in political socialization. Applying ecological and dialectic perspectives, we propose a model of developmental provocation to capture contributions of youth to a politicization of parenting during campaigns. Methods. Parent-youth dyads in Arizona, Colorado, and Florida were interviewed across two election cycles. Adolescent respondents were juniors and seniors during a midterm campaign, and old enough to vote during the subsequent presidential election. Results. Youth news attention, opposition to U.S. military involvement, and first-time voting contributed to conditional change in active political parenting across campaigns, and these activities were more consequential than corresponding behaviors of parents. Conclusions. Parenting is not driven primarily by political expertise readily available and deployed in family interaction; of greater consequence is the observable development of youth. A child’s potential for political growth is thereby ingrained in an evolving relationship that periodically demands more and more from parents.