POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

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POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• An Inter-disciplinary Study

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POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Politics in micro and macro levels of social life
• Individual strategies for cooperation, conflict
  resolution, pursuing interests, even strategies
  towards family members and relatives
• As the social surrounding grows bigger,
  individuals choices, attitudes and behaviors
  become more political in its true meaning

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THE INDIVIDUAL

• The political orientations, self-identifications,
  ideals, principles and ideologies of the
  individual towards the social surrounding
  constitute an important theme of our subject
  (political behavior).
• The discipline of political psychology

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THE GROUP

• Individuals self-identification with a political
  group via membership to or orientation (indirect
  support...etc) towards a political party,
  political organization or movement.
• The discipline of political sociology

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WHEN DISCIPLINES COINCIDE

• The political choices and behaviors of the
  individual may not always present a stable and
  continuous character
• May go through changes, developments and
  transformations in time depending on many
  different situations and factors.

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WHEN DISCIPLINES COINCIDE

• Apart from these, the political behavior of the
  individual may present a double or
  multi-character way

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DETERMINANTS OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• The family
• Family traditions in politics
• The orientation and education by the family
  elders
• Charism of a family elder who is taken by the
  child as a model or idol
• Another interdisciplinary contribution in terms
  of a ne problematic the genetics of political
  behavior.

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MORE BIOLOGY, MORE SOCIOLOGY

• Age groups and differing intensivities in the
  political sphere
• Youth and popular culture
• Aged people and political participation as a
  citizenship duty
• The gender side

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FACTORS WITHIN THE SOCIAL SURROUNDING

• Education sphere teachers and school-mates as
  political orientators
• Class belonging and political behavior
• Mass media and public opinion
• The neighborhood effect

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FACTORS WITHIN THE SOCIAL SURROUNDING

• Ethnicity, ethnic identities, racism, xenophobia
• Crime, terror and prejudicial behavior
• Immigrants and political behavior
• Religious affiliation
• Kinship ties and political behavior
• Clientalism and politics

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POLITICAL FACTORS

• Leader charism and political choice
• Political propaganda and its influence

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MOST VISIBLE MEASUREMENT OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Elections and voting
• Election campaigns
• Electoral Systems

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PART I

• THE INFLUENCE OF GENETICS ON POLITICAL
  ORIENTATION AND BEHAVIOR

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GENETICSSOCIAL SCIENCES

• The increase in the use of genetic explanations
  for human characteristics and conditions over the
  last few decades
• The academic search for the influence of genetic
  factors to explain the differences and varieties
  in humans psychological and behavioral
  characteristics such as violence, tolerance,
  intelligence and sexual orientation (straightgay)

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MAIN PROBLEMATICS

• Can people be born with political
  predispositions?
• Does political orientation have a hereditary
  characteristic?
• Is it genes or the early childhood experiences
  within the family which are more influential on
  the development of political attitudes?

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MAIN PROBLEMATICS

• Which factor is the most influential one on
  political orientation
• Genes?
• Socialisation within the family?
• or the social environment? (friends, education,
  business environment...)

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THE NATURE vs. NURTURE DEBATE

• Recent studies claiming that genetics is highly
  influential on the formation of political
  orientations, attitudes and behavior
• Academic response to these studies and claims,
  emphasizing the importance of the environment
  (political attitudes as learned elements, rather
  than genetically transmitted ones)

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A TURNING POINT WITHIN OUR SUBJECT

• The Bell Curve, Richard Herrnstein and Charles
  Murray (1994)
• The authors argued that intelligence largely
  determined success in life, and intelligence was
  largely genetic in origin.

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THE BELL CURVE

• The authors also argued that IQs of Black
  Americans were lower on average than IQs of the
  Whites.
• So, differences in life chances between Blacks
  and Whites were driven by genes, with
  intelligence as the mediating factor
• Authors even recommended the welfare and
  reproductive policies of the US be changed in
  order to decrease the number of children born to
  lower class (and lower IQ) women

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THE BELL CURVE

• The book led to great debates among academics,
  media and even politicians, either supporting or
  condemning these propositions
• A social-Darwinist approach
• Those who are in favour of such an approach where
  survival of the fittest is welcomed, tend to be
  conservatives in ideological terms (Hofstadter,
  1944)

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THE CONSERVATIVELIBERAL DEBATE

• Does political ideology play a role in
  determining how people feel about genetic
  explanations for human characteristics?
• Do conservative and liberal people have different
  attitudes towards the genetic explanations of
  human characteristics?

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ASSUMPTIONS

• Conservatives are more likely to endorse genetic
  explanations for human characteristics related to
  socioeconomic inequality
• Liberals are more likely to endorse environmental
  explanations for those characteristics

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ASSUMPTIONS ON CONSERVATIVES

• The idea of genetic influence on human
  characteristics is in accordance with the
  conservative principles
• Historical background
• The Feudal and Monarchic Ages Monarchs and the
  nobility with an hereditary character
• No social mobility between seperate classes and
  life-long membership to the class one is born into

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ASSUMPTIONS ON CONSERVATIVES

• Theological Background
• Middle-Age scolastical thought Accepting the
  consequences of your destiny which is labeled on
  you even before birth and not challenging the
  conditions brought forth by this destiny (Gods
  Plan)

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ASSUMPTIONS ON THE LIBERALS

• Liberal Principles equality, humans as valuable
  beings, freedom of choice
• It is the social environment that influences the
  attitudes and behaviors of an individual,
  regarding the fact that he/she is free make the
  choices that is most fit for him/her

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ONE EXCEPTION

• Do genes have an influence on determining sexual
  orientation?
• Conservatives are more likely to reject the role
  of genes and instead to favor the influence of
  the environment. Because, conservative thought
  can not allow the possibility that God created
  human beings in those sexual orientations such as
  gays and lesbians (the Creator would not create
  people with such defections ? , rather people
  choose to become homosexual under the influence
  of environmental factors)

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THE INFLUENCE OF IDEOLOGY

• The responses of people towards genetical
  explanations of human nature change according to
  different ideological orientations
• This situation is closely linked to the
  conservative/liberal conceptions of state
  intervention on certain grounds

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IDEOLOGY AND STATE INTERVENTION- The US MODEL

• Political conservatism in the US is associated
  with a desire for small government and a lcak of
  government intervention in the lives of the
  citizens WHEREAS
• Political liberalism in the US is associated with
  a desire for government intervention to adress
  societal problems (poverty, immigrant policy,
  welfare state policies...etc)

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CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDE

• If socio-economic differences are primarily
  driven by inequalities of genetic endowment, then
  government policies and programs would not be
  effective to remedy them. So, support for a
  small, limited government (conservatism) is the
  most practical position

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CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDE

• American Conservatives (as well as those in
  Western Europe) criticise most welfare policies
  of the state as of being in the advantage of the
  immigrants, minorities, people of lower
  classes...etc. So, financial funding of these
  policies is a burden on the true! citizens of the
  country

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LIBERAL ATTITUDE

• Welfare policies should exist to protect the
  disadvantaged masses in order to remedy
  inequalities of opportunities and access to
  public services. State intervention is welcomed
  by the American liberals on this issue.
• If socio-economic inequalities result from
  environmental factors, then environmental support
  such as education and social aids would help to
  remedy these inequalities

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POLITICAL TRADITION

• Many theorists (Rousseau,Marx...) argued that
  government has a moral obligation to remedy
  systematic inequalities brought about by societal
  forces.
• Others like Plato, Aristotle and E. Burke argued
  that the inequalities created by nature (God)
  should be allowed to flourish, not be got rid of
• (the underlying principle of natural selection)

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EXCEPTION OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION MATTER

• Conservatives in favour of a government control
  on homosexual orientations
• Liberals in favour of a limited government
  staying out of the citizens bedrooms ?

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POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

• Leaving behind the genetic side of the story, an
  analysis of the process namely political
  socialisation is necessary for determining the
  factors influential on the formation of political
  behaviors of the individuals
• Man is both a social animal and a political animal

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POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

• The process of adopting the political beliefs,
  values and attitudes
• The environment as a tutor
• Life-long learning gaining political knowledge
  and experience at any age
• A multi-level process
• Different factors and conditions at each level

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CHILDHOOD PERIOD

• The development of a self-consciousness
• The development of personality
• Development of intelligence
• Development of certain attitudes and reactions
  both at emotional and cognitive sides, towards
  different conditions

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TEENHOOD PERIOD

• A transitionary period from childhood to
  adulthood
• Pyschological, biological and social changes
• A process whereby the individuals social,
  cognitive and political development is carried
  out on the road to adulthood

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TEENHOOD PERIOD

• The ego-centric condition of teens
• Aiming to ensure the acceptance of their beliefs,
  ideas or judgements by others, mostly via debates
  or arguements
• Ups downs the inconsistency in supporting
  ideals and beliefs
• The long-run outcome of teen ego-centrism
  idealism

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TEENHOOD SOCIALISATION

• The ultimate function of socialisation is to
  ensure the adoption of social roles consistent
  with the social norms
• The transmission of social norms, values and
  beliefs
• Four different possible reactions of teens
  towards this transmission process

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FIRST TYPE OF REACTION

• The teen adopts the cultural patterns
  transmitted from the social environment and
  becomes an obedient and adaptable member of the
  society

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SECOND TYPE OF REACTION

• The teen challenges all cultural effects from the
  social environment. Seeks new values and aims.
  Shows disloyalty towards the agents of authority
  or status quo parents, teachers...etc
• Such teens are more likely to become
  influenced by non-mainstream or radical political
  ideologies

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THIRD TYPE OF REACTION

• The teen shows little or no interest in the
  cultural transmissions from the social
  environment. Can not fully comprehend the common
  values and aims shared by the members of society.
  Dislikes the social order, but also finds
  him/herself too weak to alter or cure the social
  order. Thus mostly develops an anti-social or
  passive-defensive personality

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FOURTH TYPE OF REACTION

• The teen establishes realist, constructive and
  positive realionships and makes rational choices
  on adapting the new knowledge acquired from the
  social environment, thus becomes a model
  citizen

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CONFLICTS WITH PARENTS

• In search of his/her own self, the teen is
  generally motivated towards being freed from the
  influence of the parents and this generally leads
  to conflictual situations
• This conflictual attitude may also be directed
  towards elder members of the extended
  family,teachers, neighbors...
• The individualisation of the teen becoming a
  personality

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THE DILEMMA OF TEEN SOCIALISATION

• The teen, while aiming to acquire social
  acceptance and admiration by developing an unique
  identity and, at the same time, by being
  integrated to the bundle of norms, values and
  beliefs dominant in the social environment

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THE IDOL FACTOR

• Patterns of roles, attitudes and beliefs of an
  idol or model, mostly an elder within the social
  environment (a relative, a neighbor, a
  teacher...), being adopted by the teen during the
  process of developing a personality, and the
  process of political socialisation and
  orientation as well

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POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

• The individual establishes emotional and
  cognitive relations with the political structure
  via elements such as national flag,state,
  nation...etc during childhood
• These relationships are based on mostly
  elementary and material systems of thought

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POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

• During teenhood, the ability to think abstractly
  is gained. So, the teen can from now on perceive
  political matters not only on material, but also
  presumptive grounds.
• Combining the theoretical outcomes of both
  material and abstract thought, the teen will find
  his/her place within the political system

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POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

• Life-long learning in the political arena in
  addition to the family an school, new sources of
  political knowledge will be available to the
  teen friends, NGOs, means of mass
  communication...etc.
• This increase at the cognitive level of the teen
  will contribute to the development of political
  beliefs and attitudes

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POLITICAL SOCIALISATION

• The tendency of teens towards non-mainstream or
  radical political movements generally depends on
  personal and social motives developing a
  self-identity and the social acceptance and
  admiration gained by means of performing the
  social roles assigned by this identity.

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ADULTHOOD PERIOD

• Age factor
• New social roles and statues such as being
  married, having a job, having children...
• Another change of roles in terms of
  socialisation the adult, while he/she was a
  socialised element, turns into a socialising
  factor for the children, youth...etc in the new
  social environments

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RE-SOCIALISATION

• Another type of socialisation mostly observed
  since the early periods of adulthood
• Transformations in terms of belief, ideological
  orientation, attitudes...etc which may alter the
  previously dominant factors of political behavior
  due to the relationships, experiences and
  knowledge established and gained during adulthood

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RE-SOCIALISATION

• While the society influences the individual in
  terms of gaining these beliefs, attitudes...,the
  individual also influences the society in a
  similar way
• But, it is mostly a dynamic process, not a stable
  one, changing according to the environment
• Traditional vs. Modern societies (Duverger)

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• According to Rosenberg, individuals go through a
  three-dimensional development process
• Contiguous
• Linear
• Systematic

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CHANGING SOCIAL CONDITIONS DURING ADULTHOOD

• Changing social conditions and the adoption of
  new social roles may alter the determinants of
  political behavior and lead to transformations
• Idealism vs. Realism

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INSTITUTIONS OF POLITICAL SOCIALISATON

• The family as the primary institution
• The monopoly of the family in determining the
  early tendencies towards political orientation
  (both at emotional and cognitive levels)
• First impressions of the child on political
  figures and matters are developed within the
  family environment

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THE FAMILY

• Direct influence of the family (direct political
  socialisation)
• Indirect influence of the family (indirect
  political socialisation)
• Transmission of political attitudes, ideologies,
  party identification and class consciousness
• Family traditions in politics

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THE ATTITUDES OF THE PARENTS

• Parents applying authoritarian or democratic ways
  of raising their children
• Differing influences and outcomes of differing
  raising methods
• Idols or models within the family and political
  orientation

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THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

• Teachers as new symbols of authority outside the
  family environment
• School mates
• Cognitive developments during education
  (accumulation of knowledge)
• School as an ideological state apparatus

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MASS COMMUNICATION MEANS

• Radio, TV, newspapers, internet...
• Mass media as cognitive sources of political
  behavior
• Social roles presented via media,especially TV
• Media as a means of political propaganda

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THE FRIENDS FACTOR

• Friendship ties and relations within friend
  groups constituting an environment whereby
  determinants of political behavior are
  influenced, altered and developed
• Friends both as cognitive and emotional sources

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THE COMMUNITY EFFECT

• Various communities we belong to or feel a
  belonging to
• Variety of communities where and whom we work,
  live, socialize and worship...(city community,
  church community, work community...)

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SENSE OF COMMUNITY

• A feeling that members have a belonging, a
  feeling that members matter to one another and to
  the group, and a shared faith that members needs
  will be met through their commitment together
• Sense of community changes from individual to
  individual, as well as from group to group
  (diversity of groups and changing levels of
  attachment within communities)

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COMMUNITY AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Social interactions within the community play an
  important role in determining our political
  choices and behavior.
• There are two types of political behavior
  influenced by community interactions
• Political discussion
• Voting behavior

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POLITICAL DISCUSSION

• Political discussion as a way of socialisation
• Political discussion as a social interaction
  which provides information about political
  matters
• Observing and communicating with other members of
  the community may influence political decisions
• Political discussion as a by-product of social
  interaction

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COMMUNITY and VOTING

• Information gained via community interaction
  influencing voting behavior
• Collective political behavior developed within
  the community due to common interests,goals...
• The communal leader factor
• Politicised communities/political
  communities/political identities

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COMMUNITY and VOTING

• Changing voting behavior due to different types
  of elections
• General elections
• Local elections
• Elections on communal affairs

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PARTY IDENTIFICATION

• Identifying oneself via membership or support to
  any political party
• The party becoming a symbolizer or determinant of
  political identity
• The party as a means of socialisation
• The party as a means of collective action and
  group consciousness
• Partisanship extreme form of party identification

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PARTY IDENTIFICATION

• According to the general framework of sociology,
  social characteristics (class,ethnicity,gender,rac
  e) anchor political preferences
• The Marxist view of party identification based on
  class consciousness

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THE AMERICAN VOTER

• Published in 1960 by Angus Campbell, Philip
  Converse, Warren Miller and Donald Stokes, it was
  the first comprehensive study on party
  identification.
• It proposed a social-psychological thery of party
  identification.

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THE AMERICAN VOTER

• Party identification is a long-term psychological
  attachment to a party.
• It develops early in ones life and is influenced
  by institutions of political socialisation such
  as the family
• Over time, this feeling of attachment turns into
  an emotional and mostly stable one.

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THE AMERICAN VOTER

• Since party identification influences peoples
  evaluations of political issues,candidates and
  political events, it plays a fundamental role in
  their choice of vote.
• Party identification is stable except when
  large-scale political events or stressful
  conditions such as depressions occur (The 2001
  economic depression in Turkey)

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RESPONSES TO THE AMERICAN VOTER

• The instrumental view of party identification
• Party attachment is an information shortcut that
  is continually and updated and adjusted based on
  rational evaluation (Bartels, Franklin and
  Jackson)
• The influence of rational choice is stressed when
  compared to emotional attachments

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THE INDIVIDUAL RATIONALITY FRAMEWORK

• The economic concept of utility maximization
• Adaptation of this concept to party
  identification
• The assumption that all individuals can behave
  and choose rationally

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RATIONAL VOTERS

• A rational person
• 1) Can always make a decision when confronted
  with alternatives
• 2) Ranks all the alternatives according to
  preference, inferiority
• 3) Always chooses from among the possible
  alternatives
• 4) Always makes the same choices when confronted
  with the same alternatives

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SPATIAL MODEL

• Developed by Anthony Downs
• Political parties lure voters on an ideological
  continuum (left-right)
• Issue positions on this continuum placed by the
  parties or candidates are considered by voters
• A rational voter chooses by calculating which
  candidates or partys issue position is closest
  to his ideal point of utility on the ideological
  continuum

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SPATIAL MODEL

• Comparisons of utility
• Parties over-time ratings (evaluation of past
  activities and policies)

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VALENCE ISSUES MODEL

• Developed by Donald Stokes
• Valence issues involve comparative judgements
  about party performance in certain areas
  (economy, human rightsetc)
• Changing perception of valence issues from
  individual to individual is an important factor
  in determining partisanship and voting behavior

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REWARD-PUNISHMENT MODEL

• Developed by V.O. Key
• Voters either rewarding or punishing their party
  in the elections due to their satisfaction with
  the partys policies and past activities

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ISSUE PRIORITY MODEL

• Parties developing policy agendas over certain
  issues and even claim issue ownership
• This issue ownership becomes widely recognized by
  voters and they vote according to their issue
  priorities

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ECONOMIC EVALUATION MODELS

• Voters evaluation of economic conditions
• Egocentric considerations / sociotropic ones
• Self interested utility maximizing individuals/
  voters interested in the welfare of the society
  as a whole
• Past/future-oriented economic evaluations

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RACE, ETHNICITY AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Ethnic identities playing an important role in
  shaping political decisions and actions
• Us and the others
• Collective political behavior of politicised
  ethnic groups
• Ethnic or racial prejudices as determinants of
  political behavior

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CASE STUDY 2008 US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

• Obamas candidacy for presidency and the racial
  dimension of US politics and social life
• Support of the race groups for Obama
• Whites 43
• Blacks 95
• Hispanics 67

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VIEWS ON WHITE SUPPORT FOR OBAMA

• Supporting Obama in terms of escaping the
  stigmata of racism
• Obamas self-introduction of being centrist and
  post-racial
• The economic crisis caused Americans to realize
  that they could not evaluate the candidates on
  the basis of race

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ATTITUDES OF OTHER RACE GROUPS

• Black support for Obama the one in a million
  chance to provide Black presence in US
  administration
• Hispanicsmostly belonging to lower classes and
  falling victim to racial prejudices, Obamas
  presidency is a hope for social and economic
  policies in their advantage

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RACISM IN THE USA

• Historical racism and anti-Black sentiments in
  the USA
• The new racism Symbolic racism
• The belief that blacks (and Hispanics) get
  special and undeserved treatment from the US
  governments

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AGE AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Several nation-wide studies on the relationship
  between age and political behavior, but all
  lacking a global look on the age phenomenon as a
  whole
• National studies show that people belonging to
  old age groups are much more eager to vote in the
  elections

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AGE AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Mark Franklin (2004) was the first to examine the
  age phenomenon from a global comparative
  perspective
• The cohort composition of the electorate
• Voting as a habit and habituation process
  developing in accordance with age
• Health problems may constitute barriers against
  old age voter

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AGE AND POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

• Old age people generally see voting,as well as a
  habit, as their citizenship duty or as a sign of
  their loyalty to the political system

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THE THREE TYPES OF EFFECTS

• Differences between age groups in terms of
  political participation can be determined by
  three types of effects
• Cohort
• Life cycle
• Individual aging

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COHORT EFFECT

• Shared experience by a group that was born during
  a certain period
• Shared socialisation as a political generation
  (i.e. The 68 generation in Turkey)
• Shared social characteristics in terms of
  education, media, technologyetc

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LIFE-CYCLE EFFECT

• Different life stages such as childhood,
  teenhood, adulthoodetc.
• At each stage, there are demands imposed on the
  individuals from the sociocultural environment
• Also at each stage, there are differing
  responsibilities (i.e. Parents getting more
  involved in politics since political developments
  are crucial for the future of their children)

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INDIVIDUAL AGING EFFECT

• Past voting experiences increase the probability
  of future voting
• Repetation of the same political behaviors over
  time (voting) make it a more concrete habit
• The older we are, the more likely we are to
  adhere to the social norm of voting

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VOTING AS A SOCIAL NORM

• Voting behavior becoming a social norm in time
  (especially in liberal democracies) and
  adherence to this norm can be observed by the
  elements within the social environment
• Voting becoming a moral duty that brings social
  gratification for the voter

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FACTORS INFLUENCING OLD AGE VOTING BEHAVIOR

• Sense of duty to vote
• Religiosity
• Duration of residence
• Party identification
• Pension as a main source of income
• Political interest