Political Context and the Development of Party Identification in Adolescence

What are the roots of party identification? Credit (or blame) often falls to parents, who have been shown to play a central role in development of partisan identification in adolescence. Usually in these models of parental transmission of partisanship, children are seen as unquestioning recipients of partisan messages. I consider whether this is so, investigating whether differences in young people’s levels of political interest, attention, and engagement also direct the development of partisan identity. Second, I consider the effects of factors beyond the household in shaping partisanship – specifically the effects of differences in state level political contexts during a midterm campaign season. I find that both the political personality of adolescents and their wider political environment contribute to the development of adolescent partisanship, beyond the contributions of parental influence. I thank Michael McDevitt for generously sharing survey data from the Colors of Socialization study. I also thank Jennifer Fitzgerald and Elaine Fischer for their helpful comments and suggestions.